Thaddeus Betz is Projected Winner for Deschutes County Circuit Judge

In what was perhaps the staidest, if opaquest race in Deschutes County’s General Election, it appears that Thaddeus Betz has charged ahead of three challengers for the recently vacated Judge of the Circuit Court, 11^th District, Position 3, with more than more than 25,200 votes, or about 38%.

Thaddeus Betz is projected to have carried the race for Deschutes County Circuit Judge seat by a wide margin Credit: Peter Madsen

Judge candidates, which included Sonia Huntsman, Raun Atkinson and Keith Leitz, are prohibited from opining on legal matters that may later come before them in court, so getting to know their platform was a futility exercise. Yet Betz’s “tone and tenor,” coupled with his expansive career arguing cases in all matters of state and federal courtrooms, won over voters. As of 8pm on Tuesday evening, Huntsman followed Betz with about 15,600 votes, or about 24%. Huntsman is an attorney with 22^nd Circuit Defenders, a consortium offering public defense services in Crook and Jefferson counties.