Following The Money: Tim Boyle Supports Dudley; Realtors Gear Up On Tax Fight

Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle is a Democrat but he is joining fellow sportswear chief Phil Knight in supporting GOP gubernatorial hopeful Chris Dudley.

Knight earlier wrote Dudley a $50,000 check. Today, Boyle — fresh off donating $17,500 to the second failed recall effort of Portland Mayor Sam Adams — chipped in $10,000 to Dudley for the May primary.

Another interesting disclosure: A new committee called Protect Our Oregon Homes is gearing up to qualify a measure for the November ballot that would amend the Oregon Constitution to prohibit a real estate transfer tax.

More than 35 states have some form of such a tax, according to the Federation of Tax Administrations. And some Oregon politicians hunting for new revenue sources have lusted after a transfer tax. Real estate agents, who've suffered in the housing slump, are looking to foreclose that option. The committee has raised $115,000 in the past couple of months, including a second $25,000 check this week from the Oregon Association of Realtors.