Port Commissioner Stephen Fulton will challenge Commissioner James Campbell in the May special district election, while Fulton’s ally will campaign for an open seat, a strategy that could tip political power at the Port of Astoria.

Fulton waited until the filing deadline Thursday to announce he would switch seats and run against Campbell.

Pat O’Grady, the president of Warrenton Auto & Marine Repair and an ally of Fulton, filed against Frank Spence, a former city administrator, for the seat being vacated by Commissioner John Raichl.

Fulton, a wetlands expert for Warrenton Fiber, had been facing a bid from former Clatsop County Commissioner Dirk Rohne for his seat. Instead, former Warrenton City Commissioner Karl “Dick” Hellberg will run against Rohne.

Port Commission seats are not divided by neighborhood geography, so candidates can run for a position regardless of where they live. The last-minute jockeying sets up the May 16 election as a mandate on the future direction of the Port.

Fulton and Commissioner Bill Hunsinger have been critical of fellow commissioners and the Port’s executive management, but have frequently been on the losing ends of 3-2 votes.

Fulton, in a statement Thursday on his candidacy, leveled several allegations against Campbell.

“I am running against Jim Campbell because he ignores the financial realities the Port faces,” he said. “The replacement of Mr. Campbell will produce maximum benefit for our taxpayers.”

Fulton accused Campbell, an aviator who rents a hangar at the Astoria Regional Airport, of not disclosing a potential benefit to his space from a proposed bond measure for a new Life Flight Network hangar and other improvements for future development. Campbell, humored by the accusation, said an airport is the only place to hangar his plane.

“Mr. Campbell jeopardizes the Port by condoning an exclusive private social club that serves unlicensed alcoholic beverages at the airport,” Fulton said in another allegation.

Philip Bales, a retired dentist and aviator, owns a private building at the airport on land he leases from the Port. Campbell said Bales holds social functions there, but that he does not sell anything.

Fulton said Campbell, who served on the Port Commission in the 1960s and 1970s and won election again in 2013, has zero enthusiasm for Port business other than the airport, is often ill-prepared and has failed in his years on the Port Commission to properly budget for long-term development or bring in additional cargo.

Campbell, the owner of Campbell Marine Towing & Construction who filed last month, said he has a great deal of enthusiasm for the Port. “I think we’re moving ahead a little bit, in spite of the micromanagement that goes on with those two people,” he said, referring to Fulton and Hunsinger.

Fulton, elected in in 2013, painted a bleaker picture of the Port, saying the agency has disregarded long-term maintenance and regulatory compliance.

Hellberg, who served three terms on the Warrenton City Commission before stepping down in 2014, said part of what galvanized him to run were comments by Port Commission Chairman Robert Mushen last year advising the Port Commission not to take sides in the Columbia River gillnetting issue. Hellberg has commercially fished for more than 50 years on the Columbia River and in Alaska.

“The first job is to help create jobs in our area, not to put them down, and certainly (to) support our traditional industries,” Hellberg said.

Along with fishing, Hellberg is a marine surveyor, served in the U.S. Marine Corps, taught in Knappa and Warrenton-Hammond school districts, served as principal of Fort Stevens Junior High School until 1980 and later served on the Warrenton-Hammond School Board.

In his youth, Hellberg worked on Port property in a flour mill, in canneries and as a longshoreman. He said the Port needs to capitalize on its position at the mouth of the Columbia and promote living-wage jobs beyond the tourist industry, which he added result in high employment but low pay and workers struggling to make ends meet.

Asked why he applied for the same position as Rohne, Hellberg said he had to oppose someone.

“I know he was on the County Commission,” Hellberg said of Rohne. “I can’t say I’m a fan of what the County Commission has done over the last few years.”

Rohne, who owns and operates Brownsmead Island Farm, filed last month for the election, saying his hope is to bring an intelligent and independent approach that will help the Port build stability, public trust and positive working relationships with local, state and national partners.

O’Grady, an auto mechanic, farmer in Cornelius and a local longshoreman for the past several years, said he filed for the Port to improve transparency at the agency and to make sure the Port better follows the bylaws.

“The bylaws have not been followed,” he said, echoing a common argument by Fulton.

Spence, who moved to Astoria in 2013, said his newness could help avoid the friction that has plagued the Port Commission. A city manager for about 45 years at six different cities in Florida, Spence said he has experience with multimillion-dollar budgets and interfacing with elected boards.