A Dozen Oregon Republican Lawmakers Urged the Attorney General to Support Texas Lawsuit Undermining U.S. Election Results

“We believe that fair elections are vital to our democratic republic and that the submission of electors by these four states should be at least postponed.”

An election-night party in Vancouver, Wash. (Chris Nsseth)
By Tess Riski

A dozen Republican state lawmakers wrote to Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum on Dec. 11, urging her to join the Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn presidential election results in four battleground states.

"We the undersigned," the lawmakers wrote Dec. 11, "urge you to join the growing list of states joining the lawsuit filed by the State of Texas in which they have argued that electors from Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin should not be allowed to cast their votes in part because those states unconstitutionally changed their voting procedures during the coronavirus pandemic to allow for increased mail-in ballots."

The Republicans' letter was practically dead on arrival. That same day, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit. And on Thursday, the day before Oregon lawmakers sent the letter, Rosenblum announced publicly she had joined 22 attorneys general opposing the Texas lawsuit. (Disclosure: Rosenblum is married to the co-owner of WW's parent company.)

"Today I joined 22 AGs in filing a brief opposing Texas' last-minute attempt to have the U.S. Supreme Court take the election from the American people," Rosenblum tweeted Thursday. "Texas has no business interfering in other states' elections! The sooner the Court rejects this latest outrage, the better."

While it met a frosty reception, the letter from the dozen Republican lawmakers, first reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting, remains significant: Some of the most prominent GOP figures in Oregon were willing to sign their names to a flagrant attempt to disenfranchise the voters of four states to keep President Trump in office.

Those lawmakers included state Sen. Kim Thatcher (R-Keizer), who was the Republican Party nominee for Oregon secretary of state this fall. Had she won, Thatcher would have overseen state elections. She did not respond to WW's request for comment.

Electors are slated to cast their ballots on Monday—a major step in certifying the election results. The Oregon lawmakers, however, say that submission of votes by electors in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin "should be at least postponed."

In total, 12 Oregon lawmakers signed the letter, including:

  • Sen. Chuck Thomsen (R-Hood River)
  • Sen. Dennis Linthicum (R-Klamath Falls)
  • Sen. Kim Thatcher (R-Keizer)
  • Sen. Alan Olsen (R-Canby)
  • Rep. Bill Post (R-Keizer)
  • Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson (R-Prineville)
  • Rep. Greg Barreto (R-Cove)
  • Rep. David Brock Smith (R-Port Orford)
  • Rep. Gary Leif (R-Roseburg)
  • Rep. Mike Nearman (R-Independence)
  • Rep. E. Werner Reschke (R-Klamath Falls)
  • Rep.-elect Bobby Levy (R-Echo)

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