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In the past week, WW has reported on three lawsuits that each, in their own way, offer a reflection of the political disputes that divide Oregon. Here’s what’s at stake in each of the cases.
Date: June 25
Venue: Marion County Circuit Court
Plaintiff: Our Primary Voices, a nonprofit, and Mark Porter, a resident of Clackamas County
Defendant: The state of Oregon and Secretary of State Tobias Read
Complaint: Oregon law prohibits voters who are not registered with a political party from voting in a primary. Porter’s argument—one that other critics of closed primaries have advanced for years—is that the closed primary law disenfranchises a large portion of the electorate. The lawsuit notes that 43% of registered Oregon voters do not belong to either the Democratic or Republican party, and the percentage continues to increase thanks to Oregon’s automated voter registration system.
Demand: Porter asks a judge to find that the closed primary law is unconstitutional, and issue an injunction barring the state from excluding nonaffiliated voters from the next primary.
Who’s backing the plaintiffs: In previous years, various groups have tried various ballot initiatives and measures to open Oregon’s primaries, as California and Washington have done. But neither major party in Oregon has gotten behind the effort, and the most recent of three initiatives failed to qualify for the 2024 ballot. Now with the help of the Harrang Long law firm, which specializes in the intersection of politics and policy, Our Primary Voices and Porter will present their critique of closed primaries in a different venue. NIGEL JAQUISS.
Date: July 7
Venue: U.S. District Court for Oregon
Plaintiff: Tiffany and Randy Castenada, Adam and Rebecca Carpenter, and Madelyn Eischen
Defendant: Oregon Department of Education, Oregon School Activities Association, Gov. Tina Kotek, Forest Grove School District, Newberg-Dundee Public Schools, and Portland Public Schools
Complaint: Two girls competing in high school track and field contests organized by OSAA lost to transgender athletes in the 400-meter and the high jump. (The third plaintiff, Eischen, withdrew rather than compete against transgender girls in the high jump and triple jump.) The plaintiffs (the two minors’ parents and Eischen, who is 18) say transgender athletes are “excluding some girls from competition altogether, and depriving other girls, including Plaintiffs and their peers, from honors, opportunities to compete at higher levels, or public recognition vital for college recruiting and scholarship prospects that rightfully belong to outstanding female-only athletes.”
Demand: The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare Oregon in violation of Title IX, which guarantees female athletes equal opportunities to compete. They also ask for transgender winners of track and field meets to be stripped of their titles and the awards given to athletes who were assigned female at birth.
Who’s backing the plaintiffs: The America First Policy Institute, a nonprofit founded in 2021 to develop President Donald Trump’s agenda. The Arlington, Va.-based think tank is coordinating the legal strategy and assisting the plaintiffs. JOANNA HOU.
Date: July 8
Venue: Multnomah County Circuit Court
Plaintiff: Cloud Elvengrail, a resident of Gray’s Landing, a 209-unit subsidized housing complex
Defendant: The city of Portland
Complaint: Elvengrail, who lives in a low-income apartment building across the street from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland, is fed up with the din from a protest on South Bancroft Avenue that has continued around the clock since early June. She says the protesters’ use of sirens and bullhorns has trapped her amid “shrill, high-pitched buzzers and bells, screeching and piercing whistle-type sounds, and sounds that mimic air raid warning sounds—the type of which might be used to give notice of a nuclear bomb was being launched and headed in one’s direction.”
Demand: The July 8 legal filing is a writ of mandamus, which means it is asking the court to provide relief by compelling the government to perform an action. In this case, the action Elvengrail is seeking is for Portland police to enforce noise ordinances she contends are regularly applied in other neighborhoods.
Who’s backing the plaintiff: Before suing, Elvengrail had received supportive attention from correspondents for The Post Millennial, the conservative media outlet run by Andy Ngo that regularly seeks to discredit leftist protesters. Elvengrail’s attorney is Julie Parrish, a former Republican state lawmaker who represented West Linn for four terms and is now an attorney with the Portland firm Kell, Alterman & Runstein. “We have been in contact with the city,” Parrish tells WW, “and we’re aware they’re going to oppose the lawsuit.” AARON MESH.
The Oregon Journalism Project, a nonprofit newsroom covering the state, contributed to this report.
