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In the most watched legislative contest in the Portland metro area, one that pitted the Democratic Party establishment against aggrieved public employee unions, incumbent state Sen. Janeen Sollman (D-Hillsboro) took the lead in early returns.
The marquee matchup for Senate District 15 pitted Sollman against challenger Myrna Muñoz. In the first tranche of votes released Tuesday evening, Sollman led Muñoz 52.3% to 44.8%, a 7-point margin that could narrow given that progressives tend to vote late.
Sollman, who entered the Legislature in 2017, chairs the Senate Energy and Environment Committee and co-chairs the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education. Known as Salem’s recycling queen and a leading protector of the state’s iconic Bottle Bill, Sollman nonetheless got crossways with some environmentalists because of her advocacy in the short session for expanding the urban growth boundary to help the tech sector that dominates her district grow, and her involvement in an education spending reform bill. She also angered unions with a vote against a bill that would allowed strikers to collect unemployment pay and for her desire to reconsider the way Oregon funds schools.
Muñoz, an educator, raised $350,000 from groups angry at Sollman, including Service Employees International Union, the Oregon Education Association, and the Oregon League of Conservation Voters—still far less than the $635,000 Sollman raised. Many of Sollman’s Senate colleagues backed her with with healthy contributions, setting up a showdown between lawmakers and the interest groups that are usually Democrats’ biggest backers.
Senate District 15 was one of a trio of metro-area Democratic legislative primary contests that riveted political insiders this spring. All three races capture a split in the Democratic Party between the center and the left, one that is most evident in districts where Republicans are badly outnumbered and have no realistic shot at winning in November.
In House District 38, incumbent state Rep. Daniel Nguyen (D-Lake Oswego) also faced a union-backed challenger from the left, middle school teacher John Wasielewski. Nguyen, a restaurant owner and one of the most moderate House Democrats, drew strong business support, while Wasielewski drew backing from unions and the Democratic Socialists of America.
Early returns showed Nguyen cruising to victory with 75% of the vote.
In House District 27, a Beaverton seat being vacated by six-term incumbent Rep. Ken Helm, a similar dynamic played out in the lead-up to election night. Dr. Tammy Carpenter, a physician and Beaverton School Board member, ran with the support of unions and the Democratic Socialists of America, while Beaverton City Council member Ashley Hartmeier-Prigg had the endorsement of Helm and many members of the business community. Both candidates raised about $200,000.
Hartmeier-Prigg led in early returns 52.4% to 47.2%, but that narrow margin gives Carpenter a chance of pulling ahead as late ballots are counted.
