Skip to main contentChris Garrett
Democrat
Tattoo he'd get: A musical note on his left arm. "I lean left," he says. And his parents are musicians.
There are two credible candidates in this primary, which seeks to fill the spot vacated by Rep. Greg Macpherson, who's running for AG. There's Chris Garrett, a business litigation lawyer for Perkins Coie and a former aide for 18 months to state lawmakers such as Senate President Peter Courtney and state Sen. Richard Devlin. And there's Linda Brown, a Lake Oswego School Board member and longtime school-funding activist.
We're going with Garrett as the one who's a better combination of experience inside the Capitol and guts. (He also reminded us a little of Macpherson, a well-respected legislator whom we've endorsed in the Democratic primary for AG.) Garrett, 34, is concerned about revenue and says he is willing to begin new conversations about finding ways to invest in higher education and health care for our neediest citizens. He's even open to a sales tax.
He also wants to talk about raising legislators' salaries. We're not sure everyone will agree, but at least he's brave enough to mention it.
Brown, who also ran a business helping new companies settle in Lake Oswego, is plenty brave, too. As a volunteer School Board member working to curb her district's transportation spending, she supported a plan to lay off the school's bus drivers. She says she wants to go to Salem because "schools shouldn't have to make that decision."
We agree. But Garrett swung our vote during their joint endorsement interview with his promise to take bolder measures to pay for programs both Democrats say they want.
Video of WW endorsement interview(thanks to Portland Community Media)
WWeek 2015