The Liftoff: Controversial comments rock congressional race; legislative candidate gets heckled
PLUS: Tobias Read in the New York Times; millions pour into race for gov.; drama in Portland politics; a legislative fundraising update; rent could skyrocket in Oregon; and more!
Welcome back to The Liftoff!
1. Millions continue to pour into the race for Governor
The governor’s race continues to heat up (it was moved from “Lean Democrat” to “Toss Up” by Cook Political Report) and money is rolling in. Here’s a breakdown of some recent highlights for all three candidates:
Betsy Johnson reported $100,000 from the parent company of the Ron Tonkin auto dealers. The O reports that Johnson spent nearly $1 million just to qualify for the ballot.
Christine Drazan reported $1 million from the Republican Governors Association. Drazan spoke at the Washington County GOP’s Reagan Dinner over the weekend, alongside former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Tina Kotek reported $1.25 million from the Democratic Governors Association.
Here are the cash-on-hand totals as of September 18:
Johnson: $2.6 million
Drazan: $2.3 million
Kotek: $2.5 million
Brace yourself: millions more will follow between now and the election.
2. Alek Skarlatos’ controversial remarks (and other congressional news)
Here’s the first sentence of a story in the the Capitol Chronicle: “Alek Skarlatos, a Republican candidate for Congress in a competitive Oregon district, repeatedly ‘liked’ photos of underage girls in bikinis on Instagram and joked about strangling women on a podcast shortly before beginning his political career four years ago.” His comments have already been featured in attack ads from the DCCC.
Meanwhile, a national pollster released two polls (from mid-August) showing significant leads for Lori Chavez-DeRemer in CD5 (10 points) and Mike Erickson in CD6 (9 points).
In other congressional news, Congressman Earl Blumenauer has paid $200,000 of his dues goal of $300,000 (to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee). Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici has paid $134,250 of her $175,000 goal.
Congressman Kurt Schrader was asked about national progressives (like Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar) not paying their caucus dues, and he said: “Talk is cheap. Put your money where your mouth is, maybe, if you want to be in the majority. I’m not sure a lot of them care about that, perhaps. But yeah, I mean, it’s a team sport.”
3. Legislative candidate gets heckled; the cash race for legislative majorities
Drama in central Oregon, courtesy of the Bend Bulletin: “A forum Wednesday for Oregon House candidates representing Bend and Redmond was overshadowed by partisan politics when a rowdy crowd of supporters of Republican candidate Michael Sipe heckled his Democratic opponent, Emerson Levy.” Read on for the full story. Newsweek also ran a story.
Here’s an update on caucus fundraising, with cash-on-hand totals as of September 18:
FuturePAC (House Democrats): $1.1 million
Evergreen Oregon PAC (House Republicans): $500,000
Senate Democratic Leadership Fund (Senate Democrats): $500,000
The Leadership Fund (Senate Republicans): $400,000
Bring Balance to Salem PAC (House and Senate Republicans): $3 million(!)
Of course, the above totals are just the caucuses. The numbers grow significantly when you incorporate the fundraising totals of the candidate PACs of legislators leading the committees. For example, Sen. Fred Girod, the former Senate GOP leader who handed the baton to Sen. Tim Knopp, made two large contributions last week: $80,000 to Randy Sparacino (challenging Sen. Jeff Golden), and $80,000 to Rep. Raquel Moore Green (challenging Sen. Deb Patterson).
4. Tracking big-ticket items in Oregon politics
Here are updates on three high-profile topics that should be on your radar as we get closer to election day:
Measure 110. According to polling from the progressive-aligned group Data for Progress, a majority of Oregonians (58%) believe Measure 110 should remain in place. The ballot measure and its roll-out has been taken repeated criticism from those across the aisle in recent months.
The Rent is Too Damn High! And in Oregon, it’s about to get higher for some. Landlords were given the green light by state economists increase rents by 14.6% in this upcoming year.
Oregon’s Public Defense Crisis. The office of public defense is planning to request $6 million from the state legislature to help the agency make its way through a serious of crises. Garrett Andrews over at the Oregon Capitol Chronicle has the full story.
5. Local government news worth knowing
The Salem-Keizer School Board will not allow audience members to attend board meetings in-person after increasingly disruptive behavior from adults. Here’s an excerpt from the Statesman-Journal: “Throughout [the last board meeting], board chairwoman Ashley Carson Cottingham called for order as members of the public yelled across seats to people from opposing groups. During some public testimonies, viewers yelled over those speaking or yelled for school board members to stop testifiers from spreading what they believed to be hate speech.”
Claire Syrett, a Eugene City Councilor, has been successfully recalled over a transportation controversy. She is appealing the result in court.
The Hillsboro City Council has voted to sue the state over climate change rules, according to Pamplin: “Councilors say they take climate action seriously, but the new rules are too sweeping and impactful to metro cities.”
6. Is the ‘Red Wave’ coming? Alex and Reagan discuss what the election could look like for Republicans this year
With Ben off this week, The Oregon Bridge's newest co-host Reagan Knopp sat down with "host emeritus" Alex Titus to discuss what the Oregon political landscape looks like for Republican candidates leading up to the 2022 election (less than two months away!).
7. Portland metro-area political drama
Willamette Week is bringing back “Candidates Gone Wild”. The last time the event took place was 2016—this time, it will be hosted by Terry Porter with Storm Large as a special guest.
From OPB: “Portland firefighters endorse Jo Ann Hardesty’s opponent, snubbing their boss”
Hardesty is also clashing with Commissioner Mingus Mapps over charter reform.
Also, WW asked City Commissioners how often they were coming into the office for work?
Speaking of the County Chair race, voters haven’t heard much from either candidate since the primary. Why? According to The O: “it’s unclear either of them will have the money to command much attention, given new voter-enacted campaign contribution limits.”
Lastly, an interesting piece at WW: “Crime Is Encroaching on a Landmark of Portland’s Black Community. Why Won’t City Hall Act?”
8. Do Oregonians trust public agencies to effectively manage water supplies?
Thanks to our friends at OVBC for this week’s graphic (as always!). This week, another visualization of how perception of public policy issues varies based on geography.
8. News Roundup: Tobias Read in the NYT, timber news, and wolves!
Treasurer Tobias Read had a guest essay published in the New York Times criticizing GOP leaders who are barring state investment in firms and funds that consider risks of climate change into their decision making. Here’s an excerpt:
“For policymakers to mandate willful ignorance about an entire category of risk and block private companies from doing business with their states because they might not share the same ideology is un-American.”
One of Treasurer Tobias Read’s deputies gave an explanation for why his office won’t pay to fly-in remote employees, calling it “special compensation for a portion of the represented workforce that already avoids commuting costs”.
Lots of timber news this week. First, timber workers from Weyerhaeuser, one of the largest timber companies in the U.S., went on strike over a wage dispute. Next, the Oregon mass timber industry received a whopping $41 million in federal funds. Lastly, some rural counties took a big loss this week after the Oregon Supreme Court refused to hear their case asking for $1 billion.
A parent group has filed a petition against the Oregon Heath Authority over vaccine mandates.
Oregon received a tranche of federal funding focused on supporting mental health crisis teams. Oregon is the first state to receive such funding due to President Biden’s American Rescue Plan legislation.
Thank you for reading.
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About the Authors
Ben Bowman is the chair of the Tigard-Tualatin School Board and the Democratic nominee for Oregon House District 25 (Tigard and Beaverton). In his day job, he works for the Oregon Department of Education. Previously, he worked as a legislative aide for former Reps. Margaret Doherty and Val Hoyle. He also co-hosts The Oregon Bridge podcast. In the newsletter and podcast, he speaks only for himself.
Alex Titus is a small business owner and consultant to businesses, nonprofits, and associations. Previously, he served as an Advisor in the Trump Administration and as a Policy Advisor to President Trump’s Super PAC. His writing has appeared in National Review, Fox News, The Hill, RealClearPolitics, and other publications. He also co-hosts The Oregon Bridge podcast.