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Courtney Bangs said she never saw herself as a politician.

But when the Knappa preschool teacher decided to run for the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, she wanted to have a strong campaign that could win. She accepted help from a Salem-based campaign consultant, David Kilada, and hired his company, Intisar Strategies.

In May, Bangs defeated Commissioner Kathleen Sullivan 62% to 38% in District 4, which covers eastern Astoria to Westport.

Kilada also helped John Toyooka, the manager at Lum’s Auto Center, who prevailed over Commissioner Sarah Nebeker 60% to 40% in District 2, which covers Gearhart, Clatsop Plains and parts of Warrenton and Seaside. The consultant is also advising Tillamook Mayor Suzanne Weber, who won the Republican primary for House District 32.

“Without David, I don’t think that I would have had near the amount of experience and organization to have run such a streamlined machine,” Bangs said. “He just had it down. He knew what needed to be done and the time frame that it needed to be done. And I would have been spinning my wheels, I think a lot, without him, and would not have projected such a clear and concise message.”

Early on, Bangs knew she wanted to be an advocate for working families and the natural resource industries that are engines of the economy on the North Coast.

When she first introduced herself to voters last year, she highlighted her opposition to cap and trade in Salem and the county commission’s decision to opt out of a $1 billion lawsuit against the state over timber harvests.

“When I began to get involved, I just started looking around myself and my neighbors and the families that I worked for as a teacher, and I just noticed that we needed a singular voice and we need somebody to hear us,” Bangs said. “I’m not saying that my opponent wasn’t hearing us. It’s just she wasn’t taking a stand for that large contingent of working families.”

Even though Bangs risked being viewed solely as a #TimberUnity candidate, when she was also talking about the importance of child care and broadband access, Kilada said issues related to timber seemed to really matter to voters.

Sullivan and Nebeker did not take a position on cap-and-trade legislation, but both had voted in 2017 to opt out of the timber suit.

“Looking at that and saying, ‘Here is what these sort of outside agendas are doing in your county’ seems to really work,” the consultant said. “And I would say that the fact that the voters just took out two incumbents who supported cap and trade by not standing up against it — which is an act of support — and by opting out of the timber lawsuit, I think the voters in the county said they were ready for a more local agenda.”

A breakdown of the vote in District 4 by precinct showed that Sullivan won both precincts in Astoria, but Bangs swept every other precinct, including John Day, Knappa, Olney, Svensen, Walluski, Hillcrest and Westport.

Ultimately, Kilada said, Bangs and Toyooka clearly showed what issues they would have taken different positions on than the incumbents.

“I think I would say that we had an idea that would work because that’s why Courtney got involved in politics in the first place. She was a voter who was upset with the priorities of her county,” he said.

Bangs said she and Kilada connected after a Facebook video of her speaking at a town hall in Seaside last year hosted by state Rep. Tiffiny Mitchell, D-Astoria.

Kilada, the former political director for Oregon Right to Life, started Intisar Strategies last year. Bangs was his first client, and then he offered his services to Toyooka and Weber. He has also helped several other candidates in Oregon run for seats on city councils, county commissions and the state House.

“He looks at things and he listens to his people. He just listens. And he doesn’t put words in our mouths … that was my big concern is I didn’t want to turn into someone that I wasn’t,” Bangs said. “He always encouraged me to use my own words, to be myself.”

While the campaign was built off of her values and goals, she said Kilada helped her stay focused on the issues, sharpen her message and draw a picture for voters. She described him as an anchor and guide in navigating politics as a first-time candidate.

Bangs raised more than $21,000 for her campaign, including a significant amount from local industries on the North Coast. Sullivan, who was seeking reelection after running unopposed in 2016, raised more than $15,000.

Bangs said she believes she needed more financial support to get her message out given she had no prior political presence.

“David really knew who to talk to. He knew where to get somebody to create a logo. He knew who was making the sign. He knew people,” she said. “I would have been scrambling and wasting time trying to figure out on my own.”

Along with #TimberUnity, Bangs aligned herself with the Republican Party during the campaign. The county commission is nonpartisan, however, and she said her goal after taking office in January will be to listen and adhere to what the greatest number of her constituents are saying.

“I feel just deep inside that I really want public engagement, because you can’t be a voice for a silent community,” she said. “I want my community to express themselves.”