UNION, Ore. (AP) - Most candidates don't have their mother charging into their bedroom at 5 a.m. shouting, "You won!"

But voters turned to a really fresh face to end years of political bickering in this northeast Oregon city.

Kyle Corbin, 18, was elected mayor pending final official results of Tuesday's election. And he did it as a write-in candidate because he was only 17 at the time of the filing deadline.

"Everybody's goal is to make Union a better place; they just have different ideas about how to get there," Corbin said. "Sometimes dramatic change is needed. It might be that a kid mayor is what is needed to bring people together."

Corbin has long been interested in how the city of roughly 2,000 people is run, and has regularly attended council meetings over the past year.

"People would often ask me why I was there," said the Eastern Oregon University freshman. They won't be asking after Corbin is sworn in as mayor in January.

The election of an 18-year-old mayor comes nine months after Union voters recalled Mayor Deborah Clark and her husband, Roger Clark, a city councilman. Some residents accused Deborah Clark of holding unofficial meetings and acting against the town's interest in the sale of land adjacent to the Buffalo Peak Golf Course.

Jerry Matthews, a counselor at Union High School, where Corbin was student body president his senior year, described Corbin as an excellent listener, one who will consider what people on all sides of an issue have to say.

"Maybe he will be a breath of fresh air and get both sides together and working again," Matthews said.

Corbin believes his youth will initially make things tougher for him, because he still has to earn the respect of the older people on the council. But he insists he's ready for tense situations.

"Confrontation happens. It leads to progress," the mayor-elect said. "You can't progress without problems. You learn from these things."

But that's not until January.

For now, Corbin is enjoying the spotlight. Corbin went to Union High Wednesday afternoon to thank people who helped his campaign. While there he spoke about his successful campaign to a class taught by history teacher Amy Poor. During the talk, his cell phone rang.

An apologetic Corbin told the class it was someone from Oregon Public Broadcasting who wanted to interview him. He offered to leave the room but stayed at the urging of Poor, who wanted her class to listen.

nwscionman wrote:
would have been cooler if he was a big time wrestler too...


lol random!