BEND, OR -- Tuesday was the last chance for candidates to file for the 2024 election season, and the race for Deschutes County Commissioner is now a four-way contest. 

Incumbent Commissioner Phil Chang faces three challengers: Small business owner Robert Imhoff, Judy Trego, founder of the Sisters Community Foundation, and Brian Huntamer, an unemployed drug and alcohol counselor.

This is the first election since voters approved changing County Commissioner to a nonpartisan position. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in May, the top two move to the November election. 

No new candidates for Deschutes County Sheriff filed for that race, which means Capt. William Bailey and Sgt. Kent Vander Kamp will appear on the November ballot. 

And, two Republican State Senators disqualified from running for re-election jumped into new statewide campaigns, just ahead of Tuesday's deadline. Dallas Senator Brian Boquist is running for State Treasurer. He’s the only GOP candidate in that primary race. Two Democrats filed to run last fall: fellow Senator Elizabeth Steiner and Jeff Gudman, a financial analyst.

Klamath County Senator Dennis Linthicum threw his hat in the ring for Secretary of State. He’ll face investment broker Brent Barker and market analyst Tim McCloud in the GOP primary. Linthicum’s wife Diane is one of two Republicans running for his Senate seat.

Senators Dennis Linthicum and Brian Boquist were barred from running for re-election due to last year’s walkout.