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Van Pounds
Van Pounds ran for election for the Position 1 judge of the Oregon Supreme Court. He lost in the primary on May 19, 2020.
Pounds ran for election to the Oregon Supreme Court in 2018. He lost in the primary election on May 15, 2018.[1]
Biography
Pounds has worked as an attorney in various state and municipal government offices, including the state of Missouri, the Missouri Department of Revenue, and the City of Cape Girardeau. He has also worked as a policy analyst and chief of enforcement and securities at the Oregon Department of Business and Consumer Services and as an adjunct professor of business law at Southeast Missouri State University. Pounds received a bachelor's degree from Southeast Missouri State University, a J.D. degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and an LL.M. degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia.[2]
Elections
2020
See also: Oregon Supreme Court elections, 2020
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Oregon Supreme Court Position 1
Incumbent Thomas Balmer won election outright against Van Pounds in the primary for Oregon Supreme Court Position 1 on May 19, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Thomas Balmer (Nonpartisan) | 70.8 | 727,421 |
 | Van Pounds (Nonpartisan) | 28.8 | 295,887 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 3,638 | ||
| Total votes: 1,026,946 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2018
- See also: Oregon Supreme Court elections, 2018
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Oregon Supreme Court Position 3
Incumbent Meagan A. Flynn won election outright against Van Pounds in the primary for Oregon Supreme Court Position 3 on May 15, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Meagan A. Flynn (Nonpartisan) | 73.5 | 498,925 |
| Van Pounds (Nonpartisan) | 26.5 | 179,629 | |
| Total votes: 678,554 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Selection method
- See also: Judicial selection in Oregon
Judges in Oregon participate in nonpartisan elections in even-numbered years.[3]
All judicial races require a primary election except those to fill a midterm vacancy for a seat that would otherwise not have appeared on the ballot that year. In the case of such a midterm vacancy, the primary may be skipped if only one or two candidates file for that office. If there are three or more candidates running for that seat, however, they compete in the primary.
If a candidate in the primary election for a seat with a routine term ending receives more than 50 percent of the vote, he or she is elected. If not, the two candidates with the most votes advance to the general election.[4]
If a candidate in the primary for a seat filled by a midterm appointment receives over 50 percent of the vote in the primary, that candidate's name appears unopposed on the general election ballot. If no candidate receives a majority, then the top two candidates advance to the general election.[4]
Oregon votes entirely by mail. Registered voters receive their ballots two to three weeks prior to the election. They must submit their ballots by mail or by dropping them into an official drop box. The deadline by which ballots must be received is 8 p.m. on the day of the election.[5]
Qualifications
Justices on the Oregon Supreme Court serve terms of six years.[6] The mandatory retirement age in Oregon is 75.[7] To be a qualified candidate to the court, a candidate must be a United States citizen, a resident of Oregon for at least three years before the election or appointment, and admitted to practice law in the Oregon Supreme Court.[8]
Removal of justices
A judge may be removed if convicted of a felony or a "crime involving moral turpitude" or for misconduct in office, a failure to perform the duties of the bench, incompetence, violation of a rule of judicial conduct, or drunkenness or abuse of drugs.[7]
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Van Pounds did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Noteworthy events
2018
On April 11, 2018, Willamette Week published an article detailing a 2015 investigative report produced by Jay Wayland, a human resources manager for the Department of Consumer and Business Services, for which Pounds previously served as the chief enforcement and securities officer. In the report, dated May 26, 2015, Wayland described allegations of discriminatory conduct against female employees and generally unprofessional behavior. For the report, Wayland interviewed eight individuals who worked with Pounds. Wayland wrote, "Overwhelmingly, employees do not trust Van and do not feel he is an effective manager. Employees do not ask Van for direction at this point because they feel Van's response usually lacks clarity and value." Wayland also found that there was no evidence suggesting that Pounds had "unfairly and illegally discriminate[d]" against female employees. In October 2015, Pounds was transferred to a position in the insurance division of the department. In April 2016, Pounds moved to another policy position in the department, where he remained at the time he launched his 2018 bid for a seat on the state supreme court.[9]
Pounds denied the accuracy of the report and indicated said that he had not seen the report until it was presented to him by Willamette Week. He said, "It's not accurate at all. If I was that bad a person, I think my managers would have discussed it with me. There was a lot of discontent [at the time the report was written]. It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of employees were unhappy and took the opportunity to vent."[9]
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Oregon Supreme Court elections, 2018
- ↑ Vote Smart, "Van Pounds' Biography," accessed May 1, 2020
- ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Election Law Summary," accessed May 6, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Oregon Legislature, "Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 249," accessed May 13, 2016
- ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Voting in Oregon," accessed May 6, 2014
- ↑ Oregon Judicial Department, "Oregon Supreme Court," accessed August 19, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Oregon State Legislature, "Oregon Constitution, 2015 Edition," accessed May 13, 2016
- ↑ Oregon Courts, "An Introduction to the Courts of Oregon," accessed May 13, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Willamette Week, "A State Investigation of a Candidate for the Oregon Supreme Court Found Him 'the Least Credible Person in the Unit,' April 11, 2018
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