Shut Up And Vote

[March 22nd, 2006]

^Red-Meat Ron

Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron Saxton shows new colors for '06.

After finishing third in the 2002 Republican gubernatorial primary, Portland lawyer Ron Saxton made some changes for his second run at Oregon's top job this year.

Gone, thanks to eye surgery, are the owlish glasses that made the strait-laced former Portland School Board chairman look more like a professor than the farm boy from Albany he is.

But more substantively—and perhaps more importantly for his chances in the primary, when appealing to the GOP's right-wingers is paramount—gone is the middle-of-road Hatfieldesque moderation that charactized Saxton's first run.

He's still pounding hard on his pet issue of 2002—what he says are excessive benefits for public employees—but he's spending much more time on red-meat issues get votes in a primary.

"Illegal aliens are costing Oregon taxpayers millions of dollars each year," Saxton says in a widely broadcast radio ad.

Campaign spokesman Felix Schein acknowledges there are no hard data to support such figures. "We intentionally kept the number vague because estimates are all over the place," he says. "The issue is where to focus limited government resources."

Once a strong supporter of local tax measures to buoy education when he chaired Portland Public Schools' board from 1998 to 2000, Saxton recently spoke out against renewing the expiring Multnomah County income tax, which primarily funds schools.

"His greatest attraction was his moderation,'' says ex-state Democratic Party chair Marc Abrams, who served with Saxton on the school board. "A lot of D's who I've talked to who were open to him...no longer seem to be."

Four years ago, the pro-choice Saxton also didn't talk about the minutiae of the litmus-test issue for much of the Republican base, abortion.

Today, he and his staff are eager for people to know that Saxton would sign legislation prohibiting late-term abortions (which Saxton, toeing the right-wing line, calls "partial-birth") and requiring parental-notification for abortion-seekers under 18.

"Kids have to fill out pages of forms to get an aspirin in high school," Schein says. "Why shouldn't they have to tell their parents they're getting an abortion?"

Not surprisingly, supporters of Saxton's chief rival, 2002 Republican nominee Kevin Mannix, say Saxton's shift to the right shows he's a flip-flopper.

"He's a downtown liberal trying to become a conservative," says Mannix campaign strategist Jack Kane. "It's a total political calculation."

Others say Saxton is simply a smart campaigner.

"He's positioning himself to what might have seemed to the right of his natural leanings, but that's not unusual at all in a primary," says Pacific University political-science professor Jim Moore.

Although Saxton won a March straw poll at the GOP's annual Dorchester conference, that win is more reflective of the party's urban, more moderate members than of its rural base.

As in 2002, Saxton has shown fundraising might. He's amassed $1.5 million, more than the combined bankrolls of Mannix and the other main GOP candidate, state Sen. Jason Atkinson (R-Central Point).

For Moore, however, the big question is when Saxton is going to start spending that cash.

"The main thing surprise," Moore says, "is that two months in front of the election we haven't seen Saxton make a major media push."—Nigel Jaquiss

^Can You Believe This?

Since City Commissioner Dan Saltzman championed the Portland Children's Investment Fund in the 2002 election, the taxpayer-supported program has collected nearly $8.5 million per year for abuse prevention, mentoring and after-school programs for thousands of kids.

Portlanders now know this because last week the fund spent nearly $70,000 from its administrative budget to produce a four-page color report with all those details.

Saltzman isn't planning to ask voters to re-up the levy until the November election, so why mail this lovely update citywide now, with a full-page letter signed by Saltzman?

Our suspicious minds jumped to the fact that Saltzman is running for re-election this May.

This is the first mailing the fund has ever sent out, and the progress report was initially compiled in November.

"Dan wants to see this on the ballot this fall...and we do have an obligation to tell the taxpayers what we're doing with their money," says fund spokeswoman Mary Gay Broderick.

Free press is priceless in an election year (OPB aired a story about the children's fund quoting Saltzman on March 15, two days after the report was released).

Amanda Fritz, who's running for City Council against Saltzman, says releasing the report now was unhelpful "when we're still grappling with school funding." —Jon Weatherford

^Blog Watch

I am Coyote, a contributor to the NW Republican blog (http://nwrepublican.blogspot.com/2006/03/mannix-on-land-use.html), is incensed over remarks that Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Mannix made five years ago in support of light rail and urban growth boundaries. Coyote, who supports state Sen. Jason Atkinson in the GOP governor's primary, is concerned that Mannix is either "just plain stupid or terribly ill-informed" not to see that "Light Rail is the Tammany Hall cash cow of Oregon and really is the mechanism that insiders have used to line their pockets at the expense of the citizens." Mannix told KXL's Lars Larson last week that he no longer backs light rail.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski isn't the only candidate catching hell for missing debates. Over on the Republican side of the street, Kate of You Are Not the Boss of Me! (http://kate1040.blogspot.com/2006/03/something-better-came-along.html) reported last week that Ron Saxton skipped out of a debate with other GOP candidates for governor hosted by the Sherwood Chamber of Commerce. Despite agreeing in December to attend, Saxton sent his wife, Lynne, in his stead.

Got a political blog you want us to check out? Email bwaterhouse@wweek.com.

^The Main Event

Thursday, March 22

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts' support of abortion-clinic bombers is old news. What's en vogue: the race for our very own Multnomah County Circuit Court's judicial vacancy. Vietnamese-born Trung Tu, at age 32 the youngest candidate among five, kicks off his campaign with drinks, appetizers and a little politicking at 6 pm at Aura. 1022 W Burnside St. Free. 21+.

Friday, March 23

City Commissioner Erik Sten faces stiff competition in his re-election bid, partly due to his own push for publicly financed elections. Sten challenger Emilie Boyles gathered 1,000 $5 contributions to collect public money for her run. Pony up a crisp Lincoln yourself and watch Boyles debate Sten while candidates Ginny Burdick and Dave Lister attack Sten for creating "voter-owned elections." The City Club of Portland hosts a Council Seat 2 Debate at 12:15 pm at the Governor Hotel. 614 SW 11th Ave., www.pdxcityclub.org. $16-$20 for lunch (reservations by 2 pm Wednesday, March 21), $5 general seating.

^Political Chatter

Not many political groups in the endorsement season vote to oppose a candidate, particularly one with a long record as one of their own. But the Multnomah County Democratic Party took that unusual step March 9, voting to oppose Democratic state Sen. Ginny Burdick, who's challenging City Commissioner Erik Sten.

Party chair Gavin White cited several reasons for the move. Among them: Burdick's use of Senate campaign funds for her mileage during the legislative session; her opposition to publicly financed elections; and a letter she sent to county Dems seeking their endorsement. Burdick slammed Sten for his inattention to the OHSU tram project, neglecting to mention she ran a Gard & Gerber public-relations campaign in April 2004 to get private-sector waterfront property owners to help pay for the tram. Burdick's campaign manager,Ed Grosswiler, says the D's are just enthralled with Sten and his campaign manager, Mark Wiener.

^Diane Linn

What she's doing:

Running for re-election as Multnomah County chair.

What she's done: Pushed for gay marriage and a three-year income tax for schools and social services; bogged down county government through infighting and blunders.

What she wants you to know:

She's balanced the county's budget six times in a tough fiscal climate.

What she doesn't want you to know:

How rare it is for an incumbent to be so politically vulnerable.