Eugene’s four candidates for mayor brought their campaigns to the University on Tuesday in a public discussion that focused primarily on campus-related issues.
About 25 attendees, most of them students, sat in the EMU’s Ben Linder Room to hear the two favorites in the race, incumbent mayor Kitty Piercy and former mayor Jim Torrey, along with two political newcomers, Jim Ray and Nick Urhausen.
Torrey took advantage of the setting as an opportunity to educate student attendees about this year’s ballot and what he said would will be a pivotal role for students leading up to the May 20 primary vote.
“I honestly believe that the University campus is going to make the difference between who wins and who loses for mayor of Eugene,” Torrey said, encouraging students to also recognize the more high-profile state and national races as a chance to effect change. He noted that the mayoral race could be decided this month –