The League of Women Voters of Curry County is holding a candidate forum at the Curry Public Library in Gold Beach tonight between three candidates vying for Chris Paasch's Board of Commissioners position in the May 17 primary.

The forum will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., and feature a Q&A with registered candidates Brad Alcorn, Beth Barker-Hidalgo and George Rhodes. Paasch told the Outpost that he has declined to seek reelection in order to spend more time with his family.

Brad Alcorn. | Photos individually provided by each candidate

Alcorn, a retired police officer with more than 34 years of service, has officially received endorsements from Paasch and Curry Sheriff John Ward. Alcorn is a registered Republican who currently serves on the Brookings City Council and the Curry County Budget Committee. The Brookings resident also trained and managed his wife Jennifer Alcorn during her 18-0 run as a world champion boxer.

“It is with great honor that I have chosen to endorse Brad Alcorn for Curry County Commissioner,” Sheriff Ward stated. “I have known Brad Alcorn for about eight years, and during that time, I have grown in the knowledge of just what kind of person Brad is and his dedication to helping our community. I know Brad on a professional level as he volunteered with the Curry County Sheriff’s Office for a number of years.”

Beth Barker-Hidalgo

Barker-Hidalgo, a Gold Beach resident, is the current Executive Director of the Curry County Homeless Commision. Barker-Hidalgo lists herself as a nonpartisan candidate. If elected, she would be the only woman on the board after Commissioner John Herzog defeated incumbent Commissioner Sue Gold in 2020.

“I am running for Curry County Commissioner to help lift the voices of our working families, retirees, people with disabilities, veterans and individuals struggling with housing, food and utility insecurities,” Barker-Hidalgo stated on her campaign’s social media account. “I am running for Commissioner to increase focus on community building projects and programs like CERT (Community Emergency Response Training), MRC (Medical Reserve Corps), and NET (Neighborhood Emergency training). I feel programs like CERT can bring communities together.”

George Rhodes

Rhodes is a Brookings resident and a former Curry County commissioner who served on the board from 2009 to 2013. The registered Republican has also owned and operated Brooking’s Beachfront Bistro with his wife for the last 30 years.

"Our success as a county will not depend on our circumstances, but rather how county leadership chooses to respond to the challenges we face," Rhodes said in a statement. "If we are to accomplish the desired results in todays rapidly changing environments, effective leadership is a must. County leadership must make fundamental changes in public policy and adopt new productive process throughout our county government."

Former candidate Ed Halcumb of Gold Beach reportedly dropped out of the race on March 11 after taking his wife’s advice.

Ed Halcumb's withdrawal form. | Curry County.

The event will be moderated by Gold Beach resident Philip Dickson. Questions will be posed by anonymous community members and the League of Women Voters of Curry County. The event will also include introductory and closing remarks from each candidate.

If any of the candidates fail to get at least 50 percent of the vote during the May primary, the top-two candidates have a runoff in the Nov. 8 general election. The elected candidate will take over for Paasch in January of 2023.

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