 photo by MICHAEL OLFERT |
BY JOSH FEIT |
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The race for House District 18 includes two other candidates, Libertarian Herb Booth and Socialist Adrienne Weller.
House District 18 stretches as far north as Columbia Boulevard, as far east as Northeast 42nd Avenue, as far south as Interstate 84 and as far west as Interstate Avenue.
Deborah Kafoury is a founding member of X-PAC, a group formed in 1994 to get young people involved in the political process. Kafoury says City Commissioner Eric Sten, who co-founded X-PAC, urged her to run.Martin Gonzales is running against Deborah Kafoury to represent House District 18.
Sen. Avel Gordly, who represents Portland's Senate District 10, asked Martin Gonzalez to run last year.
Addressing criticisms that her political background is a product of privilege, Kafoury says, "I can't separate who I am from the fact that my family is in politics. Surely I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for my family."
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During elections, the race card
is usually played by one political party against another. This fall, it
has shown up in North Portland in a face-off between two Democrats--Martin
Gonzalez and Deborah Kafoury--who are vying to represent North Portland's
House District 18.
On paper, they look the same. Both candidates are pro-choice, both have a strong focus on education, and both are advocates of social-welfare programs. They also share the endorsements of liberal groups such as Oregon NARAL and the Sierra Club and unions such as Oregon Nurses Association and United Food and Commercial Workers 555. But the two candidates don't look the same in person. Kafoury, 31-year-old daughter of City Commissioner Gretchen Kafoury and her ex-husband, lobbyist Stephen Kafoury, is white. Gonzalez, 41-year-old husband of a Salvadoran refugee and labor organizer, is Hispanic. That difference is shaping the campaign--especially on the doorstep, where Gonzalez uses his minority status to win support. The reason two Democrats are facing off in a general election is the result of a Gonzalez mishap. Gonzalez registered as a Democrat too late to qualify for the May 19 primary, and his name was pulled from the ballot by the secretary of state. In July, in order to get on the fall ballot, Gonzalez collected the necessary 219 signatures and formed a new political party within his district, the All People Count Party. But now he is a registered Democrat, and, if elected, he pledges to be part of the Democratic Caucus. Registered Democrats make up 63 percent of the district, and there is no Republican candidate. But there is no need for a Republican to create heat. The race card is causing enough tension as is. "This is our district, we fought for it, and we're not giving it back," says Richard Brown in the newspaper El Hispanic. Brown, a longtime North Portland neighborhood activist with the Black Leadership Conference, is backing Gonzalez. Black activists like Brown aren't the only people talking about race. Although Democratic Party leader Marc Abrams has said Deborah Kafoury is the party's official candidate, three high-profile Democrats are breaking ranks and lining up behind Gonzalez, mainly because of his skin color. "[Race] is very critical," says state Sen. Avel Godly, the only African-American senator in the Oregon Legislature. "We have an opportunity to walk the talk of embracing diversity. We have an opportunity to embrace leadership of color," she says. Portland Democrat Frank Shields, who is white, says, "The issue is not Deborah. The issue is empowering minorities." Shields gave a pep talk to a roomful of door-knocking volunteers at Gonzalez campaign headquarters last weekend. "Tell people, 'of the candidates running, only one is a minority in this minority district," he said. "You can say that without saying something negative about anybody.'" Portland-area representative Jo Ann Bowman, who is black, is also backing Gonzalez. Bowman contributed $100 to Gonzalez's campaign and is named on Gonzalez's list of endorsers. House District 18, home to Jefferson High School, the Lloyd Center and Concordia College, was reconfigured in 1981 to create a district in which minorities carry the majority vote. According to 1990 census figures, the most recent figures available, the minority vote is 53.6 percent. Kafoury, who recently set up shop on North Killingsworth Street, on a block that Marc Abrams calls "Gonzalez Avenue," acknowledges that the district was originally created to promote minority candidates and agrees that race is a valid issue in the district. "You can't take race out of the race," Kafoury says. "It's an important criterion. There are always going to be people for whom race is a defining issue." She says she respects the decisions of Democrats like Gordly and Bowman to support Gonzalez but adds, "none of them live in District 18, and this election will be decided by voters in the district." Kafoury is cordial and cautious about Gonzalez's campaign, saying he has every right to talk about his ethnicity. But Kafoury's campaign manager, Jennifer Nelson, says she's surprised that people are still focusing on race. "It's not relevant to me. Voters should focus on the candidate and her experience." Kafoury agrees. "I'm not running just because I'm a woman," she says. Kafoury wants voters to consider her political experience. She says that her year as a lobbyist in Salem, where she worked for her father during the 1997 legislative session, gives her a head start on the mechanics of the state House. Gordly chalks up Kafoury's Salem days to privilege. "That experience is valuable, and I wouldn't minimize it, but not everyone has a chance to be a lobbyist. That criterion would leave a whole lot of people out." For Gonzalez supporters, experience is tied to race. "He's been poor," says Gordly. "He's struggled to get an education. He's struggled to support his family. His life experience is in alignment with the life experience of the people in the district." Gordly says that if there aren't people of color in Salem, certain issues, like affirmative action, aren't part of the conversation. Gonzalez, who looks boyish despite a thick shock of gray hair and wire-rim glasses, has undeniable street credibility in North Portland. As the development director for the local chapter of the American Friends Service Committee, he has built partnerships with black churches and youth organizations for 12 years. It's earned him the endorsements of the Black Leadership Conference,the Hispanic Parents Association and the Portland Rainbow Coalition. While Gonzalez's campaign is viewed as a long shot by supporters like Shields, Gonzalez is a serious candidate. He's already put up over 400 lawn signs and raised $14,000. Gonzalez denies that he's using race as an issue. He says he's using his life experience to draw a contrast between Kafoury and himself. His experiences, he says, have led him to concentrate on issues that are important in the 18th District, issues such as living wages, job training and environmental racism. He believes this agenda will shape his work in Salem. Gonzalez says he was startled when he went down to Salem last session to lobby against exemption loopholes in the minimum-wage law. "What I found was that most legislators--Republicans and Democrats--had never raised a family on a minimum-wage job. Well, I know what that means."
originally published September 23 , 1998
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