King settling into commission win

After 579 days of pounding the pavement and shaking hands with voters, Yamhill County Commission candidate David “Bubba” King is closing in on victory over incumbent Lindsay Berschauer.

King widened the gap slightly on Wednesday with the Yamhill County Clerk’s latest update and now leads 51.4% to 48.7% with 58,080 votes counted — 27,447 to 26,149 edge.

As of Thursday morning, a total of 1,216 questioned ballots remained to verified for possible counting,

King told the News-Register his victory is “still setting in,” but he is excited to get to work on county issues.

“I never thought that I would be in a place like this, you know, this would be part of my journey,” he said. “But I’m very excited.”

King started his campaign in April 2023 by attending county commission meetings and worked up until Election Day introducing himself to residents across the county.

“I spent a lot of time going to city councils, I spent a lot of time going to fundraisers, a lot of time going to festivals and making myself available and supporting those communities,” King said. “I think making yourself available is really how we’re meant to lead.

“It was an extreme amount of work to get to this place and it’s a real honor and privilege.”

He expects to talk soon with county staff for background on pertinent issues and expectations for his role as commissioner.

“Start preparing and learning how to do the job and what the expectations are,” he said.

King will join a dais that has largely operated in lock-step, with two commissioners Mary Starrett and Kit Johnston generally voting in alignment with Berschauer.

“They were supporters of my opponent so they’re not exactly happy that I’m here, but I do know that they know how to move forward, and that’s what I’m hoping for,” King said.

Although he hasn’t talked to the other commissioners other than to offer a coffee meeting, King said he hopes for teamwork on the challenging issues ahead.

“My objective is not to be an obstructionist, in fact I think that will be probably a very big priority of mine, to make some headway with the other two commissioners,” he said. “And that we get to build some trust with each other, somehow, some way.”

King said he will advocate for issues he is passionate about, but is fine finding compromise.

“I’m OK with supporting them on the things that are important to them,” he said. “I’m not here to just dig my heels into the ground. I believe that after an election season it’s time to get back to work and we need to be productive.

“I want to get as much information as I can to make decisions and not get in the way. I’m not going to put up a roadblock for you just because you didn’t support me.”

King said continuing to develop relationships at every level is a major focus moving forward.

“The biggest thing is creating those relationships …with the other two commissioners, but also within the cities and the state reps, you know, up and downstream essentially,” he said.

Supporting county staff in the Sheriff’s Office and Health and Human Services department was a campaign pledge and King said he will work, through his relationships, to increase funding and add staff.

“These will be minor movements; I won’t be able to, in six months, bring in $10 million for one of them,” he said. “Small measurable successes is how I see supporting these guys and then when there’s the chance, an opportunity for a big win, we’re able to take it.”

King also operates a regenerative dairy farm, Godspeed Hollow, where he said things are operating smoothly. If commission work does take up his time, King said he has help on the way.

“It will be a little bit of a challenge on how it works,” he said. “But my wife and I are a really great team when it comes to the farm, and our kids are getting old enough, too.”