It’s official. Knute Buehler is a legal resident of Bend, according to Deschutes County Clerk Nancy Blankenship. But Jeanne Atkins, the chair of the state Democratic Party, is continuing her ridiculous claim that Buehler should meet some standard other Oregon candidates have never been required to meet.

In late July the Democratic Party accused Buehler — currently a state representative from Bend and the Republican candidate for governor — of being ineligible to continue to hold his state House seat because he no longer lived in Bend. Atkins wrote that Buehler moved his home and his base of operations to the Willamette Valley and essentially stopped being a representative for his constituents in Bend. Buehler had made no effort to hide the fact that he’d rented an apartment in Tualatin.

The party complaint kicked off an investigation. The Secretary of State’s Office declared Blankenship makes the final determination on Buehler’s residency. Blankenship weighed in, saying Buehler continues to meet all the requirements of residency in Bend. She checked into the matter and discovered: Buehler receives his personal mail, including his income-tax returns, at his Bend home, he pays utilities here and his car is registered here. He votes in Bend.

That wasn’t good enough for Atkins. It’s nice, she told Oregon Public Broadcasting, that he’s legally a Bend resident, but he’s not providing adequate services to his constituents because he’s busy campaigning for governor. He should resign, she said.

But when has anyone applied the same standard to Democrats — or even other Republicans — who have run for statewide office that she’s willing to apply to Buehler? It’s nothing more than a weak attempt to distract voters from the powerful arguments Buehler makes that he can improve on Gov. Kate Brown’s weak record.