OR-5: County fairs have a Mike Erickson problem

At Oregon county fairs, Mike Erickson’s reputation precedes him.

“Almost every fair has called me asking if we have had problems with Mike Erickson,” Polk County Fair manager Tina Anderson said.

The problem, several fair organizers have said, is that Erickson – the Republican nominee in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District -- has been breaking fair rules by handing out campaign literature outside of his designated booth. According to Anderson, because the fairs are private events, they require that candidates have to stay within their own booths to hand out information, and that if they do choose to approach voters, they do so respectfully.

“We can’t stop them from wandering around and talking to people. But everyone has a booth, and the policy of the Tillamook County fair is that you have the booth and you stay in the booth,” Tillamook County Fair manager Jerry Underwood said.

Erickson campaign manager Jeff Harvey said that it was Erickson’s style to walk amongst the voters, and if literature was being handed out, it was being done by members of Erickson’s campaign. Harvey said that when they were asked to stop, they did.

“My assumption would be that Mike would be walking around shaking hands with a staffer or a volunteer, and the staffer had literature in their hand,” he said.

Because both the Democratic and Republican parties have booths at the fairs, Erickson and other candidates always have a venue to talk to voters and lay out their campaign platforms. But Anderson said had Erickson simply inquired about the rules before going to the fair, she would not have had to deal with upset fairgoers.

“If he had been any type of decent politician, he would have just come to the front of the fair and asked if it was ok,” she said. “People were really upset, he was really aggressive. We got several complaints.”

Anderson and Underwood both said that once they confronted Erickson he stayed in the booth. Neither fair had to kick him out. But, Anderson said, as political season swings into gear, candidates need to be more careful as to how they introduce themselves at the county fairs.

“It wasn’t just Mike Erickson, it has been a few other politicians as well,” Anderson said. “I think it’s great that they talk to people. But they don’t need to get into people’s faces.”

As to whether Erickson’s efforts to get out and meet the voters at the Polk County Fair did any good, Anderson was pessimistic.

“It’s not winning him any points,” Anderson said.