Published 10:00 am Wednesday, April 29, 2026 You should be getting your ballot in the mail soon, if not already. We urge you to vote in the May election . Deschutes County has some very interesting, nonpartisan — but kind of partisan anyway — matchups for the new, expanded county commission. There are outright partisan primaries for Congress and state office elections. The Democratic and Republican parties are holding closed primaries, so if you are registered as nonaffiliated or with another party, you won’t be able to vote in those races. We consider that unfortunate because nonaffiliated voters are the single largest voting group of voters in Deschutes County and in the state. But the parties, unsurprisingly, want to retain their power. The biggest single issue on the ballot may be the statewide gas tax, Ballot Measure 120 . It was the legislative plan, opposed by many Republicans, to help fund state and local road construction and maintenance.…