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Kate Brown
DEMOCRAT
SENATE DISTRICT 21 (SOUTHEAST PORTLAND)
A bright, diligent lawmaker who plays well with others.
It's no secret: WW was a charter member of the Kate Brown Fan Club (est. 1990), and we see no reason to hand in our decoder rings now.
That doesn't mean Brown, a 44-year-old recovering lawyer, is perfect. Last session, the ambition bug (the open mayor's chair, the almost-open 3rd Congressional District seat) had folks second-guessing her votes. Let's see, was her opposition to public-employee pension reform rooted in her interpretation of contract law, or did she realize having union support in a contested congressional primary would come in handy?
Frankly, in this race, it doesn't matter. The only question is whether she's the best candidate for voters in this inner Southeast Senate district. The answer: yes.
In three sessions in the Oregon House and four in the Senate, she's consistently been rated as one of the metro area's most effective lawmakers, earning points for her hard work, strategic thinking and ability to play well with others.
The Republicans, busy raising funds to retire Kevin Mannix's 2002 campaign debt, couldn't be bothered to field a candidate. But Brown isn't getting a free ride.
Riding in from the far right is anti-abortion activist Paul deParrie, the Constitution Party animal who--believe it or not--didn't mention the killing of unborn children until about 15 minutes into our endorsement session. We were glad, in a nervous sort of way, that he's broadened his interests into the evils of property taxes and the Oregon Health Plan, but he's not getting our seal of approval.
The Libertarians came closer, with Theresa "Darklady" Reed, a local sex columnist who's learned a few tricks since we saw her a couple of years ago when she ran against state Rep. Diane Rosenbaum. Reed, VP of the county Libertarian Party, is a sincere and thoughtful proponent of free-market economics and unfettered civil liberties (she wore a Basic Rights Oregon pin to our meeting). And, if we ever needed the Libertarian take on erectile dysfunction, she's the first person we'd call. For the Senate's maladies, however, we're sticking with Brown, who hopes to put her party in the majority, and herself in line for the Senate presidency, a post no Portlander has held in more than 30 years.
Avel Gordly
DEMOCRAT
SENATE DISTRICT 23 (NORTHEAST PORTLAND, MOUNT TABOR, FOSTER-POWELL
One of the few who votes her conscience.
State Sen. Avel Gordly said she couldn't make it to our meeting with her opponent. Now we know why.
We watched Lou Burbach's lips move. We heard the sounds come out. We recognized most of the words the Constitution Party candidate used ("God," "taxes," "disconnect," "faith"). But we have no idea what the man was talking about.
So we really didn't think it was necessary to drag Gordly in for an interview. After all, we've got a good sense of what she does in Salem: advocate on behalf of the poor, call her Democratic colleagues' bull-hockey, and never, ever, sell out her principles. At times, those stances hurt her effectiveness, but they shouldn't trouble voters in her district.
Mary Nolan
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 36 (DOWNTOWN, SOUTHWEST HILLS)
A sourpuss, but a brainy and tenacious sourpuss.
Some Democrats charm and cajole their way into positions of influence in the Republican-ruled House. Others break with the Dems often enough to get some help from across the aisle.
Not Mary Nolan. The former city sewer czar is all business and uncompromisingly liberal (she was the only member of the PERS reform panel to vote against the two main public-pension reform bills). The 49-year-old small-business owner gets things done by being smarter and working harder than most Republicans. (She was judged the brainiest Portland House Democrat last session.) Those attributes were handy when the majority party set its sights on Oregon's decade-old education reforms. From her post on the House Education Committee, she played a key role in rewriting the laws governing the state's Certificate of Initial Mastery, rather than allowing it to be killed.
Nolan, who had no challengers last time around, has only one this year, Joe Tabor, a Libertarian with a heart of gold. He's all for getting government out of the social-service business, but not until his "fellow capitalists" open their wallets and give charities enough cash to take over the job. The electronics consultant is a articulate advocate for his free-market ideas, but we'll stick with Nolan's proven effectiveness.
Diane Rosenbaum
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 42 (INNER SOUTHEAST PORTLAND)
An overachiever from the land of mellow.
It's just what you'd expect in the House district that includes Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard: An incumbent Democrat, with a 100 percent voting record on environmental and labor issues, has to fend off challengers from the greenies and the socialists.
We raved about Diane Rosenbaum in the primary: her effective advocacy for women's rights, working stiffs and Mother Nature. And despite her three challengers (there's also a Libertarian on the ballot), the 54-year-old telecom technician doesn't need our endorsement to win a fourth term in Salem, where we hope she continues her fight to raise the ridiculously low minimum corporate income tax.
Libertarian Susan Detlefsen, despite her protests to the contrary, is a one-issue candidate. She's convinced that state welfare workers are snatching too many kids out of Oregon homes. It's a hot-button issue that deserves scrutiny outside this campaign. Socialist Ron Morgan is running to protect people in the district from unnecessary budget cuts, a role Rosenbaum already plays quite well. And Pacific Green Party candidate Charles Fall concedes that many of his fellow party members will be casting their vote for the incumbent.
Chip Shields
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 43 (IRVINGTON, CONCORDIA, NORTH PORTLAND EAST OF I-5)
What's not to like about a guy who finds jobs for ex-cons?
The folks in Salem might as well engrave the nameplate now. Chip Shields is going to join the 2005 Legislature. In a district with a 6-to-1 edge in party registration, any Democrat with a pulse and a felony-free record will win this seat in a general election. Luckily for Northsiders, they got a whole lot more in Chip Shields, who won a hard-fought primary battle to fill the vacancy being left by Rep. Deborah Kafoury. While a lot of Democratic lawmakers are content to hurl money at social problems, Shields, 37, actually rolled up his sleeves and did something about them, founding Better People, a nonprofit that has found good-paying jobs for more than 300 ex-cons. That gives him a great perspective on employment and corrections issues that will certainly arise next session.
Republican Shirley Whitehead Freeman gets credit for jumping into a race that won't get her any party support. The former social worker is certainly more open-minded than most Republicans (she supports universal health care) but lacks Shields' record of initiative.
Gary Hansen
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 44 (NORTHEAST PORTLAND NORTH OF COLUMBIA BOULEVARD, NORTH PORTLAND WEST OF I-5)
Sometimes slow and steady does win the race.
Gary Hansen is the Wilford Brimley of the House Democratic caucus, a role player who won't steal the spotlight or blow his lines. The 60-year-old ex-plumber was one of the few Portland D's who was able to play nicely in committee, working with Rep. Rob Patridge on the Ways and Means Committee's public-safety panel to wrap up their work early. He also used his blue-collar cred to challenge state Sen. Kurt Schrader, a boot-wearing veterinarian and fellow Democrat who was advocating deeper cuts to the Oregon Health Plan than Hansen wanted.
The state elections office says Hansen has a Republican opponent in his heavily Democratic district, but he didn't return phone calls or bother with a Voters' Pamphlet statement, so we see no need to give him free ink.
Jackie Dingfelder
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 45 (HOLLYWOOD, CULLY, MAYWOOD PARK, PARKROSE)
An aggressive progressive on her way up.
What is it about Jackie Dingfelder that so irks Portland's Red Brigade? Two years ago, her only opponent was a Socialist Party candidate who didn't bother to campaign. This year, she's drawn a challenger from the Freedom Socialist Party, who not only is campaigning but makes a lot of sense. Nonetheless, we're sticking with Dingfelder, a bubbly 43-year-old former green activist who got solid reviews during her first full session in 2003. She worked hard--and largely behind the scenes--on an effort to raise the beer tax and funnel the funds to social-service spending, and she was a top advocate for closing the tax loophole that gave corporations and SUV owners a windfall. In fact, the chief complaint was that Dingfelder spread herself too thin.
Challenger Jordana Sardo, an office manager at a local youth shelter, is unapologetic in her call for sticking it to businesses and rich people so we can fund programs for the poor. "We need to stop asking how to do more with less," she says, "and go after corporations." Sardo, who also wants to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, concedes that Dingfelder shares many of her goals, if not the lengths to which Sardo advocates them. We agree, which is why Dingfelder gets our nod.
Steve March
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 46 (LAURELHURST, MOUNT TABOR, FOSTER-POWELL)
A spreadsheet whiz respected on both sides of the aisle.
He's not flashy or boisterous, but Rep. Steve March caught the eye of many Salem observers in his second term, emerging as the fourth-best House Democrat in our biennial survey of lawmakers. March, 58, approaches issues (from video-poker commissions to cigarette packaging) with the kind of studied reason you'd expect from a former county policy analyst. Perhaps the best testament to the respect he gets is the non-voting seat the House leaders gave him on the budget committee. You want numbers? Talk to March.
His two opponents, Libertarian Eric Dickman and Republican Bill Cornett, have both put some thought into this race, though not terribly deep thought. Dickman, who made this same challenge two years ago, still likes to talk about budgeting philosophies and the role of the free market but is damn hard to pin down on what he'd actually do in Salem (besides abolish the state motor pool). Cornett is equally squishy, talking about the need to bring unions and public employers together, without explaining how.
Jeff Merkley
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 47 (EAST OF I-205 BETWEEN I-84 AND CLINTON STREET)
Like all the kids in Lake Wobegon, he's above average.
There's no doubt state Rep. Jeff Merkley is one of the brightest bulbs in the statehouse. (His "brains" rating was second only to Mary Nolan among local House Democrats.) The three-term ex-executive of the Portland World Affairs Council is usually a step ahead of his colleagues and one of the best at finding unconventional options for addressing long-entrenched problems. (He was championing a "rainy-day fund" years before Republicans latched onto the idea.)
We're not sure his brainpower is best suited for the job of minority leader, which traditionally has been more about taking partisan pot-shots than promoting creative solutions. But that's for his caucus to decide. Voters simply need to choose between him and Republican Frank Cleys, an amiable retired firefighter whose libertarian social views (he opposes bans on abortion and gay marriage) and conservative stand on taxes ("No!") aren't a bad match for this district. But, with no previous public service, he can't hold a candle to Merkley.
LEGISLATURE_WEST
Ryan Deckert
DEMOCRAT
SENATE DISTRICT 14 (RALEIGH HILLS, BEAVERTON, MURRAY HILL)
Like a Willamette Valley pinot noir, Deckert is aging well.
This state Senate race, billed as a local version of Crossfire, turned into an Oprah moment last month when we brought incumbent Democrat Ryan Deckert and his challenger, Jay Omdahl, in for an interview.
Republicans figured Deckert was vulnerable in this evenly split suburban district, having gone to bat for a Portland baseball stadium and the income-tax surcharge that voters trounced.
They recruited Omdahl, a Beaverton tech consultant, to take him out. Aided by GOP hit man Chuck Adams, Omdahl released a barrage of direct mail, complete with blurry photos, screaming that Deckert is "Working To Pass The Biggest Tax in Oregon History." In fact, the brochure implied, Deckert is a lazy bum who's tried to tax hunters, sick people and senior citizens--it declares, "It's Too Late for Apologies!"
Actually, Adams was wrong. For after meeting Deckert for the first time in our office, Omdahl realized that the incumbent didn't have horns and tail. He ended up apologizing to Deckert and vowed to end the mudslinging immediately (and, as of this week, had made good on that pledge).
That's not to say they agree on much. Omdahl is anti-choice and anti-gay marriage (Deckert supports both causes). Fiscally, Omdahl repeats the tired GOP buzzphrase: "We don't have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem." Great. And where is the state spending too much? "I don't know."
Deckert, too, was once as clueless. But after two lackluster sessions in the House, Deckert moved to the Senate, where he's gotten better marks. Last session, he did a admirable job chairing the Revenue Committee and was a key player in the ill-fated income-tax surcharge. He's developing a knack for finding small causes to champion into law, from reduced registration fees for hybrid cars to stiffer penalties for scam artists who target senior citizens. We don't always agree with his pet projects (financing a baseball stadium), but see no reason not to let him continue to grow into the job.
Rick Ross
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 26 (WILSONVILLE, SHERWOOD, GASTON)
A background made for building alliances.
This is the same matchup we had two years ago, and our view hasn't changed. Incumbent Republican Rep. Jerry Krummel is a nice guy in a legislative chamber that needs a lot more than that.
For the third time in three sessions, Krummel finished in the basement of our biennial rating of lawmakers. (Even The Oregonian, in its endorsement of him, noted his reputation as "more of a plodder than a shooting star.") The former mayor of Wilsonville got poor reviews from those who watched him chair his first committee, General Government, which was given only a couple of significant bills to consider. And he's still best known for speaking, at length, from the House floor on almost every bill.
Democrat Rick Ross is the kind of guy you want in a chamber painfully split by partisan and geographic fissures. A plain-speaking, easygoing former Forest Service supervisor, Ross, 67, was raised in the farmland of Umatilla County. His knowledge of forest management would be invaluable to a caucus dominated by tree-huggers. His understanding of forest bureaucracy is sorely needed in a Legislature that has failed to protect the state forests. And, as with his rural roots and current grape growing, he'd be well suited to forge alliances with downstate Republicans.
There are signs that Krummel may be getting the hang of things in Salem (his committee perch gave him a crash course on the State Accident Insurance Fund, which is going to get a lot of attention next year). But given the strength of his Democratic challenger, we see no reason to find out.
Libertarian candidate Charles Frank Radley seem mainly motivated by Tigard's annexation plans, an issue better suited for a City Council bid.
Mark Hass
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 27 (RALEIGH HILLS, BEAVERTON)
A brainy pit bull who looks for solutions.
Mark Hass isn't going to win any awards in Salem for congeniality. That's OK with us. In just two House sessions, the 47-year-old former KATU political reporter has deftly made the move to the other side of the microphone and taken a leadership role in his caucus.
Some Republicans chafe at his ability to schmooze with the press and his public partisan snipes (which come with the job of minority whip). Some Democratic allies were irked when he voted to curb Public Employees Retirement System benefits and boost logging in the Tillamook Forest.
We're don't care about any of that. What impresses us is Hass' ability to look for creative solutions. He ended up voting for the income-tax surcharge, but first had looked to close outdated tax breaks as a means to raise revenue. This year, he's targetting administration costs in the state agriculture and forestry departments. He's also promoting the consolidation of education service districts, particularly in urban areas where school districts already handle many of the functions.
Republican Gabe Schomus has a couple of specific ideas for spending cuts (reduce the state motor pool, kick elected officials out of PERS), but they don't come close to balancing the budget. Libertarian Christi Feldewerth is far less specific.
Jeff Barker
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 28 (SOUTH ALOHA, DOWNTOWN BEAVERTON)
Sometimes nice guys finish first.
After squeaking to victory by a mere 40 votes two years ago, Jeff Barker almost got a free ride back to Salem when his Republican opponent dropped out of the race. But there's still a Green candidate on the ballot, which gives us an excuse to rave, briefly, about one of the best of last year's freshman class.
Barker, 61, is a retired Portland cop who quickly became one of the most likable members of the House Democratic caucus. In part, that's because he's no knee-jerk liberal. Despite formerly serving as the head of the Portland police union, he backed the PERS reforms. And he joined with Republicans to pass a bill increasing cuts in the Tillamook Forest. Beyond votes, Barker works at forging relationships with Republicans, and he passed up a chance to show them up when the Dems boxed them in on a vote to allow emergency contraception to rape victims.
Even Steve Geiger, the Pacific Green Party candidate in this race, couldn't find any fault with Barker, except, perhaps, on his Tillamook vote, saying, "The state forests are not tree farms." We agree but are nonetheless sticking with Barker.
Mary Gallegos
REPUBLICAN
HOUSE DISTRICT 29 (DOWNTOWN HILLSBORO, CORNELIUS, FOREST GROVE)
A down-to-earth vote for common-sense.
Here's a flip-flop even George Bush would like. Two years ago, we endorsed Democrat Chuck Riley in his tough-fought race against Republican Mary Gallegos for this west suburban seat. This year, in the rematch, we're switching sides.
Here's why. Two years ago, the GOP handed Gallegos a script: paint Riley as a taxaholic. Forget the fact that your local school district is in a crisis--raising taxes is not an option.
Although she lost our endorsement, the strategy worked--at least at the ballot box. But once in office, Gallegos, 43, came to realize that the Republicans' "Schools first/No taxes" logic didn't hold up. She decided she needed to represent her constituents (who include a lot of angry public-school parents), not the party leadership. So when the GOP failed to come up with the cash needed for schools, Gallegos, a former administrative assistant at Intel, bolted. She was one of the 11 House Republicans who voted for the temporary income-tax hike that was later rejected by voters.
And she caught holy hell for it. Her own party threatened to field a primary challenger, and in this race, she picked up a formidable foe from the Libertarian Party: Former gubernatorial candidate Tom Cox is hammering at Gallegos' tax vote. There's no doubt that Cox, 39, takes his candidacies seriously, and we encourage him to continue his scrutiny of the state budget. But once the discussion moves outside of fiscal matters, he falters. We agree that the budget is the biggest issue, but it's not the only issue.
Our view of Democrat Chuck Riley hasn't changed all that much. We still think his studious, low-key, solution-oriented style would work well in Salem. But when asked to differentiate himself from Gallegos, he was frustratingly short on specifics.
Gallegos had a rocky first session but showed a lot of promise--and courage--at the end (one lobbyist who monitored her said she was the most-improved of the freshman class) and deserves another shot in Salem.
Derrick Kitts
REPUBLICAN
HOUSE DISTRICT 30 (HILLSBORO, NORTH PLAINS)
We're giving him one more chance.
If people had told us a year ago that we'd be endorsing only two Republican legislative candidates, and that one of them would be Derrick Kitts, we'd have suggested that their medical-marijuana card be revoked.
Kitts? The drunk-driving, back-slapping, ethically challenged jock who finished dead last in our ranking of metro-area lawmakers?
Obviously, we've got some explaining to do. Here's our thinking, which we admit, may be a bit off: Kitts, a former Portland State University wrestling star, is just 31, and he's a young 31. He was overwhelmed during much of his first session, in which his landscape business went belly-up and he got nabbed for drunk driving in Washington. He most recently made news when it was revealed that he's been supplementing his meager legislative salary by using campaign contributions to cover meals, phones and other personal expenses. It's legal but troubling, as the bulk of his contributions come from lobbyists who will be seeking favors come January.
So why the endorsement? In part, because the challenger, Democrat Mik Sander, is energetic and earnest but isn't ready for prime time. The 23-year-old office manager for a small law firm speaks passionately about the need for adequate education funding (he's got three young kids) and has latched on to some of the revenue ideas his party is pushing (close lax loopholes, raise the minimum corporate income tax). But when asked to name one of Kitts' 2,000 votes that he disagreed with, he came up empty. (The third candidate in the race, Constitution Party candidate Scott Semrau, made both Sander and Kitts look like statesmen.)
But our backing of Kitts is also a vote for potential: Despite his wobbly start in Salem, he's one of the most-liked lawmakers around, and he's shown a bit of the maverick streak that once defined Washington County Republicans. He stood up to his party on a couple of key votes and told some campaign contributors to take a hike on others. We encourage him to find a job in his district and a focus in Salem.
Mitch Greenlick
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 33 (NORTHWEST PORTLAND TO NORTH PLAINS)
No contest.
We don't blame the Republicans for chickening out of a fall matchup with freshman Mitch Greenlick. If he's not, as Republican colleague Derrick Kitts says, "the smartest man in the Legislature," he's damn close. And all that handwringing about whether he was "too arrogant" to get along--forget about it. The 69-year-old health policy analyst says getting thrown into discussion of topics he knew little about was humbling.
By contrast, Libertarian David Long struggled anytime he got off the no-tax/personal-freedom script. And Constitution Party candidate Tom Humphrey (no relation to our designer of the same name) didn't show for our interview.
While health care is still Greenlick's passion (he helped write the Oregon Health Plan), he took on a wide range of issues during his first session, from the mundane (a bill to get abandoned cars off of freeways) to the esoteric (a bill to steer venture-capital investments in-state).
He continues to champion the idea of providing universal access to health care, which he knows is a long-term project. That's OK. We've got a hunch he'll be around for a while.
Larry Galizio
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 35 (TIGARD, METZGER, KING CITY)
Because Max Williams isn't here anymore.
Blame the governor. If Ted Kulongoski hadn't picked Republican state Rep. Max Williams to head the state prison system, this endorsement would be over by now. Williams was, hands down, one of the best legislators to serve in Salem in the past decade: smart, independent and diligent.
In their effort to keep this seat, Republicans made a big gamble and, in our view, a big mistake. During the three-way GOP primary, the party leaders supported Suzanne Gallagher, to the most conservative and least qualified of the bunch. Gallagher, a Tigard interior designer, won the race, campaigning on her no-tax pledge and downplaying her ties to the Christian right.
Gallagher has now launched a classic stealth campaign. Her Voters' Pamphlet statement talks about her support of public schools but fails to mention that she backs vouchers for private schools, including religious schools. In July 1993, while addressing a state Senate panel, Gallagher suggested that public schools were the cause of society's ills: "Most of the families of today that seem to be in trouble are products of the government education establishment."
Her fall Voters' Pamphlet statement fails to mention she was Oregon president of Eagle Forum, a group that works against women's rights and called for private charities to take over state social-service programs.
Gallagher opposes gay rights, the voter-approved physician-assisted suicide law and abortion rights, but you'd never know that from her campaign materials. Oregon Right to Life is working hard on her behalf but has been careful not to write any checks to her campaign that would show up on contribution reports.
Democrat Larry Galizio is a better fit for the largely suburban district. The Portland Community College speech instructor is well-versed on the major issues confronting the state but is particularly passionate about higher education. (The debate team he coached was a victim of budget cuts.)
He also would bring real-world experience to discussions of health care, as his wife is a nurse practitioner. We would have liked a few more specifics about his budget priorities, but we're convinced he has the brainpower to be a quick learner and the open-mindedness to get along in Salem.
Moderate Republican voters who can't bring themselves to cast a vote for a Democrat have a couple of other interesting choices. Independent Diane Mandaville, a former Democratic state legislator from California, has more lawmaking experience than many incumbents. Her politics are close to those of Williams (social liberal, fiscal conservative), but she failed to demonstrate that she's up to speed on the Salem scene and seemed more interested in neighborhood issues.
The fourth entry into this race, Libertarian Cody Mattern, 23, was the only candidate we met who could put "Olympian" on his résumé. The U.S. champion fencer seems genuinely smitten by the Libertarian ideals but was admittedly weak on the basics of what happens in Salem. He did add that he has one qualification that would come in handy: "I'm a national champion at poking people."
LEGISLATURE_SOUTH
Ginny Burdick
DEMOCRAT
SENATE DISTRICT 18 (SOUTHWEST PORTLAND, TIGARD)
Confession time: When typing up the list of contested legislative races, we somehow overlooked Democratic state Sen. Ginny Burdick and John Wight, her Republican challenger. Luckily, an eagle-eyed reader (OK, it was Burdick) alerted us to our incompetence just days before they squared off in a debate hosted by the Rotary Club, which enabled us to get a sense of where the two candidates differ and, for no extra charge, join in a chorus of "You're a Grand Old Flag."
After 30 minutes of give and take, here's what we can tell you about Wight, a Democrat-turned-Republican lawyer.
*He thinks government should create more jobs.
*He thinks Burdick talks too much about gun control.
*Unemployment = bad.
*He doesn't think guns are a big deal.
*His lawn is mowed by one of his neighbors.
*Taxes = bad.
*Did we mention the jobs thing?
Sheesh. On paper, Wight looks like an impressive candidate. The former aide to former Portland Mayor Connie McCready has served on a couple of high-level county panels and recently returned from a Peace Corps stint in Africa. And, to be honest, he's definitely a cut above the usual ground chuck the GOP tosses into Democratic dens. Still, his insistence that government policies are driving business out of state just doesn't hold up under scrutiny. And while it's true that Burdick has become best known for her work on gun control, it isn't fair to imply, as he did during the debate, that she's a grandstanding slacker.
During her four sessions in Salem, Burdick has proven herself an able, if not stellar, lawmaker whose progressive social views are a good fit for her district.
Libertarian Roger Garcia is a soft-spoken free-marketer who's not willing to eliminate government programs for the poor and elderly. He'd have been a good addition to the debate but was snubbed by the Rotarians.
Now, all together: "Should auld acquaintance be forgot...."
Jim Morton
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 37 (SOUTH LAKE OSWEGO, WEST LINN, TUALATIN)
A pro-business social progressive with a record of making tough choices.
Republicans, who dominate this south suburban district, love to talk about running government like a business. In Jim Morton, 56, they've got a go-get-'em candidate who knows how to meet a payroll and knows the heartbreak of handing someone a pink slip. A guy who's cut through government red tape. And someone who happens to be a Democrat.
Morton, who serves on the West Linn budget committee, is a pro-business social progressive who went from being the second employee of Associated Furniture Manufacturers to its co-owner and, at its peak production, the employer of 90 people in Portland. (He sold the business a few years ago.)
His Republican opponent, Scott Bruun, also knows his way around a spreadsheet, having worked for several banks before landing at his family's construction firm as its chief financial officer. Bruun, a likable 38-year-old with an MBA from Portland State University, is largely a party-line Republican who says his conservative social views (he supports a constitutional ban on gay marriage and has the endorsements of the National Rifle Association and Oregon Right to Life) are not why he's seeking a spot in Salem. But he offered fewer specifics than Morton did when it came to how to balance the demand for dollars with slowing revenues, banking on an improved business climate to help Oregon out of its problems.
Curtis Sommer, a pen-snapping Pacific Green candidate, and Marc Delphine, a fast-talking Libertarian, are also running for the seat being given up by longtime lawmaker Randy Miller. Sommer has worked hard for public power in Oregon, and Delphine asks some good questions about why the state is in the booze business. But neither displayed Morton's broad understanding of what's needed in the next session.
Greg Macpherson
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 38 (LAKE OSWEGO, RIVERDALE, SOUTHWEST PORTLAND)
Trade our 2003 Rookie of the Year? Forget it.
Two years ago, we nearly endorsed Greg Macpherson's Republican opponent, Jim Zupancic, who is now challenging U.S. Rep Darlene Hooley. What the hell were we thinking?
While Zupancic spent the past 24 months preparing for a congressional bid (see page 14), Macpherson quietly rolled up his sleeves and dug into one of the state's most vexing problems: an overly generous pension system. The 54-year-old employee-benefits lawyer (for Stoel Rives) used his professional experience to do Gov. Ted Kulongoski's heavy lifting on PERS. His performance earned him top honors among metro-area House members and, in our view, the right to a return trip to the Capitol.
Macpherson's rookie performance was so good the Republicans didn't bother fielding a candidate this year. Neither Christopher Richter, a Libertarian, nor Ernest Richardson, the Constitution Party candidate, is running an active campaign.
Doug Neeley
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 39 (OREGON CITY, CANBY)
Incumbent Wayne Scott has fueled partisan fires.
Wayne Scott isn't stupid. So how to explain this? He's vowed not to raise taxes and to provide adequate funds for schools. That means he's staring at a minimum cut of $400 million to come January. So what's the first line item he'd eliminate? Won't say. Can he at least point to an agency he'd take a look at? Nope.
Such a response from a first-time candidate would be regrettable. Coming from the House majority leader, it's insulting. It's not like Scott doesn't know where the fat is. He spent last year digging into the crannies of the state budget, picking through agencies' "ending balances" to come up with about $30 million in cash that would be better used elsewhere. And for that, he deserves credit.
Yet in our endorsement interview we asked him five times to point to excessive spending, and five times he dodged the question, looking as annoyed as President Bush in his first debate. Scott doesn't see any need to explain his plans to WW--or, apparently, to voters in his district, which is evenly split between R's and D's.
Fortunately, voters have a better choice in Doug Neeley, a soft-spoken 61-year-old statistician whose record of public service is as long (and impressive) as his mutton chops. Neeley, who holds a Ph.D. in statistics and genetics, has served eight years on the Oregon City Council and six years on the Metro Policy Advisory Committee. His job as a statistical consultant has given him insights into tribal fish policy, public power and forest management.
While Scott dodges, Neeley offers specifics. He says a lot can be done for Oregonians without raising taxes. He wants to break down lingering barriers between community colleges and state universities, redefine agricultural land so it's based on productivity, not simply soil quality (who knew?) and authorize school districts to force developers to pay for school expansions caused by new subdivisions.
Neeley has raised only one-eighteenth the cash Scott has, but his campaign has showed far more value.
Libertarian Wes Wagner is running on a no-tax, cut-waste platform that's almost as vague as Scott's.
Dave Hunt
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 40 (GLADSTONE, OAK GROVE, JOHNSON CITY)
A thoughtful lawmaker with an independent streak.
Most freshmen take their rookie season to sit back and learn the ropes. Dave Hunt decided to stand up and pick a few fights. He pissed off his party's green allies by voting to relax restrictions on land use and hunting. He angered Republicans by showing up House Speaker Karen Minnis on a tax bill she didn't want heard. And he got sideways with some lobbyists who felt that as a freshman he was too cocky.
Sorry. We wish both parties had a few more like him.
Though we cringe at a few of Hunt's votes (he was one of only three Dems to support weakening the Endangered Species Act), this 36-year-old former congressional aide (to Darlene Hooley) and school-board member (Oregon City) does his homework, stands up for what he believes, and is more interested in finding a solution than toeing the party line. Hunt's Republican opponent, David Sanders, declined our invitation. According to his voters' pamphlet statement, he wants to keep "illegal aliens" out of our schools and make sure the income-tax kicker is not "stolen" and put into a reserve fund.
Carolyn Tomei
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 41 (SELLWOOD, WOODSTOCK, MILWAUKIE)
A needed advocate for the Oregon Health Plan.
Some House Democrats gave up during 2003 (a.k.a. "The Longest Session in Oregon History") and let the leadership snipe its way toward sine die. Not Carolyn Tomei. The former mental-health counselor, in her second term in Salem, spent a lot of hours playing defense on the House Human Services Committee, where chairman Jeff Kruse initially seemed intent on killing the Oregon Health Plan. Tomei, 68, the former mayor of Milwaukie, was able to work with Republicans and save core programs by politely and persistently asking tough questions about the long-term costs of short-term cuts. Given the shortfall expected to greet lawmakers in January, her skills will be needed again.
Republican Steve Rowe, who owns a couple of local tobacco shops, has some insights into the struggles facing small-business owners but isn't up to speed on the other issues Tomei is tackling. The Constitution Party candidate is AWOL from this race.
LEGISLATURE_EAST
Laurie Monnes Anderson
DEMOCRAT
SENATE DISTRICT 25 (GRESHAM, TROUTDALE, FAIRVIEW, WOOD VILLAGE)
Quiet and determined, without a personal agenda.
The Oregon Senate needs a lot of things. Ron Sunseri isn't one of them.
The bellicose real-estate agent represented the Gresham half of this district in the statehouse on and off during the 1990s. He was one of the swaggering young Republicans, intoxicated by their new power, who laid waste to environmental laws and civil liberties (he got a "zero" rating from both the Oregon League of Conservation Voters and American Civil Liberties Union) while doing the bidding of groups like the National Rifle Association. Sunseri's particular passion, however, was education, particularly charter schools and phonics. In 1994, he wrote a book attacking Oregon's 1990 school reforms, saying they were part of a liberal federal plot to set up a "national system of education." Oddly, he's got no complaints about the unfunded federal mandates of No Child Left Behind.
Our chief complaint, however, is Sunseri's reputation for partisan gamesmanship. During his last session (1999) he was judged by lobbyists, aides, reporters and colleagues to have the least integrity of the 24 metro-area House members.
State Rep. Laurie Monnes Anderson, while not exactly setting Salem on fire, carries far less baggage around the capitol. During her two House terms, the 58-year-old nurse has been a quiet but forceful advocate for health care, has avoided partisan sniping and, in fact, has stood up to traditional allies (such as unions) when she thought they were wrong.
The fight for this seat, left open by Republican John Minnis' appointment to a state police post, is one of a handful that could determine who controls the state Senate, which currently has a 15-15 split. Regardless of which party comes out on top, Monnes Anderson's proven collaborative style and independent streak is exactly what the Senate needs.
Mike Schaufler
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 48 (LENTS, HAPPY VALLEY, POWELL BUTTE)
A lunch-bucket Democrat with no patience for games.
Freshman Democrat Mike Schaufler is disgusted with the Republican script for the 2004 election: hold the line on taxes, adequately fund education and then balance the budget.
Given the $600 million to $800 million shortfall that would create, he wants some specifics. "I'm tired of this circular logic," he said, pounding our conference-room table. "Where will they cut out $700 million? There will be pain, but they won't say where."
He's right. With few exceptions, GOP legislative candidates have been unable or unwilling to talk about specific cuts. His opponent is typical. Dave Mowry says lawmakers could get new money by closing some tax breaks. Yet, despite working as a legislative aide last session, he can't name a single one he'd target.
Schaufler, by contrast, is glad to offer his opinion on any topic. Amend the state constitution to preclude gay marriage? "No. I don't want government defining religious sacraments. What's next, a ballot measure about baptism?"
That no-nonsense approach served Schaufler well in his rookie term, in which the driveway contractor showed backbone by bucking his union supporters to favor some of the PERS reforms and breaking with his party on some environmental laws.
Mowry, with previous business experience and knowledge of Salem, was a step above many first-time candidates, but his unwillingness to detail his priorities make us wary.
Rob Brading
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 49(FAIRVIEW, GRESHAM, TROUTDALE, WOOD VILLAGE)
A good match for an evenly divided district.
If this were a referendum on Karen Minnis' job as House speaker, we'd give her a passing grade. The Republican state rep was put in a no-win situation: Several members of her caucus had vowed not to raise taxes, and yet she didn't have the votes (or the desire) to gut social services. As a result, she ended up letting a few renegade Republicans join with Democrats to pass a temporary income-tax hike. As predicted, it was referred to the ballot by anti-tax activists and crushed at the polls.
Minnis certainly could have played a bigger role in finding a solution that actually worked, but she did a far better job at speaker than the previous two Republicans to hold the post (Lynn Snodgrass and Mark Simmons).
The question before us, however, is who can best represent this eastside district in Salem, and, unlike in the past three elections, we're backing Minnis' challenger.
Rob Brading is one of the strongest first-time Democratic candidates we've seen this year. While he would be likely to vote with his party on most issues, he says he thinks some of his party members' lock step with labor is no better than Republicans' unthinking allegiance to business lobbies. In fact, as the past president of the Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce, Brading is well aware of the problems facing small businesses. In his 12 years as CEO of Multnomah Community Television, he, like many small employers, has had to deal with a sharp revenue drop and resulting staff layoffs.
Brading, who has a divinity degree, also has been a member of a Gresham police panel and currently sits on the Multnomah County Library Advisory Board. Those experiences give him a different perspective than many fellow Democrats and would be helpful in forging alliances. So, too, would his mediation skills, honed while he was associate director of a nonsectarian group charged with resolving conflicts between Christians and Jews in New York.
Minnis, on the other hand, has been increasingly vocal on social issues. She let her caucus try to kill a bill providing aid to rape victims because it included a provision allowing a prescription to be written for emergency contraceptives. And she has a statement in the Voters' Pamphlet supporting Measure 36, the ban on gay marriage.
We believe Minnis is motivated by strong personal convictions, but for this suburban district, where Democrats hold a slight edge, Brading is a better match.
Jim Buck
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 50 (GRESHAM, POWELL VALLEY)
A résumé that suggests a leader-in-waiting.
We like John Lim and were sorry to see him go when a now-defunct term-limits law prompted him to leave the state Senate four years ago.
Lim, a Korean immigrant who built a health-products business, was one of the few lawmakers who regularly rejected party dogma, refusing to engage in union-bashing, environmental rollbacks or tough-on-crime grandstanding.
So why are we backing his opponent? It's a tough call, but we think Jim Buck has the potential to become a leader in the Legislature, something Lim never managed. Buck grew up blue-collar on Portland's east side. He's pulled lumber, picked crops, driven a forklift and worked as a Jesuit volunteer on the Colville Indian Reservation.
He moved into teaching and up the ranks of administration, working as the superintendent of the Orient School District (east of Gresham), and from 1998 to 2002 was the assistant superintendent at Gresham-Barrow.
Buck, who teaches a course in conflict resolution at Lewis & Clark College, says that when incumbent Laurie Monnes Anderson gave up this seat to run for the Senate, he decided to jump in, concerned about the growing partisanship in the statehouse.
Buck would like to restore funding to the Oregon Health Plan, which, he says, did a good job keeping low-income residents out of high-cost emergency rooms. To boost the budget, he favors raising the minimum corporate income tax, so that large companies pay more than $10 a year, and closing some tax loopholes. But he's also concerned about the law tying Oregon's already higher-than-average minimum wage to inflation.
Constitution Party candidate Allan Page also is in the race, campaigning to deny state benefits to illegal immigrants.
Kathryn Firestone
DEMOCRAT
HOUSE DISTRICT 51 (CLACKAMAS, DAMASCUS, BORING, ESTACADA)
Warm and fuzzy? No. Determined and ready? Yes.
Kathryn Firestone is ready to get to work in the Oregon House. Yesterday.
Her problem is that Linda Flores, despite an embarrassingly bad freshman year, thinks she deserves a second term. We disagree.
Despite being taken under Speaker Karen Minnis' wing, Flores had little to show for her first session. In our biennial survey of area lawmakers, she got the second-lowest score for brains (trumping only Jerry Krummel) and needlessly fueled partisanship by backing a no-hope bill to require a 24-hour-wait before an abortion.
Democrats think Flores is vulnerable and recruited Firestone, the former president of the Oregon PTA and volunteer coordinator for the North Clackamas School District, to challenge her.
To boost revenue in the short-term, Firestone, 45, would get rid of the tax breaks (and there are several) that no longer serve their original purpose and would pool teachers' health insurance to save cash. Long-term, she advocates allowing the state audits division to check out the books in school districts.
Firestone served on the Oregon Quality Education Commission, a state panel that looked into the cost of various education programs, and is hammering Flores for her opposition to the tax measure that local school districts supported. More recently, she's gotten personal, noting that a yard-service business owned by Flores and her husband failed to pay federal payroll taxes in the late '90s.
As she notes, a lawmaker who demands that government live within its means should do the same at home. We don't think it's the only reason to send Flores packing, but it certainly should give voters pause.
WHAT'S INSIDE: Read the rest of our endorsements Introduction | Federal Offices | Statewide Offices | Statewide & Local Measures | Local Races | State Legislature | Battle Plan (Political Calendar)
WHAT'S INSIDE: Read the rest of our endorsements Introduction | Federal Offices | Statewide Offices | Statewide & Local Measures | Local Races | State Legislature | Battle Plan (Political Calendar)
WWeek 2015