Who's trying to buy the Eugene Mayor's race?

Back in 2006, former Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey ran for the State Senate, powered by more than $170,000 in funding from polluters.   Fortunately, Senator Vicki Walker narrowly prevailed in her reelection.

Now, Torrey wants his old job as Mayor back and is raising tens of thousands of dollars from developers and other deep pockets.   He's already raised $160,000, breaking the past spending record in a Eugene Mayor's race by 10% with a month more to go.

Torrey's record as Mayor was awful on environmental issues, as he sided time and again with developers when in conflict with neighborhoods and farm and forestland. 

In contrast, his successor, Mayor Kitty Piercy has rebalanced the City Council to form a narrow majority that has taken strides over the last four years to make Eugene a sustainable city.

Evidently, the development interests want "their" city government back, and are willing to pay dearly.

The interesting question is, will Eugene voters fall for it?