In Unusual Transaction, Democratic Party of Oregon Loaned Brad Avakian's Campaign $85,000

Last-minute transaction reflects Democratic fears about secretary of state's race.

In the wake of recent polls showing Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian running behind Republican rival Dennis Richardson in the secretary of state's race, the Democratic Party of Oregon on Nov. 1 loaned Avakian's campaign $85,000.

That's unusual—in fact, it appears to be the first time the party has loaned a candidate money since the state's searchable online campaign finance database, ORESTAR, went live in 2006.

Democratic Party of Oregon Executive Director Brad Martin says he doesn't recall a similar loan since he took his job in 2013. Martin says he was glad the party could be helpful to Avakian and noted Avakian's campaign quickly repaid the loan.

Avakian has outspent Richardson by nearly $1 million so far—$2.4 million to Richardson's $1.5 million—and came into the race with a massive party advantage. Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in Oregon by nearly 270,000, a 10.5 percentage-point difference.

That registration advantage is a big reason Republicans haven't won a statewide election in Oregon since 2002. But recent polls have shown Richardson ahead of Avakian by five points (although much of that lead could be negated by the margin of error in those surveys).

The silver lining for Avakian, and perhaps the reason he went to the unusual step of borrowing from his party, is that polling released last week showed many voters remained undecided in the race to be the state's top elections official and audits director.

Avakian did repay the loan within a couple of days, records show: $75,000 on Nov. 2 and the balance of $10,000 on Nov. 3.

Among those who chipped in with contributions that helped him pay the debt are a number of fellow Democrats who are also on the November ballot. Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, state Rep. Tobias Read (D-Beaverton), House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland) and U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) each gave Avakian $5,000; while state Rep. Jeff Reardon (D-Portland) gave him $3,000 and U.S. Rep Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) gave him $2,000.

Avakian's campaign manager, Brad Pyle, says the loan stemmed from a simple cash flow shortage.

"We had a number of expenditures we needed to prepay," says Pyle in an email. "We asked the Democratic Party of Oregon for a loan during the interim and they were able to provide us with one."

Ballots for the Nov. 8 election must be dropped off at official collection spots by 8 pm Tuesday evening.

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