IT MAY NOT BE SEXY,

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U.S. SENATE
Democrats

BILL BRADBURY

Fun FaCt: Bradbury's favorite junk food is Kettle Chips (lightly salted).

To be honest, this isn't the endorsement we were hoping to make. Like many folks who believe that bitter politics can sometimes lead to better policies, we were drooling at the thought of Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber and Republican U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith going at it all summer. But the governor took a pass on the race (as did U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio), leaving Secretary of State Bill Bradbury to try to unseat Smith.

Bradbury's no sacrificial lamb. The former TV reporter from the south coast got solid, if not spectacular, reviews during 14 years in the Legislature, including a session as Senate president; he played a key role in garnering rural support for fish protection. In his current term as secretary of state, he's smoothly brought the state into the era of vote-by-mail.

Bradbury, 52, picked up two token Democratic challengers. Craig Hanson wins the award for deepest roots, the only candidate we met who boasted of being an eighth-generation Oregonian. The nursery worker from Yamhill County complained that Bradbury wasn't "progressive enough," yet didn't offer any examples of specific differences. Greg Haven, an unemployed market researcher, has a single guiding political philosophy: "It's all Bush's fault."

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Democrats

TED KULONGOSKI

Fun FaCt: The last movie seen by this ex-Marine? We Were Soldiers.

Voters in the Democratic gubernatorial primary find themselves in the position of showing up at Ben & Jerry's for Free Cone Night only to discover that their sole choice is lots of vanilla sprinkled with a couple of nuts.

We've met these candidates one by one, and we've brought them in together. We've listened to them debate and examined their Voters' Pamphlet statements. And still, we struggle to find much inspiration.

Individually and collectively, the three major candidates--Jim Hill, Ted Kulongoski and Bev Stein--have thus far provided a cure for insomnia.

In fact, the two single-issue candidates in the race--psychologist Caleb Burns, who is not a nut but whose sole interest is in gutting the state's attempts at education reform; and engineer William Allen, who wants Oregon to secede from the union--piqued our curiosity more than the three mainstream candidates. The problem is that neither of those gents has much relevant experience.

Former Multnomah County Chairwoman Bev Stein may be the most heavily scripted contestant on the ballot. Asked for solutions to problems ranging from the crushing cost of public pensions to K-12 funding, Stein's response is the same: She'd convene a meeting--one skill she seems to have mastered. Stein works hard, as evidenced by a grueling campaign calendar and an impressive number of campaign contributors. The problem is that she's as spontaneous as an arranged marriage and about as inspirational as a toaster-oven owner's manual. And her record as at the county was, at best, mixed.

Then there's Jim Hill, who had the great good fortune to serve as state treasurer during the greatest bull market in history. Aiming to be only the second African-American governor in the nation's history, Hill says his mastery of budget and finance issues make him a logical choice for the top job. He may be right; the problem is that except for the oft-told tale of how he overcame racial prejudice and poverty to become state treasurer, Hill has little else to say.

A far bigger problem, we believe, is that Hill is nearly as much of a Johnny One Note as the fringe candidates. Ask him a question about anything besides the state's bond rating and you'll endure a barely coherent blast of platitudes and tortured logic, such as his painful attempt to distinguish hatchery from wild salmon during last month's televised candidate debate.

It is with some trepidation that we brand Kulongoski with our seal of approval. On paper, he possesses a wealth of useful job experience: He's been a labor lawyer, state legislator, insurance commissioner, attorney general and Supreme Court justice. He also has a charming personality, a compelling personal story--raised an orphan, the former Marine put himself through college and law school and recently beat prostate cancer--and a powerful intellect. In our endorsement interview, his opponents fumbled with generalities in their attempts to explain Oregon's economic woes. Kulongoski displayed an impressive command of the subject, including a precise explanation of our over-reliance on manufacturing jobs.

Kulongoski was a rising star in Oregon politics 20 years ago, but after Vic Atiyeh shellacked him in the 1982 gubernatorial race, he settled for a series of lesser positions. He got pummeled in '82 in part because he was painted as a socialist in a recession-battered state in no mood for lefty politics and in part because he ran a lackluster campaign. While Kulongoski has made a dramatic move to the center in the past two decades, the biggest concern is that it's unclear who will show up for the election--the Ted with all the tools to be a great governor, or the Ted who will be content to sit on his resume.

Thus far, Hill and Stein have outhustled the frontrunner, each raising twice as much money and burning a lot more shoe leather. Still, we'll bank on Kulongoski's proven ability to solve big problems--as insurance commissioner, he played a key role in reforming the state's worker's-comp rules, and as AG, he modernized Oregon's juvenile-justice system--and his admirable success in leading some of the state's key institutions.

Yes, Ted's our man, and we're hopeful that the general election will compel him to start downing shots of caffeine, ginseng and whatever else he needs to reignite the fire in his belly.

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SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

STAN BUNN

Fun FaCt: Children's author Beverly Cleary, born in Yamhill County, is Bunn's cousin.

Readers of this newspaper, which isn't known for its tolerance of wayward public officials, may be wondering if someone spiked our air vents.

Given Bunn's disastrous brushes with the state ethics commission, which has accused him of using his state-issued cell phone for hundreds of personal calls, we've long viewed this race as a two-person contest between Portland charter-school advocate Rob Kremer and state Sen. Susan Castillo.

Neither, however, proved an acceptable alternative to the speed-dialing incumbent. Although the race is nonpartisan, Kremer and Castillo have drawn support from opposite ends of the ideological spectrum. Kremer got big donations from conservative icons such as Wes Lematta and Dick Wendt, while Castillo, the first Hispanic woman to serve in the Oregon Legislature, raked in big bucks from teachers and public employee unions.

The choice has seemed clear-cut: Kremer, a vociferous critic of Oregon's education-reform movement and an architect of the state's charter-school law, vs. Castillo, a former television journalist from Eugene who was drafted by K-12 supporters when Bunn's problems became front-page news.

Kremer, a former Chicago financial derivatives broker, brings an impressive intellect and strongly held views to the race. Even his detractors respect his brains, but they make a compelling argument that he is a Trojan horse, an enemy of public education who wants to weaken it from the inside.

Kremer claims to support public schools, but he sends his children to private school even though he lives in Riverdale, which boasts one of the state's best school districts. That inconsistency is mirrored by his puzzling position on McCoy Academy. Kremer says he wants to make public schools more accountable, but his most notable effort in the charter-school arena--McCoy--has been a disaster. The school's charter was revoked by the Portland Public Schools after two years for failing to meet academic and attendance benchmarks. McCoy's bookkeeping and finances were a complete shambles and the school racked up a massive deficit. Rather than hold the school's management responsible, Kremer, who raised money for the academy and served as a paid consultant, continues to blame Portland Public Schools for McCoy's woes.

About Castillo, there is less to say. She made no particular mark in the Legislature and has yet to define her candidacy. In our endorsement interview, she couldn't even hazard a guess as to the budget of the agency she hopes to run. Nor could she cite a single example of a politically unpopular position she had taken on principle. We have rarely interviewed a mainstream candidate so unprepared and unconvincing.

That leaves Bunn--the one candidate we initially assumed wasn't an option. Suddenly, compared to his rivals, this moderate Republican from Newberg looks pretty good.

Until ethics violations blackened his name, he was doing a fairly decent job. Under his watch, Oregon lowered its dropout rate and improved its students' reading scores. Bunn also responded to widespread criticism of Oregon's school reforms by reducing busywork. He's been less visible than we'd like and hasn't been the forceful advocate for K-12 funding that we had hoped. But he's a skilled political operator who works well with both major parties, has shown a willingness to put personal convictions ahead of partisanship and has built a good relationship with educators, despite his widely publicized failure to pay property taxes.

Bunn disputes the merit of the charges against him--a position buttressed by an examination of his case by the Albany Democrat-Herald. We don't excuse his use of a state phone for personal calls, but we're pretty sure he has learned a lesson and, given the sorry competition, deserves another chance.

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STATE LABOR COMMISSIONER

DAN GARDNER

Fun FaCt: Gardner's favorite TV show is CSI.

Deservedly the most obscure statewide elected office, the top job at the Bureau of Labor & Industries has attracted a field of candidates that in its abject weakness makes a compelling case for having the governor pick someone to fill the nonpartisan position.

The labor commissioner is responsible for upholding state laws protecting workplace civil rights, enforcing compliance with laws regarding wages and other working conditions, and overseeing the state's apprenticeship programs.

This year's contenders are Don Frazier, a semiconductor-industry contractor; Dan Gardner, an electrician and three-term Democratic state representative from Portland; Pavel Goberman, a high-octane Russian DIY fitness guru who has labeled just about every other elected official in the state a crook; and Victor Hoffer, a lawyer who drives ambulances instead of chasing them.

Frazier, whose company trains the people who work in chip plants, doesn't know much about the job; Goberman, one of the cadre of frequent fliers who will run for any office any time, doesn't need the post because he has already announced that he's running for U.S. Senate in two years; Hoffer, a pleasant paramedic who previously ran for attorney general, has nothing in particular to offer.

That leaves Gardner, whose labor credentials are every bit as real as the dirt that was under his fingernails when he came in for an interview. As House minority leader he earned lukewarm reviews last session, but at least he understands the labor commissioner's job and has the political experience and connections to do it.

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SENATE DISTRICT 20
Milwaukie, Oregon City, Canby

Democrats

KURT SCHRADER

Fun FaCt: The last book Schrader had read was Lord of the Rings.

It's a good thing state Rep. Kurt Schrader is a veterinarian. With all the fur flying in this endorsement session, we were worried about needing a rabies shot. Schrader and his challenger, state Rep. Kathy Lowe, are both seeking a promotion, and the guy in the cowboy boots is far better-suited to take on the job.

Lowe, a lawyer who's being bankrolled by the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, has been a big disappointment during her two terms. She means well and has a progressive voting record, but she's never figured out how to get things done in the GOP-controlled House.

Schrader, on the other hand, surprised the Capitol crowd by leaping to the head of the class in his three sessions. Last year, lobbyists, lawmakers and other Salem observers gave him the second-highest marks in the House (behind Republican Rep. Max Williams) in our biennial ranking of metro legislators. He was one of five legislators named to a panel charged with balancing the budget during the interim. He's shown a willingness to stand up to his caucus when it means keeping his word, and his experience as a large-animal vet gives him a lot of credibility with rural colleagues.

The most telling moment in our interview came when we allowed the candidates to ask their opponent a question. Schrader asked the most basic: "Kathy, why do you think you're a better legislator than I am?"

Lowe froze. After 30 seconds of silence, she repeated the question, sputtered something about "different skill sets," and then conceded, "I think you're a great man and have done a good job."

We couldn't have said it any better.

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SENATE DISTRICT 24
East Portland

Democrats

FRANK SHIELDS

Fun FaCt: Shields' favorite junk food is Snickers.

Forget term limits. We want to see a bill establishing Ron McCarty limits.

For the past 10 years, we've been dancing to the same monotonous five-step:

1. Frank Shields runs for the Legislature.

2. Ron McCarty challenges him.

3. We endorse Shields, noting that while he's never been one of the most effective lawmakers, the former Methodist minister sometimes seems to be the only one pissed off that the poor, the sick and the elderly get it in the shorts every time the Human Resources budget rolls through the Ways and Means Committee.

4. We trash McCarty, noting that the last time he served in the Legislature, he did so poorly in our biennial rating of metro-area lawmakers we had to come up with a category just for him: "Beyond All Hope."

5. Shields wins.

Here's hoping the old formula works again.

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HOUSE DISTRICT 28
Beaverton, Aloha

Republicans

KEITH PARKER

Fun FaCt: Parker's great-grandmother, Marie Smith, was the first woman to head the Portland NAACP.

Some people jump into politics. Keith Parker needed a push. House Majority Leader Karen Minnis wanted a strong candidate to run in this redrawn suburban district and asked this 35-year-old business lawyer to make his first bid for elective office. The Northeast Portland native has only limited experience in Beaverton politics since moving there after finishing law school (Southern Methodist) in 1999, but his management post at Nike gave him an international perspective touring Asian shoe factories in the mid-'90s.

Parker suffers from a common affliction of first-timers: He's long on generalities ("there's too much government regulation") but short on specifics. Still, he's taking the campaign seriously and knows his limits. Parker's opponent, Patricia Kepler, seems to be using her candidacy primarily to promote pedestrian safety--a worthy cause but a bit, well, pedestrian.

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HOUSE DISTRICT 29
Hillsboro, Cornelius, Forest Grove

Republicans

RALPH BROWN

Fun FaCt: Brown's favorite TV show is The West Wing.

We wish we'd met up with Ralph Brown earlier--we'd have launched a campaign to get west suburban Independents to join the GOP just so they could vote for him. Brown, who was appointed to fill Rep. Jim Hill's vacated seat in February, is everything the Republicans should want in a candidate: a fiscal conservative with a soft spot for the little guy. Brown ended a 13-year retirement from politics in 1995 to run for mayor of Cornelius, a job he'd left in '77, after the city adopted an anti-gay ordinance. "It wasn't right," he says. "And I thought Cornelius was getting a bad reputation." He won the election and has held the job ever since.

After 15 years of local government experience--he also served on the Cornelius City Council--he's frustrated by the lack of an industrial base in western Washington County. And after 35 years in Hillsboro and Forest Grove public schools, working as a teacher, counselor, administrator and AmeriCorps project director, he's angered by the whittling away of school days, music programs and vocational training.

Yet Brown, 57, remains an optimist. He believes that after the election posturing is over, he and fellow moderate Republicans can play a key role in finding long-term funding for schools. And, no, he doesn't rule out considering a tobacco tax, though he voted against it in the February special session. "I don't want more taxes, but I think it's a mistake to box yourself into a position," he says.

Such comments prompted Brown's opponent, Mary Gallegos, to portray him as a tax-and-spend liberal who's driven business out of Cornelius. She didn't return our calls, so we couldn't find out whether she's ever attended a Cornelius City Council meeting (we suspect not). We also couldn't find out her magic formula to restore funding senior citizens have lost in "unnecessary cuts" while sticking to her "no tax" pledge. As Jim Hill's sister, she seems to think she's entitled to this seat. We think Brown has earned it.

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HOUSE DISTRICT 30
Hillsboro

Republicans

DAWN PHILLIPS

Fun FaCt: Phillips bought a low-power FM radio station to broadcast campaign info in her district.

For 12 years, Dawn Phillips was known as one of the best-informed radio reporters haunting the halls of the Capitol. Now, after spending a session as a legislative aide to state Rep. Jim Hill, the former KXL newshound wants to jump to the other side of the microphone. And why not? The 40-year-old Hill-High grad knows more about the state budget than most of the folks who approved it. Her sassy-yet-self-effacing sense of humor would be welcome in a body where members often overvalue their importance. And her views on social issues (unlike her opponent, she's pro-choice) are a good match for an independent-minded district that includes both small farms and high tech.

Derrick Kitts is no slouch, however. The 28-year-old former PSU wrestling-team captain, who once worked as a Congressional aide, is familiar with the process of grappling with policy and obviously has been studying up on state issues. As the owner of a landscaping company, he understands the state's impact on small businesses. In another race, he might get our nod, but in this contest he's overmatched.

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HOUSE DISTRICT 33
Pearl District, Cedar Mill,Beaverton, North Plains

Democrats

MITCH GREENLICK

Fun FaCt: Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer is the last book Greenlick read.

This race between two sharp Democrats boils down to one impolite question: Is Mitch Greenlick such an arrogant jerk that he can't be effective in Salem?

We think the answer is "no."

It's not a conclusion we come to lightly. We spent more time researching this legislative race than any other, talking to several people who have worked with each candidate. We came to this conclusion: Carol Robinson would be a darn good state representative. Greenlick, however, has the chance to be a great one.

Robinson is one of the most impressive first-time candidates we've met. She and her husband, Joe, own a small high-tech consulting business, which gives her some insights into a key industry for the state and her district. As a former PE teacher and mother of four who fled the crumbling California public-school system in the '90s, she's taken a lead role in getting more cash for Oregon schools. She honchoed the 2000 bond measure for the Beaverton School District and spent much of the 2001 legislative session in Salem volunteering with the Coalition for School Funding Now.

During an intense endorsement interview with her opponent, Robinson showed tremendous poise and a firm understanding of state issues that extend beyond the classroom. Her endorsement list includes former Gov. Barbara Roberts, Beaverton Mayor Rob Drake and state Sen. Ryan Deckert.

So why pick Greenlick? Because he can help the state take on one of its most critical, and complicated, issues: health-care reform. He's spent more than 30 years as a health-policy researcher (including 10 years teaching at Oregon Health and Science University) and served on the state panel that designed the Oregon Health Plan. After meeting him twice (he nearly picked off Republican state Rep. Bill Witt two years ago), it's our guess that his election would significantly raise the average IQ inside the statehouse. In fact, Greenlick's undisputed brainpower is almost a liability. People who have worked with him on health and environmental issues (his other passion) say he can be impatient with the less-informed and arrogant when challenged. Those characteristics can be fatal in Salem, where perceived personal slights can derail any bill, regardless of its merits.

Still, we've talked to enough other people to be convinced that Greenlick, 67, has the ability to be effective. He's been endorsed by Gov. John Kitzhaber, Multnomah County Commissioner Serena Cruz and state Sen. Ginny Burdick. We're confident that if he's elected, he can thicken his skin and polish his table-side manner.

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HOUSE DISTRICT 33
Pearl District, Cedar Mill, Beaverton, North Plains

Republicans

ERIK HARTUNG

Fun FaCt: The last live music heard was the Shins, at Berbati's April 12.

Make no mistake; this ain't no vanity campaign. Yes, Erik Hartung is just 24. Yes, he bears one of the more potent political surnames in the Portland area. And, yes, some might say he's in the wrong party. But this Jesuit High grad is a serious candidate. If you peel away the Voters' Pamphlet platitudes and campaign propaganda, it's clear that he learned some valuable lessons about the legislative process while working for his grandfather, state Sen. Tom Hartung, but he's also developed some ideas of his own about public policy. Hartung's passions are the environment (an area in which he says he'd be greener than his grandpa) and access to higher education. And he showed some guts last month by publicly advocating a cigarette tax hike to fund public education.

There's also more to Brian Devore than meets the eye. The 38-year-old business consultant, who looks like he just stepped out of the pages of GQ, vows to protect the environment and kids, but his real passion seems to be reducing Oregon's reliance on high tech by promoting emerging industries such as biotechnology and ecotourism.

It's true Hartung can't match Devore's business experience (Hartung is trying to develop a wine-distribution component to the family meat business), but he's more than just an ambitious kid with a good name.

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HOUSE DISTRICT 38
Lake Oswego, Southwest Portland

Democrats

KATHERINE COWAN

Fun FaCt: The last CD Cowan purchased was The Beatles Anthology.

Eeny, meeny, miney, moos

How are we supposed to choose?

With folks like this, the D's can't lose

Eeny, meeny....

Our choice of Katherine Cowan in this contest wasn't quite so cavalier, but it was close. The candidates in this race don't differ significantly on any major issues, and both have the potential to kick serious legislative butt in Salem. Greg Macpherson is one of the nicest guys we've met and has the backing of everyone from Gov. John Kitzhaber to conservationist Mike Houck. His Jimmy Stewart aw-shucks demeanor belies an impressive intellect--undergrad at Harvard, law degree from Georgetown--and a knowledge of state issues that goes as deep as his political roots. (Though he doesn't like to brag about it, he's the son of Hector Macpherson, a Corvallis dairy farmer who, as a state senator, helped Republican Gov. Tom McCall craft Oregon's history-making land-use laws.) The 52-year-old lawyer for Stoel Rives has chaired the Multnomah County Planning Commission, served as vice president of the City Club and, as required of any male candidate running in Lake Oswego, coached a youth soccer team.

OK. So why endorse his opponent?

Two reasons. First, we think she's better attuned to the specific interests of her district, where she's lived for seven years (Macpherson moved to Lake Oswego from Southeast Portland just a few months ago). Second, she has a determined intensity and track record that convinces us she'd be a force to be reckoned with in the Legislature. The 43-year-old former civil litigator has been a vociferous advocate for public schools and health care for children. Last year, to test the perception that diabetes is on the rise, she worked with Republican state Sen. Lenn Hannon to pass a law making Oregon the first state to track cases of the disease. (Cowan's daughter, now a sixth-grader, was diagnosed with diabetes at age 4.) Cowan's bio may not be as impressive as her opponent's, but we think she'd bring some much-needed energy to the statehouse.

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HOUSE DISTRICT 38
Lake Oswego, Southwest Portland

Republicans

JIM ZUPANCIC

Fun FaCt: Zupancic's last CD purchased was Eric Clapton's Unplugged.

If this contest were an HBO movie and we were writing the ending, Jim Zupancic would narrowly win and then hire his opponent as a legislative aide. We came damn close to endorsing Anthony Azedeh, a 22-year-old senior at Lewis & Clark College who's got more energy than the entire GOP House caucus put together. The Aloha High grad (class of '98) is running for all the right reasons: He's worried about schools and thinks his party has swung too far to the right (he supports gay rights, abortion rights and doctor-assisted suicide).

But Azedeh is matched up against a guy whose resume is better matched to the job they're both seeking. Before moving to Oregon, Zupancic, a 50-year-old downtown business lawyer, spent five years giving legal advice to the California General Assembly's budget committee. He's worked for a high-tech firm and for the past three years has served on the Lake Oswego School Board. Zupancic may lack Azedeh's enthusiasm and idealism, but he has some life experience under his belt that could come in handy in that dysfunctional family known as the Oregon House of Representatives.

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HOUSE DISTRICT 34
Beaverton

Republicans

JOHN SCRUGGS

Fun FaCt: The last movie Scruggs saw was Black Hawk Down.

We liked John Scruggs the last time we saw him. We like this thick-necked Portland cop even more now that he's not going up against a guy who proved to be one of the best new lawmakers in Salem. Two years ago Scruggs, a straight-talking moderate Republican, lost to Democrat Charlie Ringo in a hard-fought contest. This year, he's back, running for a vacant seat as Ringo vies for the state Senate.

Scruggs is clearly a fiscal conservative, but his 12 years with the Portland Police Bureau, where he's served as liaison to several neighborhood groups, have exposed him to the real-life problems that many budget cutters never see. And though he's smart enough not to talk much about his recent stint as Mayor Vera Katz's bodyguard, we've got to believe that he picked up a few pointers while hanging out in the office of the last great House Speaker.

Scruggs' opponent, Bob Steringer, is a first-time candidate who, like Scruggs, has no desire to aid the right-wingers of his party. (Both candidates, for example, told WW they'd work to protect the rights of gays and lesbians.) Steringer, who practices general business law with Williams Kastner et al., worked as a legislative aide during the '95 session, so he knows his way around the Capitol. But, in a race where the candidates don't differ on policy issues, Scruggs' daily exposure to severe social problems gives him the edge.

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HOUSE DISTRICT 43
North, Northeast Portland

Republicans

SHIRLEY WHITEHEAD FREEMAN

Fun FaCt: Her favorite junk food is Red Vines.

Let's be honest. The only way a Republican is going to get to Salem from this district is in a car. Democrat Deb Kafoury is the incumbent, and unless she's caught with a pound of pot in her garage before November, she'll be back in January.

So we admire that two Republicans are vying for the role of Don Quixote, though we're not exactly wowed by either of them.

Shirley Whitehead Freeman gets our nod for two reasons. First, she was nice enough to call and apologize for spacing out her endorsement interview. Second, she's not Ivars Bitans, a Latvian landscaper who, in his two previous bids for the statehouse, has run on an anti-government, anti-choice platform and demonstrated a penchant for exclamation points.

Freeman's not a whole lot better. The former state adoption caseworker has a resume that's as thin as her grasp of the issues. But she's running a more active campaign than Bitans.

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HOUSE DISTRICT 45
Northeast Portland

Democrats

JACKIE DINGFELDER

Fun FaCt: Her last CD purchased was Tracy Chapman's Telling Stories.

We're all for energetic personalities in politics, but Jackie Dingfelder nearly overloaded our intensity meter.

We'll chalk it up to rookie jitters. Dingfelder, a former environmental activist and consultant, is technically the incumbent, but she didn't land in the Legislature until a few weeks before the regular session adjourned. That's when she was appointed to fill the vacancy left when Jo Ann Bowman ran for the county chair post.

It was Bowman's departure that prompted Dingfelder's opponent to plan his run for the seat. "There's a void in progressive African Americans in the House," says John Toran. Bowman's departure leaves Jackie Winters, a Salem Republican, as the only African-American House member. (Portland Democrats Margaret Carter and Avel Gordly serve in the Senate.)

Toran, 26, a real-estate broker, is the son of Kay Toran, the former head of the state children's-services division and a powerful force in local African-American politics (though as of mid-April, she was still registered as a Republican).

Toran, a big proponent of bringing Major League Baseball to town, is a tempting choice. Some of his ideas are unrealistic, such as his call to partially repeal the Measure 5 property tax cap or his promotion of a $20 vehicle-safety inspection fee to raise cash. But at least he's thinking creatively.

Even so, we're sticking with Dingfelder, whose appointment came so late in the session she was unable to do much more than vote on other people's bills. But the 41-year-old former program manager at For the Sake of the Salmon shows potential. Her background in natural resources gives her more credibility than most of the knee-jerk greenies in her caucus and a broader perspective than Toran, who concedes that "my idea of being outdoors is being at a bus stop." Her work on the Portland Utility Review Board gives her a step up on energy issues. And her endorsement by Bowman signals a commitment to advocating for the interests of all her constituents.

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HOUSE DISTRICT 39
Oregon City, Canby

Democrats

JOHN WILLIAMS

Fun FaCt: The last CD Williams purchased was Children of the Night by Art Abrams.

The folks flinging soggy soil in some of the statewide races this spring should rest their shovels long enough to chat with the two Democrats seeking to represent this Clackamas County House district. John Williams and Martha Schrader are two of the nicest candidates to light up our conference room this primary season. Failing to find any differences on their political views, we asked them how we were supposed to choose. Here's the exchange:

Williams: "Well, clearly Martha knows the process better than I do."

Schrader; "Oh, but John, you'd do a great job, too."

And it doesn't stop there. Schrader gives Williams good marks in his volunteer post as Oregon City mayor. Williams, in turn, is endorsing Schrader's husband, Kurt, in his hotly contested race for the state Senate.

Talking to folks who know them doesn't help, either. Salem watchers say Martha Schrader, 48, did a great job as her husband's legislative aide during his three terms in the House. The former librarian and high-school teacher has been a strong advocate on senior citizens issues (she's pushing a bill to allow the state to make bulk prescriptions) and supports boosting tobacco taxes to better fund schools.

Clackamas County officials say Williams has given Oregon City government a much-needed house-cleaning. The 74-year-old former ad exec says he got into the race because "Oregon City is doing lousy." He says lawmakers continue to pile restrictions and mandates on local governments without any funding.

Since we can only choose one, we'll pick Williams, based on his record of shaking things up in his city and his well-justified frustration with business as usual in Salem.

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HOUSE DISTRICT 44
North Portland

Democrats

GARY HANSEN

Fun FaCt: His worst subject in school was Chemistry.

He's shaved the moustache and hung up his pipe wrench, and he seems genuinely eager--well, as eager as Gary Hansen ever seems--to get back to Salem. Hansen, a former Metro councilor and Multnomah County commissioner, has spent two unremarkable terms in the House. Hansen recently retired from his union plumbing job but continues to keep an eye out for the lunch-bucket crowd. Last session, for example, he patiently shepherded a bill to extend unemployment benefits through nearly a dozen rewrites. It's not a glamorous role, but Hansen seems comfortable in it. His opponent, Sheila A. Pryor Scott, declined our invitation to an endorsement interview and doesn't seem to be waging an active campaign. Her Voters' Pamphlet statement says this Tri-Met bus driver is "a Team Player" who's "concerned about our Children's future." She says she wants to bring "NEW IDEAS" to the Legislature, but aside from a creative affinity for her shift key, doesn't offer any.

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HOUSE DISTRICT 51
North Clackamas County

Democrats

JAN LEE

Fun FaCt: The cartoon character she relates to most? "Wonder Woman? What are my choices--Betty Boop? I don't want that!"

We really liked Jan Lee when we met her on her way to victory two years ago as a first-time, Republican candidate. A change in party affiliation hasn't changed our view. In our post-session review last year, we dubbed this quiet natural-resources consultant the "mouse that roared" after she poked GOP House leaders in the eye by voting with Democrats on a prescription birth-control bill and changed her party registration to independent. Now a full-fledged Democrat, the 59-year-old wants to return to Salem to concentrate on cutting some of the regulatory red tape that businesses encounter in Oregon--without weakening environmental laws. She's being opposed by Roger Obrist, a retired custodian and two-time loser in previous statehouse bids. We didn't get to meet Obrist this year, but his Voters' Pamphlet statement ("I will work to secure adequate and stable funding for schools") doesn't offer much inspiration.

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HOUSE DISTRICT 48
East Portland, Happy Valley

Democrats

RANDY LEONARD

Fun FaCt: Leonard's car radio is set to KOTK.

There's only one question that matters to eastside Democrats: Will you be pissed off if Randy Leonard steps down this year to run for the Portland City Council? If so, you'd better vote for his primary opponent, because Leonard isn't ruling out a run for the city post about to be vacated by Charlie Hales.

We think Leonard's candor about his possible plans are a strength, not a weakness. In five sessions in the state House and Senate, this Portland firefighter has earned a reputation as a straight-shooting, passionate advocate for the little guy. Sure, his habit of spouting off during partisan snits can get him in trouble, but Leonard is one of the few folks in Salem who admits it when he screws up.

His opponent in the primary is Mick Wagner, whom we dismissed as annoying and ill-informed when he ran within the old district boundaries two years ago against Mike Smith. For some reason, we found the ponytailed paralegal more likable and better-informed this year. He makes a good argument for implementing a value-added tax (similar to those used in Europe), and his experience as a small-business owner would be an asset in the Legislature. But Leonard's experience gives him the edge, regardless of whether he sticks around to finish his term.

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HOUSE DISTRICT 46
East Portland

Democrats

STEVE MARCH

Fun FaCt: March's last movie seen was Blade II.

Let's keep this one short. Two nice guys are running for this seat. One of them, incumbent Steve March, is a former county policy analyst who had a solid, if not spectacular, rookie session last year. March, 55, fell in lockstep with the PLO (Portland Liberals Organization) but impressed Salem watchers with his brainpower and jovial demeanor. The other candidate is Joe Tompkins, who has a far more-interesting resume than most politicians: KOIN-TV cameraman, failed seafood wholesaler, chicken processor, roofing miller and, currently, night-shift maintenance technician. That experience has given him the look-out-for-little-guy mentality that prompted him to make his first political bid. While his heart's in the right place, Tompkins hasn't had much time to study up on state issues and can't match March's experience.

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WWeek 2015