The Liftoff: Elizabeth Warren and Eric Trump get involved in Oregon
PLUS: Wyden and Merkley bring home the bacon; Bentz fights marijuana; successful recall elections; Bend beats Portland?; four big trends you should follow
Welcome back to The Liftoff! Each week, we work hard to make this newsletter a single stop for everything you need to know about Oregon politics, government, campaigns, and elections. If you enjoy our content, consider subscribing today!
1. All politics is national: updates in the race for Oregon Governor
DEM
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has endorsed Tina Kotek.
Treasurer Tobias Read has has been endorsed by Sheryl WuDunn, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and wife of former gubernatorial candidate Nick Kristof.
One thing to watch: A new Oregon PAC called “Oregonians for Ethics” just received an in-kind contribution of $49,500 worth of polling. The donor? The Democratic Governors Association.
GOP
Eleven Republican candidates participated in the first GOP primary debate.
Christine Drazan is out with a TV ad.
Bob Tiernan is out with one, too—called “Bull”.
Kerry McQuisten hung out with Eric Trump.
Dr. Bud Pierce is notably absent from the airwaves. According to Willamette Week, “his absence from TV airwaves has political insiders wondering whether he is making a serious go of it”. Pierce’s team says advertising is coming.
Sandy Mayor Stan Pulliam held a press conference where he “attacked the Salem-Keizer school district for its policies supporting transgender students and recognizing the existence of diverse gender identities in health lessons,” according to The Oregonian. This follows a press conference by Pulliam’s wife, MacKensey, and others in her parent organization, calling out the North Clackamas School District for instruction on gender and sexual orientation to 5th graders.
IND
$1,000,000 — that’s how much Nike founder Phil Knight has given Betsy Johnson (so far), after making a $750,000 donation last week.
Johnson sided with Republicans in saying transgender athletes should be barred from participating in girls sports. The two leading Democrats disagreed.
Johnson has released a video of her stump speech. She comes out of the gate swinging; here are the first lines: “Kate Brown, Ted Wheeler, and Tina Kotek have accomplished something I didn’t think was even possible in Oregon: they’ve managed to finally bridge the urban-rural divide. They’ve unified city and the countryside in mutual frustration with their leaders and their government.”
2. Congressional news: Wyden and Merkley bring home the bacon; Bentz fights marijuana legalization
Congressman Cliff Bentz led the Republican opposition to marijuana legalization on the House floor. The bill passed the House on party lines, with a handful of exceptions, and heads to an uncertain future in the Senate.
Congressmen Peter DeFazio and Earl Blumenauer have tested positive for COVID-19.
Oregon’s federal delegation was incredibly effective at securing earmarks for projects back home:
From The Oregonian: “Oregon’s senators, Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, score federal funding for 149 home-state projects, more than all but 1 other senator”
Oregon’s Democratic House members, Reps. DeFazio, Blumenauer, Schrader, and Bonamici, brought back between $10 million and $18 million each, according to a New York Times analysis. The analysis does not report any earmarks from Bentz.
Sen. Ron Wyden was the only Democrat to oppose the White House-backed pandemic relief package, joining all 50 senate Republicans.
CD 6
Gov. Kate Brown has endorsed Rep. Andrea Salinas in her congressional run.
Dr. Kathleen Harder has released a TV ad.
SuperPAC spending for Carrick Flynn is approaching $6 million, well over six times more than his next-closest competitor (Salinas with roughly $600,000)
3. Education news: Successful recall elections in Alsea—and the growing movement to change how we teach reading
Voters have successfully recalled two school board members in the Alsea School District, where GOP candidate Marc Thielman recently resigned amid allegations of inappropriate behavior.
Making summer school happen is more challenging than just allocating the money. Many school districts across Oregon are struggling to find teachers.
Here are some of the many ways school districts are investing federal resources.
A growing group of advocates are pushing for Oregon to invest in training teachers in the science of teaching students how to read
4. Four trends to follow
Oregon is facing a public defense crisis—and Chief Justice Martha Walters is asking the governor and the legislature to step in to solve it. Dozens of cases have been dismissed because of a lack of public defenders (over the objections of prosecutors) and hundreds of defendants currently lack an assigned public defender.
According to reports from ECONorthwest, the Portland metro region is “hemorrhaging rental properties” (14% decrease in Portland, 11% in the metro region) as an unintended consequence of policies designed to protect renters, as landlords capitalize on a hot housing market.
State government continues to face capacity and implementation challenges for critical programs.
First, from the Capital Chronicle: “A state online enrollment system that was launched a year ago continues to make thousands of people wait longer than they should for state help buying food, caring for children and paying for medical care.”
Second, from Willamette Week: “Measure 110 was supposed to provide major funding for Oregon providers, but a bureaucratic log jam is keeping the state from distributing the badly needed cash.”
Catalytic converter theft is skyrocketing, up 270% over the last five years. Oregon ranks sixth nationally for catalytic converter theft. Oregonians are sometimes forced to pay over $1,000 for a replacement—and insurance companies are paying out millions.
5. Congressional candidate Matt West joins The Bridge and talks cryptocurrency, climate change, and why we need more scientists in Congress
Matt West is a Democratic candidate for Oregon's new 6th Congressional District—and he has an unconventional background for a candidate. He is a scientist who earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas specializing in fuel cell technology. He now he works for Intel as an engineer. His bio says he is "the first congressional candidate with cryptocurrency development experience in decentralized finance." In this episode, Matt explains why he believes crypto can be a tool for progressive values, shares his ideas for addressing climate change and improving America's healthcare system, and talks about how he would determine whether to vote for congressional approval for U.S. intervention in Ukraine.
6. Which Oregon city is “most dynamic”? And other city news
Bend was ranked as the 8th “most dynamic” metropolitan area in America by Heartland Forward. Grants Pass was 60th, Salem was 66th, Portland was 75th, Medford was 116th, Corvallis was 142nd, and Eugene was 190th. The ranking is intended to show “locales [that] are making themselves more resilient and moving toward better economic outcomes for their citizens”.
Stark disagreement in the race between Commissioner Dan Ryan and challenger AJ McCreary: Ryan supports hiring more police officers; McCreary opposes additional funding for police. Ryan supports shelters as part of a “services first” strategy for addressing homelessness; McCreary said shelters “don’t address any issues” and instead supports a “housing first” approach.
A Portland City Club debate between Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty and challengers Vadim Mozyrsky and Rene Gonzalez showed similar fault lines.
Speaking of homeless shelters, remember People for Portland’s ballot measure to redirect more funding to shelters? Metro’s lawyers have disqualified it.
“As Portlanders wrung their hands about the condition of city streets, something odd happened last year: The metro-area economy boomed.” So opens an article from WW about Portland’s surprisingly strong economy, which was the 10th fastest recovery of a metro area in the country.
Portland Community College has chosen a new president, and she will be the first woman of color ever to lead the institution: Adrien Bennings.
7. Is the American economy rigged?
Thanks to our friends at the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center for this graphic. The overwhelming majority of Oregonians agree: the American economy is rigged. This continues a theme of distrust in American institutions.
8. News round-up
John Velez, a realtor and gay Republican in Sherwood, is running for the State Senate in District 13. He will face either Chelsea King or Aaron Woods in the general election.
Looking for a new job? Newberg School District is hiring a comms director with six-figure potential. We’re sure this will be an easy gig! (That was a joke).
Two southern Oregon cities rank among the top in the U.S. for worst air quality.
Oregon’s tribes are expressing concerns over a proposed lithium site that could help power America’s green energy revolution. A long but really good read.
NPR has a story on how new abortion legislation in Idaho could dramatically increase demand in Oregon for the service.
Nigel Jaquiss at Willamette Week has a short but concerning piece on Oregon’s shortage of nurses.
The number of state employees making $100k or more jumped 23% last year, according to analysis from The Oregonian
It’s been approximately one year since Measure 110 was implemented—with mixed results. The Guardian (and many other publications) covered the one year anniversary of Oregon’s decriminalization experiment.
Want to know how the state is using its cannabis revenue? KOIN has you covered.
The Oregon Story Driving National Headlines: "How to Murder Your Husband' fiction author on trial for real-life murder in Oregon”
Thank you for reading.
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About the Authors
Ben Bowman is the chair of the Tigard-Tualatin School Board and a Democratic candidate 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.