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State Sen. Mark Hass (D-Beaverton) this week made a $500 campaign contribution to state Rep. Mark Johnson (R-Hood River).
That's a relatively modest sum, but it may be the most important contribution Johnson gets in his bid for re-election.
Johnson (pictured above) is a rarity—a Republican who holds a legislative seat in a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans. As of September, there were 13,118 Democrats in Johnson's district and 11,588 Republicans.
That makes Johnson, a residential contractor first elected in 2010, vulnerable to a Democratic challenge.
Democrats currently control the House by a 35-25 majority over Republicans. If they could add one more seat to that majority, they'd have the three-fifths majority required by the Oregon Constitution to raise taxes. (A tax increase would also need a three-fifths vote of the Senate, where Democrats hold an 18-12 majority, and the governor's signature.)
When Democrats come at Johnson in next year's election, he'll be able to point to Hass' contribution as evidence of his bipartisan bona fides.
Hass, who was first elected to the Legislature in 2000, says he doesn't recall previously making a contribution to a Republican.
But he says the decision to contribute to Johnson's campaign was an easy one.
"I'm always looking for people who are not caught up in partisan politics," Hass says, "and he's always positive about getting things done."
Hass and Johnson, who's a member of the Hood River County School Board, have worked together on a number of education issues—most recently, a bill that made Oregon the second state in the nation to begin providing free community college education to eligible students.
"He was a terrific partner on free community college," Hass says. "And what it comes down to is, I want to support people who are doing the hard work on public education."
Willamette Week