A ceremonial Thursday morning coin flip could determine whether a race for the Oregon House this November will include a Republican candidate.

The reason is that the two Democratic candidates who squared off in the May Democratic primary for House District 8, longtime educator Lisa Fragala and legislative director Doyle Canning, each received seven write-in votes in the district’s Republican primary, which had no Republican candidates. That meant they tied for the win.

Now, due to a rarely-invoked Oregon law, a quarter toss will decide the Republican nominee for this fall’s election to represent the district, which stretches from downtown Eugene to northern Cottage Grove.

Fragala handily won the Democratic nomination and has a rare opportunity to again prevail over Canning in Thursday’s coin toss. If Fragala wins the coin toss, she will be listed as both the Republican and Democratic nominee on the November ballot.

If Doyle wins the coin toss, her victory will be short-lived due to another rarely-used Oregon law that bars candidates from being any party’s nominee in a general election for a seat for which they lost a major party’s primary nomination.

“She will ‘win’ the nomination but be disqualified from the General Election,” Ben Morris, chief of staff for the Oregon Secretary of State, wrote in an email. “This will create a vacancy and the Republican Party would choose a new nominee through a convention of precinct committee people.”

The Republican Party’s choice would be unlikely to win, as registered Democrats in the district outnumber registered Republicans more than six-to-one.

Deputy Elections Director Luke Belant will flip the quarter, which will be selected when the event begins, according to Morris.

Doyle, who does not plan to attend the coin toss, said she would choose tails if she had the opportunity.

But she won’t have the chance. Because of a randomized methodology that determines the order in which candidates appear on the ballot, Fragala will get to choose heads or tails while the coin is in the air.

Fragala said she will almost certainly choose heads. “I think the secretary of state is actually doing a really great job just making sure that our democracy is functioning and that this is a very well thought-out process,” she said.

Canning said she was shocked by the news of the coin flip. “I am heartened that the Oregon Secretary of State is conducting such a thorough process,” she said.

— Carlos Fuentes covers state politics and government. Reach him at 503-221-5386 or cfuentes@oregonian.com.

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