One candidate would end data-center tax breaks and halt expansion onto farmland outright; the other promises careful, project-by-project evaluation without a categorical commitment. The choice is between a fixed rule and case-by-case judgment on the county’s biggest land-use question.
Draft; human review pending.
Key
Said
A campaign statement, in our summary or their words.
Voted
A recorded Council roll call.
— Not found
Not in the sources we reviewed. A research gap, not a position.
Emphasizes experience, affordability, public safety and responsible growth.
Supports thoughtful housing opportunities as part of keeping the county affordable.
Supports police, firefighters and behavioral-health workers, with compassionate, accountable homelessness solutions.
Wants taxes kept in check and budgets responsible and accountable.
Would protect farmland and natural resources and evaluate data-center impacts carefully.
Summaries are our one-line readings of what each candidate says. Issue lines are short forms of the positions in each brief, AI-drafted and awaiting human review; “—” means not found in the sources we reviewed.
Four votes that split this Council
No candidate in this race sits on Council today.
— Not foundNo featured votes are selected for this race yet.
Candidate briefs, A–Z
District 4 Commissioner candidate · Washington County · November 3, 2026
Kipperlyn Sinclair
Hillsboro councilor and local-food business leader.
Photo: Candidate-submitted photo · 2026 Washington County voters’ pamphlet
In their words
Said: Elect a leader for People. Local government is about people, place, and policy.
Pamphlet p. 5
Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; extracted September 21, 2026
Verbatim opening of the candidate's own statement; publication by the county does not verify the claims. The first sentence (an imperative slogan with terminal punctuation) is under 12 words, so the first two sentences are used.
The verbatim opening of their voters’ pamphlet statement, the same rule for every candidate. We chose nothing.
What they say they would do
Our summary of their platform, in our words
Prioritizes farmland protection and ending public subsidies for data-center expansion.
End data-center tax breaks and halt expansion onto farmland.
Support local businesses, farm infrastructure and transit-oriented growth.
Protect due process, privacy and transparency.
Our reading
Our interpretation, not their words
Farmland protection
Corporate accountability
Ending data-center tax breaks and taxing existing facilities would change county revenue and land use; her materials say deficits would shrink but do not show the revenue math or which incentives the county can legally alter.
Said: Supports transit-oriented, affordable workforce housing, alongside backing independent businesses on main streets.
How
Said: Activate Economic Improvement Districts along main streets, give tax credits to independent businesses and advocate for transit-oriented, affordable workforce housing.
Measured by
— Not in their sources
Crisis care, jail and deflection
Privacy and due process
What
Said: Would uphold due process, safeguard privacy from surveillance, protect public data and deliver what she calls transparent public safety.
How
— Not in their sources
Measured by
— Not in their sources
Taxes and the budget gap
End data-center tax breaks
What
Said: Would end data-center tax breaks and tax existing facilities to reduce the county deficit, protect the power grid, lower utility costs and fund schools.
How
— Not in their sources
Measured by
Said: Reducing the county’s $20.5 million deficit and lowering utility bills; no revenue estimate for taxing existing facilities is given.
Roads, bridges and air
Data-center moratorium
What
Said: Would halt data-center expansion onto farmland, backs a county moratorium on new data centers until their full costs are known, and would invest in farm-to-market hubs and a local food supply.
How
Said: A county moratorium on new data-center development until full economic, social and environmental costs are accounted for, plus county-backed farm-to-market distribution hubs.
Measured by
— Not in their sources
The choices this office faces
Every candidate in this race is asked the same 6 questions. Kipperlyn Sinclair is on record on 5, with 1 still open. A question without an answer is a research gap, not a position.
No answer we could find
Double the county vehicle registration fee, from $30 to $60 a year by 2031, to pay for roads?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
On record
Pause new data-center permits under the county's own authority until their impacts are studied?
Said: Petitions the county Board, city councils and legislators for a moratorium on new data centers, citing residential power rates, school revenue lost to abatements and water use.
End the enterprise-zone property-tax exemptions for Hillsboro data centers, which the county assessor co-authorizes?
Said: Would end data-center tax breaks and tax existing facilities; says she called for a moratorium and took legal action with the teachers' association after administrators granted breaks to 17 data centers.
Close the county's recurring General Fund gap with new fees or levies rather than cuts alone?
Said: Would tax existing data-center facilities and end their abatements to shrink a deficit she puts at $20.5 million, saying working families should not bear the burden; other fees or levies are unsaid.
Keep declaring emergencies and spending county reserves to help families hit by federal immigration enforcement?
Said: Told the April 24 forum she supports codifying Oregon's sanctuary policies locally and more transparency about immigration enforcement activity; the emergency declaration and county aid are unsaid.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Bring farmland north of Hillsboro into the urban growth boundary for industry, as Senate Bill 1586 proposed?
Said: Says she was the only city councilor in the county to testify in Salem against SB 1586, and would protect prime farmland from corporate sprawl.
Which incentives can the county legally change, and what replaces the projected revenue or investment?
Sources (3)
Washington County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 5Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; reviewed September 18, 2026Written by the candidate or campaign. Publication by the county does not verify the claims.
Sinclair · priorities (home page)Candidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
Sinclair · data-center moratorium petitionCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
District 4 Commissioner candidate · Washington County · November 3, 2026
Steve Callaway
Former Hillsboro mayor, school principal and teacher.
Photo: Candidate-submitted photo · 2026 Washington County voters’ pamphlet
In their words
Said: THE DECISIONS WE MAKE NOW WILL SHAPE WESTERN WASHINGTON COUNTY FOR YEARS TO COME.
Pamphlet p. 5
Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; extracted September 21, 2026
Verbatim opening of the candidate's own statement; publication by the county does not verify the claims. The statement opens with this capitalised headline, which ends with a period and has a predicate, so it counts as the first sentence under the rule.
The verbatim opening of their voters’ pamphlet statement, the same rule for every candidate. We chose nothing.
What they say they would do
Our summary of their platform, in our words
Emphasizes experience, affordability, public safety and responsible growth.
Scrutinize budgets and major development impacts.
Protect farmland and natural resources.
Address homelessness, addiction and behavioral health.
Our reading
Our interpretation, not their words
Fiscal caution
Experience
He promises careful evaluation of data centers and protection for taxpayers rather than fixed rules; a resident cannot tell from his materials which projects he would reject or what he would defer under a tight budget.
Said: Supports encouraging what he calls thoughtful housing opportunities as part of keeping the county affordable; his materials name no specific housing program or rule.
How
— Not in their sources
Measured by
— Not in their sources
Crisis care, jail and deflection
Police and treatment
What
Said: Would support police, firefighters, emergency responders and behavioral-health professionals, and address homelessness, addiction and mental health with solutions he calls compassionate and accountable.
How
— Not in their sources
Measured by
— Not in their sources
Taxes and the budget gap
Keep taxes in check
What
Said: Wants taxes kept in check and taxpayer dollars protected through responsible budgeting and accountability; no specific fee or tax change is named.
How
— Not in their sources
Measured by
— Not in their sources
Roads, bridges and air
Protect farmland
What
Said: Would protect farmland and natural resources and carefully evaluate major developments such as data centers for their impacts on residents and quality of life.
How
— Not in their sources
Measured by
— Not in their sources
The choices this office faces
Every candidate in this race is asked the same 6 questions. Steve Callaway is on record on 5, with 1 still open. A question without an answer is a research gap, not a position.
No answer we could find
Double the county vehicle registration fee, from $30 to $60 a year by 2031, to pay for roads?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
On record
Pause new data-center permits under the county's own authority until their impacts are studied?
Said: Would carefully evaluate major developments like data centers for their impacts on residents, communities and quality of life; a pause on permits is not mentioned.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
End the enterprise-zone property-tax exemptions for Hillsboro data centers, which the county assessor co-authorizes?
Said: Told the April 24 forum the key tax abatements are controlled at the city level, with the county responsible for infrastructure costs, zoning and broader impacts; whether to end them is unsaid.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Close the county's recurring General Fund gap with new fees or levies rather than cuts alone?
Said: Would consider both incremental and large cuts, weighing programs due to sunset, and would consider raising revenue but does not yet know by which means.
Keep declaring emergencies and spending county reserves to help families hit by federal immigration enforcement?
Said: Supports the county's emergency declaration and its accompanying actions, and as commissioner would seek assurances that county staff adhere to Oregon's sanctuary law.
Bring farmland north of Hillsboro into the urban growth boundary for industry, as Senate Bill 1586 proposed?
Said: Says 2014 legislation removed chunks of the county's urban reserves and a broader state-level conversation on modernizing land use must come before the county changes its approach; SB 1586 is unnamed.
What criteria would lead you to reject a data-center development or tax incentive?
Sources (2)
Washington County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 5Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; reviewed September 18, 2026Written by the candidate or campaign. Publication by the county does not verify the claims.
Callaway · what I’ll focus onCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
