The newspaper endorsed Flaherty in the D.A.'s race over the weekend.

Flaherty says he was surprised and grateful for the nod.

"Yeah they made the point in the endorsement that they've been a critic.  I think that makes their endorsement very powerful."

In its endorsement, the Bulletin said after a rocky start, Flaherty built an effective management team and has improved operations of the office.

The Bend Bulletin has written several critical articles about Flaherty over the last three and a half years.

Many centered on the more than one millon dollars in legal fees and employment settlements when Flaherty fired several Deputy D.A.'s when he took office.