The Liftoff: Kotek's cavalry arrives; Knute is back in the fray
PLUS: News on the special session; new candidate announcements; a deep dive on Kate Brown; the future of masks in Oregon—and more!
Welcome back to The Liftoff!
Lots of names that harken back to a different time in this week’s newsletter: Barbara Roberts, the late Bob Dole and Dave Frohnmayer, and Dick Gephardt are all mentioned. Read below to find out why.
Thank you to our growing list of subscribers! If you want to join the community, become a paid subscriber today for just $10/month.
1. Big endorsements in the race for Governor
Sen. Betsy Johnson scored the endorsement of Dr. Knute Buehler, former GOP state representative and former GOP nominee for Governor and Secretary of State. Buehler cut Johnson a $10,000 check from his PAC. He recently left the Republican Party following the January 6 Capitol insurrection. Why does this endorsement matter? There is lots of speculation about whether Johnson is most likely to draw more votes from the left or the right—this endorsement is indicates the (center-) right will find her appealing.
Meanwhile, Speaker Tina Kotek secured several big endorsements: the Oregon League of Conservation Voters (the largest environmental advocacy group in Oregon) and several other progressive groups, including PCUN, IBEW (they contributed $20,000 to her campaign), and several smaller labor unions (full list on her new website). Kotek’s biggest endorsement, however, came from EMILY’s List—a powerful national organization that supports Democratic pro-choice women candidates. Kotek is surely to receive six-figure levels of support from the organization and its boosters; in 2018, they gave $800,000 to Gov. Kate Brown’s re-election.
Nick Kristof also reported several interesting contributions: former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt donated $5,000 to Kristof. Lynn Frohnmayer, co-founder of the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund and wife of the late Dave Frohnmayer (legendary former Oregon Attorney General and U of O President), gave Kristof $500.
Meanwhile, Treasurer Tobias Read took a strong stand against the Portland Association of Teachers’ proposal for asynchronous learning days (students learning from home). WW has quotes from him, Kristof, and Kotek — and the differences are apparent.
Steve Novick is not running for Governor—but he is weighing in on the race. Check out his latest piece in The Oregon Way about who, between Tina Kotek and Nick Kristof, deserves to be governor.
For the latest rundown on gubernatorial fundraising, check out Portland Monthly’s article with the most recent numbers.
2. Legislative and executive branch news (and candidate announcements)
The special session is going to cover far more than originally thought. According to a press release from Gov. Kate Brown, there are several key agenda items: housing, drought relief, illegal cannabis suppression, Afghan refugee resettlement, and at least five budget expenditures.
Keep your eyes on this one: campaign finance reform measures may be headed for the 2022 ballot—and they might be opposed by some progressive advocates who support campaign finance reform, including labor and pro-choice groups.
A former Legislative Equity Officer announced a potential lawsuit against legislative leaders; hopes to settle out of court.
Oregon’s paid family and medical leave program is behind schedule; the oversight function of the legislative and executive branch are being questioned.
Oregon Housing and Community Services mailed out bad checks to provide emergency rent assistance.
Governor Kate Brown and Ben Cannon call for $200 million investment into Oregon’s higher education and workforce systems.
The “Greater Idaho” movement may be a “distraction” and “waste of energy”—but it might also get a bill!
3. New candidate announcements!
The Oregon State House has its newest member: Salem City Councilor Chris Hoy, replacing now-former Rep. Brian Clem who recently resigned. Hoy will not run for re-election to the seat.
Rep. Raquel Moore-Green is running for Senate against freshman Sen. Deb Patterson.
Republican Realtor John Velez is running for new and vacant Senate District 13 (declared Democrats are West Linn-Wilsonville School Board Member Chelsea King and Clackamas Community College Director Aaron Woods).
Terri Preeg-Riggsby is competing to fill the vacancy on Metro Council created by Bob Stacey’s resignation. Preeg-Riggsby will compete with Duncan Hwang (a leader with APANO) and former Metro Councilor Robert Liberty.
Andrew Kalloch is running for the new CD-4 as a Democrat. Nigel Jaquiss of WW describes him as “a Harvard Law-educated exec for Airbnb with a background in New York City politics.” Kalloch recently condemned retiring Congressman Peter DeFazio in the Register-Guard for “unprofessional outbursts”. He has written several pieces in The Oregon Way, including this one on being “anti-partisan”.
4. A deep dive on the challenges (and unsung victories) of Governor Kate Brown
We highly recommend this deep-dive examination of Governor Kate Brown’s popularity and accomplishments from Willamette Week. The article explores potential reasons for Gov. Brown’s puzzling unpopularity, despite track record of accomplishments.
We offer a few excerpts; the first is from a former Governor, Barbara Roberts:
“I have never seen a governor who accomplished so much, right from the beginning of her tenure, and who seems to receive so little credit for it”
Next, from former GOP Rep. Vicki Berger on the sexism Brown has faced:
Berger says Brown hasn’t communicated a personal narrative like Kulongoski—orphan, Marine, union lawyer—or Kitzhaber—doctor, fisherman, Marlboro man—that would make her more relatable.
From political consultant Kevin Looper:
“The heart of the tragedy of Kate Brown’s tenure is that she is a truly kind, decent person who is impossible not to like personally…The fact that she is so poorly regarded publicly is a deeper failure than just one person.”
From House Republican Leader Christine Drazan:
“I could anticipate how the governor was going to exercise her emergency powers by watching to see what California and Washington were planning”
From Governor Brown herself:
Brown attributes her unfavorable ratings to her efforts to challenge the “status quo.” She also blames the media, The Oregonian and Willamette Week in particular, which she says “peed all over me” for her COVID policies.
5. Where does Oregon go from here on indoor masks?
Last weekend, Governor Brown made national and local headlines for attending a political event in Washington D.C. where she was spotted in photographs without a mask on (DC has no indoor mask requirements). Brown’s spokesperson responded by saying: “Regardless of the local rules, Governor Brown went further and remained masked during the event except when giving her acceptance speech, eating or taking pictures with attendees.”
Permanent doesn’t mean forever? Back in Oregon, the Oregon Health Authority has been exploring making the indoor mask rule “permanent”—which might not mean what you think it means. The temporary indoor mask rule is set to expire and it can’t be extended; so it appears the intention is to make the rule permanent and then (eventually) repeal it when it’s no longer required from a public health perspective (which is clearly not an entirely objective threshold). It’s not yet clear when that might be or what metrics would be used to make the determination.
6. Steve Novick joins The Bridge and has some big ideas (and great stories)
Steve Novick is one of the most interesting figures in Oregon politics. He is funny, intelligent, and always entertaining. This was genuinely one of our most fun episodes to record and we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it.
We cover a lot of ground: the time he dropped the "f-bomb" on Uber exec. and Obama alum David Plouffe, his thoughts on what's wrong with Portland and how to fix it, property tax reform (but in an interesting and easy-to-understand way!), and what Democrats need to do to avoid a red wave in 2022.
Novick is a former Portland City Commissioner who ran the city's Transportation Bureau, where he clashed with Uber and advanced a controversial but ultimately successful gas tax proposal. He became a popular figure in progressive circles for his grassroots primary campaign for the United States Senate in 2008, when he ran a playful, creative, and competitive campaign but narrowly lost in the primary to now-Senator Jeff Merkley. He also has deep experience in state-level politics, working as the Oregon Senate Democrats caucus chief of staff for several years. He graduated from the University of Oregon at 18 and Harvard Law School at 21, and in this episode, he explains how Oregon education funding is to blame for those achievements.
Listen on Apple, Spotify, Audible, or watch (and subscribe!) on YouTube.
7. News Roundup
Yikes: Salem-Keizer School Board Member considers taking her kids out of public schools; says she “literally [has] no power as a school board member”
Oregon Historical Society director Kerry Tymchuk remembers his former boss, Senator Bob Dole
“Rift Between Senator and Son Shows the Challenge of Taxing the Ultrarich” in the New York Times about Senator Ron Wyden and his son, Adam Wyden—including some very wild tweets.
Important op-ed from the leaders of the ACLU of Oregon and Partnership for Safety and Justice on the importance of “injecting humanity and discretion into sentencing decisions” and budget investments for reentry programs
Newberg School Board considers how to fill their superintendent vacancy
Check out this great long-form read from Kyle Spurr at the Bend Bulletin on Dick Higgins, an Oregon hero who survived Pearl Harbor
The Portland Police Bureau tweeted it was so understaff last week it couldn’t respond to all calls
Mysterious wolf poisonings makes national headlines at the New York Times.
Underrated Topic: Oregon continues to dominate in the chip industry. Check out this piece in The O walking through the details.
Thank you for reading.
Tips? Feedback? Ideas? Corrections? We want to hear from you! Email benjaminwbowman@gmail.com.
If you value this newsletter, please become a paying subscriber today. Your support will help us grow and offer more opportunities to this community. It’s just $10 a month!
Interested in advertising with us? Get in touch!