Welcome back to the Liftoff! There were a lot of big developments last week, so we’ll jump straight into the news.

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1. New entrants and huge contributions in Oregon congressional races

State Rep. Teresa Alonso Leon, the first Latina elected to the Oregon State Legislature, has launched a bid for the 6th Congressional District. She joins her colleague in the Legislative BIPOC Caucus, Rep. Andrea Salinas, former Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith, Dr. Kathleen Harder, Cody Reynolds, Matt West, and several others in the Democratic primary. On the GOP side, Rep. Ron Noble, Angela Plowhead, and Amy Ryan Courser (the 2020 GOP nominee in the 5th Congressional District), are the leading contenders.

Read more about the Bitcoin-fueled $2 million dollar loan that 6th CD candidate Cody Reynolds gave his campaign.

Matt West, an engineer running in the 6th CD, is putting up big fundraising numbers: over $600,000 so far, including over $400,000 that he’s contributed himself.

Former Happy Valley Mayor Lori Chavez-DeRemer rolled out a number of endorsements for her 5th Congressional District campaign, including current and former state legislators.

In the 4th Congressional District, Alek Skarlatos was endorsed by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who leads the federal House GOP Conference and called the Oregon 4th “critical to our efforts to take back the House.”

2. Janelle Bynum to seek “top leadership position”; Peter Courtney calls John Canzano

Photo Courtesy Tawna Sanchez for Oregon House

Rep. Tawna Sanchez (D-Portland) will be the next House Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Ways & Means, the legislature’s powerful budget-writing committee. She will be the first Native American to hold the position.
Following her loss to Rep. Dan Rayfield for the speakership, Rep. Janelle Bynum will seek a yet-unnamed “top leadership position”, according to WW’s reporting:

After Sunday’s election, Bynum tells WW in an interview she was disappointed not to replace Kotek but is more determined than ever to hold a top leadership position—perhaps replacing Rayfield, to whom she offered congratulations, as the co-chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee.

This week, Bynum was featured in a different WW story for calling the city of Portland’s questioning in a police-related lawsuit “unethical and disgusting.”

This week in phone calls I wish I could have listened in on: Senate President Peter Courtney called Oregon Sportswriter of the Year John Canzano. Courtney discussed two new pieces of legislation: 1) making it easier for college athletes to earn royalties from their name, image, and likeness, and 2) legalizing sports betting on college sports.

Read about the six bills that will be top priorities for organized labor during the upcoming short session.

The Oregon Promise (a community college scholarship program) is disproportionately being awarded to students with less financial need, with 40% of funds going to students from households of over $100,000. Juan Baez-Arevalo, the director overseeing the program, has ideas to improve it.

3. Some new, some familiar faces seeking new roles

90s Redux: Kevin Mannix is running for the Oregon State House in the newly redistricted HD 21 (Salem and Keizer) 34 years after he was first elected to the House. Mannix served in the House as a Democrat then as a Republican, briefly served in the Senate, and ran for Oregon Attorney General and twice for Governor. Nigel Jaquiss has a great write-up in WW detailing the “three acts” of Mannix’s public service career, as he pursues this “fourth act”.

Finally, we know who will be running for Labor Commissioner: civil rights attorney Christina Stephenson and Yamhill County Commissioner Casey Kulla (who is dropping his bid for Governor). Both are Democrats, but remember, this is a non-partisan primary. If no one gets over 50%, the top two move on to the general. No major Republicans have announced (yet).

Head of Oregon’s state housing agency, Margaret Salazar, has been tapped to be a regional administrator for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Andrea Bell will succeed her as the head of the Oregon Housing and Community Service Department.

Oregon Court of Appeals Judge Roger DeHoog has been appointed to be Oregon’s next Supreme Court Justice. If confirmed, he would be only the second Asian American Justice in the history of Oregon’s top court.

4. Let’s talk about the governor’s race…

"Oregon State Capitol Building in Salem" by OregonDOT

News organizations and nonprofit groups in Oregon have teamed up to learn what voters want candidates for governor to be talking about as they compete for votes. They seek Oregonians to participate in a "Let's Talk" 90-minute virtual listening session soon to share their understanding of the race through the media. There is no cost to join in this nonpartisan event. If you’re interested, click this link to sign up: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8JV25WF

Voters would join others via the Zoom platform to discuss (off-the-record) what information they want to know about the candidates–and what they don’t want to hear. The intent is for news organizations to provide reporting in the coming months that serves the interests and needs of Oregonians instead of candidates and their campaigns.

The effort is led by the Oregon Capital Chronicle, a nonprofit digital news service focused on state government and politics; Rural Development Initiatives, a nonprofit focused on community vitality in rural Oregon; and the Agora Journalism Center, part of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication in Portland. Oregon360 Media is participating as a host.

“We’re keenly interested in having voters help frame news coverage, to provide reporting beyond the usual polls and campaign financing reporting,” said Les Zaitz, editor of Oregon Capital Chronicle.

Sessions with voters grouped in their region will take place by the end of February.

The deadline for expressing interest is Tuesday, Jan. 25.

5. “People for Portland” spends big to target elected leaders

People for Portland, the advocacy group led by Dan Lavey and Kevin Looper, have spent over $1 million targeting Portland-area elected officials. The ad linked above, which includes attack-ad styled black and white photos of Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, Multnomah County Chair Deb Kafoury, Metro Council President Lynn Peterson, and Governor Kate Brown, has been viewed nearly 100,000 times on YouTube as of 1/23.

Meanwhile, Portland is trailing national peers in deploying federal emergency housing vouchers, with just 1% being used so far.

6. Oregon’s newest legislator, Sen. Rachel Armitage, joins The Bridge and talks her appointment, how Democrats can win rural voters, and millennial legislators

Rachel Armitage has officially been selected to finish the term of former State Senator Betsy Johnson, representing rural northwest Oregon. A Democrat, Armitage has deep experience in politics, including working as a legislative assistant for Rep. Susan McLain and former Rep. Carla Piluso. She also worked at the national level on the campaigns of Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) and former Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC).

Armitage grew up in Medford, and in this episode we talk about the past and future of the timber industry and whether Democrats can win in rural districts in 2022. We do a deep dive on the appointment process to fill legislative vacancies, including the peculiarities of this specific vacancy (Armitage was actually supporting one of her opponents). Finally, we talk about the perspective Armitage will bring as a millennial legislator and how to bridge generational divides in Oregon politics.

7. OR Gov. Update: Drazan resigns; GOP candidates split on whether Biden won; Fagan makes her case at Supreme Court

The gubernatorial exodus from the legislature is complete. Christine Drazan has joined Tina Kotek and Betsy Johnson in ditching the legislature to focus full-time on running for governor. Drazan was also a guest on KOIN’s politics show last week.

Sandy Mayor Stan Pulliam (who just reported a $145,000 contribution from “Heart of Main Street PAC”) thinks Donald Trump “may very well have won” the presidential election in 2020, and would like to campaign with him. See how other GOP candidates answered the questions of 1) whether Biden is the legitimate president, and 2) if they would campaign with Trump.

Secretary of State Shemia Fagan made her case to the Supreme Court (see the graphics on social media) about why Nick Kristof should be disqualified from running for Governor. Gary Warner reminds us that even if Kristof can’t run for Governor, he gets to keep the money in his PAC and use it how he pleases.

Steve Novick and Sarah Iannarone are not thrilled about Betsy Johnson’s run for governor.

Dr. Bud Pierce released a poignant, emotional digital advertisement that recounts the passing of his wife, Selma.

8. The end of the Newberg School Board conflict (for now)

Voters in the Newberg School District narrowly retained School Board Chair Dave Brown and Vice Chair Brian Shannon. The current margin of the recall election is about 52-48 as of 1/21.

Meanwhile, Brown says he is open to changing the controversial policy banning pride flags and Black Lives Matter symbols.

9. News round-up

"Burgerville in Beaverton, Oregon" by Jlittman_RestaurantDive

Why is Intel planning a massive expansion in Ohio and not Oregon? “It should be a wake-up call,” according to Duncan Wyse of the Oregon Business Council in an article in The O.
Scary headline: “‘Attempted insurrection’ causes Clackamas County commissioners to move to virtual meetings”
“Mask opponents press Oregon Health Authority to abandon indoor face covering requirements” from OPB
Secretary of State Shemia Fagan has rejected a school choice ballot measure for violating the single-subject rule.
Oregon is exploring alternative paths to becoming an attorney. Interesting piece from Meerah Powell over at OPB.
Burgerville CEO Jill Taylor announced she is stepping down.
On a Roll: “Oregon’s Unemployment Rate Declines For The 20th Consecutive Month”
The state’s graduation rate is also near record highs (but dipped slightly from last year).
A new lawsuit claims Governor Kate Brown unlawfully commuted sentences; some legal experts disagree.
The feds are not pleased about how an offensive meme made it into the Portland Police Bureau’s training materials.

Thank you for reading.

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The Way by OR360

The Liftoff: Congressional races heat up…