Politics
Four candidates compete for two Multnomah County judgeships on Nov. 3 ballot
Voters will choose judges for criminal and civil cases and for family law in two Multnomah County races. The contests advanced to November after no candidate received a majority in the May primary.
Multnomah County voters will decide two judicial races on Nov. 3, choosing who will oversee criminal and civil cases in one contest and family law in another. The winning judges will earn $209,000 a year.
Neither race was settled in the May primary, when the fields included five or six candidates and no one won at least 50% of the vote. The top two finishers in each contest advanced to the general election.
For Position 2, voters will choose between Diane Sykes and Laura Maurer Rowan. The judge elected to the seat will handle criminal and civil cases.
Sykes, 56, worked for the Oregon Department of Justice, where she established the agency’s civil rights unit in 2009. She has practiced independently since 2013. In 2023, a jury awarded more than $1.7 million to a former state employee she represented in a racial-discrimination case against the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. Sykes has reported about $85,000 in campaign contributions, many from other lawyers.
Rowan, 43, is a senior assistant attorney general and has received endorsements from 34 judges. She became Multnomah County’s first mental health-focused deputy district attorney in 2012, then worked as a deputy Portland city attorney beginning in 2018, including on a federal agreement addressing police use of force. Her campaign has raised about $150,000 this year, including $15,000 from the local prosecutors’ union.
Position 14, which will serve as a family law judgeship, is contested by Joseph Hagedorn and Elizabeth Savage.
Hagedorn, 54, has served for several years as a judge pro tempore, an appointed role, focusing on family and juvenile matters. He previously worked as a public defender and represented survivors of domestic violence. He has raised more than $90,000 for his campaign.
Savage, 47, practices law at her own firm and serves about twice a month as a Washington County judge pro tempore. A Portland native, she worked as a high school teacher before earning her law degree at Lewis & Clark. She has raised $150,000.
The candidates bring differing professional paths to the bench, including prosecution, public defense, civil rights work and family law. Voters who have not yet returned their ballots should check election officials’ instructions and deadlines; ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3.