The final two questions at an Oct. 10 event hosted by the Washington County Public Affairs Forum for Oregon candidates for secretary of state were posed by a single inquirer: Do you speak a second language well enough to converse with a middle schooler in it, and have you been endorsed by the Service Employees International Union?

Only Avakian was endorsed by SEIU, but each candidate had a slightly different variation to the first question.

Democratic candidate Brad Avakian said he would have to “stumble through” a conversation in Spanish.

Libertarian candidate Sharon Durbin said she could “possibly stumble through” a conversation with a kindergartener in French, possibly Spanish, maybe a little Russian, or maybe German.

Alan Zundel, a Pacific Green Party candidate, said he didn’t think he could have a conversation with a middle schooler in another language, although he studied French in high school. When he more recently tried to learn Spanish, he said, he got the two languages confused.

Republican Dennis Richardson said he studied some French and Spanish in high school, but couldn’t speak either one. However, he added, he and his wife sent each of his daughters to live in Mexico on exchange when they were in high school.

At the end of their terms there, some of them were dreaming in Spanish, Richardson said. “It’s the next generation I’m really working on,” he added.

The asker of the questions, however, was visibly disgruntled by the answers. He left the event early, grumbling: “So much for yes or no questions.”