Commentary: The seeds of Democratic socialism in Oregon’s wine country

Local conventional wisdom thought this year’s Ward 3 city council race in McMinnville would have a conventional outcome. The probable winner would be Carson Benner, an uncontroversial incumbent, a centrist and long-time school board member active in many local civic groups. His main challenger appeared to be Realtor Katie Russ, backed by political heavyweights on the right and by the county Republican Party. Her main chance to succeed would come if the Benner vote was diminished by the less-connected third candidate, Richard Smith Savage, backed by the Democratic Socialists of America. The conventional wisdom was wrong. Russ has taken a distinct third place, and in voting tallies as of the evening of Nov. 11, Savage, the Democratic Socialist — an identification he doesn’t highlight on his website but has in news reports — had a slight lead over Benner for the one competitive McMinnville council seat.

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