Skip to main contentMark Frohnmayer's eclectic background includes 11 years in the video games industry and the leading Eugene-based electric vehicle company, Arcimoto.
Now, Frohnmayer's trying his hand at politics. He's got a strong political pedigree. His father, Dave Frohnmayer, is a three-term Oregon attorney general and 1990 gubernatorial candidate and his uncle, John Frohnmayer, was chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts from 1989 to 1992.
The Frohnmayer brothers came out of Oregon's long and now eclipsed moderate Republican tradition: Dave lost the 1990 gubernatorial race in part because a hard-right candidate, Al Mobley, grabbed 13 percent of the vote, helping Democrat Barbara Roberts win. John Frohnmayer resigned from the NEA in 1992 under pressure from the religious right.
Now, Mark Frohnmayer, 39, who is not a registered member of any political party, is pushing an idea that appeal to some moderates in both major parties—more open political primaries. The conventional wisdom is that candidates must appeal to the most extreme elements in their parties, thus furthering polarization and partisanship.
Frohnmayer's taking a whack at changing the dynamics.
Here's the key language from the initiative language he filed with Secretary of State Kate Brown on Oct. 7:
WWeek 2015