Kahl, Hughes Collect Big Campaign Checks

State Rep. Nick Kahl (D-East Portland) reeled in a $10,000 check from winemaker Eric Lemelson last week.

Kahl, a newly-minted lawyer, is seeking a second term representing House District 49 (parts of East Multnomah County, including Troutdale, Wood Village and Fairview). Registration in the district has shifted considerably in Democrats' favor since Kahl's predecessor, former House Speaker Karen Minnis, last ran in 2006.

When Minnis, a Republican, did not seek re-election in 2008, Kahl won the seat for Democrats. In November 2006, registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans in the district by 2,435. Since then, according to state figures, D's have increased that advantage to 4,309. Kahl faces Republican Matthew Wand, a Troutdale lawyer, in the November general election.



Meanwhile, Metro Council President candidate Tom Hughes (whose head appears in the Photo-shopped illustration above) also picked up a $10,000 check, this from CARPAC, an association of corporate real estate agents. Hughes also reported receiving $2,500 from both a PGE employees' political action committee and from Republic Industries, an Arizona garbage company. Hughes now has $61,000 on hand; his November opponent, former 1000 Friends of Oregon executive director Bob Stacey, has about one-tenth of that sum on hand.