Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard

The financial battle for west Lane County commissioner remains close while the east Lane incumbent is distancing himself from the competition, according to a second round of campaign contributions reported Thursday for the May 16 election.

In this round of reporting, Fleenor collected $24,000 to Morrison's $20,000.

With $76,000 in total contributions, he has gathered $23,000 more than the seven-year incumbent - although with nearly $15,000 in cash available, Morrison had three times that of her challenger as the election draws closer.

Morrison defeated Fleenor in 2002, taking 51 percent of the vote to his 18 percent, but Fleenor has downplayed his efforts in that race.

In this round of reporting, Fleenor drew $3,000 each from union workers in Lane County Public Works and from the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, an environmental-protection group; $2,200 in contributions under $100 apiece; and $1,000 from Tom Bowerman, a Lane County river-protection advocate.

Fleenor collected $8,500 in in-kind donations from the conservation group and $1,200 in in-kind donations from a Florida pollster called "Win Your Race."

Fleenor continues to be his own best supporter, however. During the first round of campaign reports, he chipped in $13,000 of his own money and received an $18,000 loan from a sister.

Morrison has historically relied on natural-resource companies for support.

In this round, she collected $3,000 each from Gregory Demers, a Veneta developer and Oregonians for Affordable Housing, which represents builders; $2,500 each from the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce and the Pape Group, a heavy-equipment business that deals in forestry, materials handling and other areas; $1,500 each from Eugene-based Zip-O-Log Mills and Delta Sand & Gravel of Eugene; and $1,000 each from Don Wilbur, Ltd., a Deadwood land owner, the Eugene Kennel Club, the McKenzie Cascade Dog Fanciers and lumber-company owner Foster Robinson of Eugene.

In east Lane County, incumbent Faye Stewart collected $4,200 during this round, including $1,000 each from land-development broker B&C Saxon of Springfield, the kennel club, the McKenzie dog group and the affordable-housing organi- zation.

His totals for the campaign - $30,000 in contributions and more than $10,000 available - dwarfed those of his two challengers.

Gary Kutcher, a director of a sustainable-forestry network, has said that he expects to raise under $2,000 in the campaign against Stewart.

The county elections department did not have a report from Ron Davis, a laboratory scientist for Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene who gathered $1,400 in contributions during the initial round of reporting.

Bill Dwyer, the seven-year Lane County commissioner serving Springfield, faces no opposition in the primary election and advances to the November ballot.