The race for the Deschutes County Commission got a little more interesting on Tuesday – the last day to file for the May primary election.

Democrats Mara Stein, a real estate broker, and Liz Hitt, executive director of the Bethlehem Inn homeless shelter, filed to run for former Commissioner Tom DeWolf’s seat.

On the Republican side, Scott Waters, project manager for a multinational engineering firm, and Johnny Corbin, of Redmond, filed to run against Tammy Baney, chairwoman of the Deschutes County Commission on Children and Families.

Incumbent Commissioner Bev Clarno, who was appointed in December to fill DeWolfs seat, is not running for a new term.

Not to be outdone, former county commissioner candidate John Boyle, a Democrat from La Pine, filed to run against incumbent Dennis Luke for another contested seat on the three-member commission. Luke will not face a Republican opponent in the primary.

Stein, 60, said she decided to run because nobody else was stepping up on the Democratic side. She said shes concerned with planning and land use policy in the fast-growing area.

Im not implying that were fiddling while Rome is burning, but we really have to step up to the plate, Stein said.

Hitt, whos lived in Deschutes County for 10 years, is running for a different reason. She said she felt grief-stricken on Tuesday when she read a front-page story in The Bulletin detailing South Dakotas decision to ban abortions.

I value life in all its forms and in all its stages, but I do not value going back in the womens rights movement and I think thats whats happening.

Hitt, 40, said she realizes abortion likely wont be an issue facing county commissioners. Nevertheless, she said, she believes she has to stand up for similar progressive issues.

Waters, 52, was one of three finalists chosen by Deschutes County republicans to succeed DeWolf, who resigned last year after two women accused him of groping them without their consent. Waters also was one of eight people appointed to a committee to draft a blueprint for a new form of county government.

My overriding desire is to keep this county the paradise that I feel it is, Waters said.

Corbin, 57, a former mechanic from Redmond whos currently unemployed, said he thinks he could better manage growth and veterans issues.

He was one of three finalists chosen by Republicans in 2003 to fill former state Rep. Ben Westlunds seat in the House of Representatives. He lost to Gene Whisnant.

Corbin finished fourth in the primary race for incumbent county Commissioner Mike Dalys seat in 2004.

Im still not happy with whats going on with the county. I think I could do a better job, Corbin said.

Boyle is a former property manager and is now the Demo-crat challenging Luke. He lost to Randy Gordon in the party primary for Mike Dalys seat on the commission in 2004.

I just cant let someone run unopposed, Boyle said as he handed in his paperwork shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Deschutes County Assessor Scot Langton will run unopposed for his seat in the May primary.

Voters in Crook and Jefferson counties will also choose their general election slate in the May primary.

Jefferson County

Two Democrats and two Republicans will vie for one commissioner seat in Jefferson County. The incumbent is 70-year-old Democrat Walter Ponsford.

Ponsford, a retired school teacher, has held the spot since 2002. He has also served on the Educational Service District School Board and the State Advisory Council for the Citizen Review Board.

Democrat Anzie Adams, 65, is challenging Ponsford. Adams, a former mayor and councilor of Culver, has served as chairwoman of the Central Oregon Cities Organization for the last two years.

A pair of Republicans join Adams and Ponsford on the primary ballot this year.

Wayne Fording, a 44-year-old businessman, owns Madras Paint and Glass. John Hatfield, 56, served on the Mountain View Hospital Board of Directors and used to own a retail hardware and clothing company.

Two other candidates, Republican Darrell Agee and Democrat Mike Ahern, filed for the other county commissioner seat on the ballot. Each will run unopposed in the primary, so they wont square off until the general election in November.

The Jefferson County ballot will also include the incumbent assessor, Patsy Mault, who has held the office since 1995.

Crook County

Crook County residents will settle several questions in the May 16 election, from narrowing the field for sheriff and county commissioner, to deciding whether to approve an expansion of the parks and recreation district.

Four county posts are up for election this year, including a partisan county commissioner position and the nonpartisan county assessor, county clerk and sheriff positions. All four posts are four-year terms.

Both the county commissioner and sheriff incumbents have challengers, while the county assessor and clerk incumbents are running unopposed.

As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, there were two candidates in the county commissioner race. The incumbent, Democrat Mike Mohan, 51, of Powell Butte, is facing Republican Lynn Lundquist, 71, also of Powell Butte.

Mohan, an accountant who has his own firm in Prineville, is completing his first four-year term as commissioner. Lundquist, a rancher and president of the Oregon Business Association, is a former state representative who also served as speaker of the House from 1997 to 1999.

Four candidates filed for sheriff. Incumbent Rodd Clark, 62, is running against Jeff Coffman, 41, a Prineville police officer; Marlen Hein, 64, a retired Oregon State Police sergeant; and Gary Robertson, 36, a former Crook County sheriffs deputy and salesman at Robberson Ford. All of the candidates live in Prineville except for Hein, who lives in Powell Butte.

Clark is completing his fifth term as sheriff. He currently earns $63,686 a year as sheriff from the county and is paid an additional $7,369 in state funding to run the community corrections department.

A fifth person, Sam Forney, 72, a former marine deputy and technical deputy with the Crook County Sheriffs Office, filed to run for sheriff, but his eligibility was in question.

Because Forney didnt prove his eligibility by Tuesdays deadline, his name wont appear on the May ballot unless a court grants an injunction pending an investigation. Forney could run in the sheriffs race as a write-in candidate.

The primary election in May will determine which two sheriff candidates will be in the general election in November. If one candidate wins more than 51 percent of the vote in the primary election, that person will be the only one on the ballot in the general election. Otherwise, the top two vote-getters in the May election will end up on the November ballot.

Incumbent Tom Green, 58, of Prineville, is also running unopposed for Crook County assessor. He has been the county assessor for about 20 years and is completing his fifth term. Because he is the only assessor candidate to file for the primary election, Green will be considered elected after the May vote and will not be a part of the general election in November.