The Liftoff: The new Speaker of the House (and Majority Leader)
PLUS: Kotek's ad and exit interview; Kristof's latest famous donors; Oregon's newest legislators; Peter DeFazio makes an endorsement; and the Dark Ages of Oregon sports
Welcome back to The Liftoff!
2022 will be a “musical chairs” year in Oregon politics. Over the weekend, two vacancies were filled—the Speaker of the House and the House Majority Leader. We will have to wait a few more months for clarity in the Governor’s race—but there were plenty of new developments there, too. Read on for more!
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1. Dan Rayfield will be the next Speaker; Julie Fahey is the House Majority Leader
A new era of Oregon politics has officially started: Rep. Dan Rayfield of Corvallis has been nominated by the House Democrats to be the next Speaker of the House, defeating Rep. Janelle Bynum in the caucus vote. The vote totals were not released. The move won’t become official until there is a vote in the full House. Rep. Julie Fahey was voted House Majority Leader. Rep. Rob Nosse is the new Whip and Rep. Andrea Valderrama is the new Deputy Whip.
It’s official: the 2022 Legislative Session will be virtual. And, when the legislature is back in person, metal detectors will be required to enter the building.
Democrats, including Rep. Andrea Valderrama, are re-introducing a bill to provide hazard pay to essential workers
Sen. Sara Gelser Blouin is appealing directly to the people to share their stories of students with disabilities and/or emergent bilingual students being denied access to equal educational time
2. Kotek’s new TV ad; Kristof and the Supremes
Speaker Tina Kotek released her first campaign ad of the cycle. See it for yourself above, and read the Kotek “exit interview” with Peter Wong.
The Oregonian has a deep-dive on Nick Kristof’s appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court, including links to all the materials Kristof submitted. Meanwhile, Kristof continues to report impressive fundraising numbers. Last week he reported checks from LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman for $50,000 and former Disney CEO Bob Iger for $15,000 (who hilariously listed his occupation as “weatherman”).
In other Kristof news, Les Zaitz (Editor in Chief of the Capitol Chronicle) penned an op-ed explaining his publication’s aggressive approach to the Kristof residency situation.
Betsy Johnson has announced a slate of Democratic and Republican endorsements, mostly of former officeholders. There are two ways to look at these endorsements:
These folks are the moderate “old guard” of Oregon politics.
Tim Nesbitt offers a different take: “They're the ones who are free of the pressures of party leaders and lobbyists to say what they really think and have no worries about their future careers. Which also shows how dominant is the lock step culture of the party in power.”
Where do the candidates for governor stand on pandemic-related school closures? Find out.
3. Appointment Week: New faces in new roles
Rachel Armitage will be the newest member of the Oregon State Legislature. She was appointed to fill the remainder of former senator Betsy Johnson’s term.
Immediately following Armitage’s appointment, the Washington County Commission appointed Rep. Janeen Sollman to fill the remainder of former senator Chuck Riley’s term.
Duncan Hwang has been appointed to a seat on the Metro Council.
Leah Horner will be Oregon’s “Infrastructure Czar”, with a $5 billion portfolio, in addition to her role as Governor Kate Brown’s policy advisor for Jobs and the Economy.
Governor Kate Brown’s office has released her latest slate of appointments to state boards and commissions. Nominees must next be confirmed by the senate. Here are some notable highlights:
Kien Truong (Chief of Staff to Sen. Kayse Jama) to the Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs
Reed Scott-Schwalbach (President of the Oregon Education Association) to the Quality Education Commission
Dan Mason (former Republican legislative candidate) re-appointed to the Ethics Commission
Former Senator Richard Devlin (D-Tualatin) to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission
Lincoln County Commissioner Claire Hall to the Housing Stability Council
Former Representative John Davis (R-Wilsonville) to the Oregon Institute of Technology Board of Directors
Former Oregon Supreme Court Justice Virginia Linder to the Southern Oregon University Board of Trustees
Bruce Goldberg (former head of OHA and DHS) to the Task Force on Universal Health Care
Mac Prichard (founder of Mac’s List, the best public/non-profit job board in the northwest) to the Workforce and Talent Development Board
4. The race for the 4th Congressional District heats up
Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle secured the coveted endorsement from the man she is seeking to replace in CD4: Congressman Peter DeFazio. See video above.
There are also some new entrants into the CD4 Democratic primary: Corvallis School Board Chair Sami Al-Abdrabbuh is officially running. Al-Abdrabbuh has secured some early endorsements, mostly from Benton County, where he lives. Additionally, Doyle Canning, who earned a little over 15% of the vote in her primary challenge of DeFazio in 2020, has formed an exploratory committee.
What’s the fundraising state of play in CD4? Republican Alek Skarlatos raised over $400,000 in the last three months of 2021, bringing his fundraising total to $1.1 million. Hoyle raised $210,000 since jumping in and Andrew Kalloch brought in $150,000.
Meanwhile, in the new 6th Congressional District, Cody Reynolds has loaned himself a hefty $2 million.
5. Wheeler is optimistic; People for Portland’s new poll
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is optimistic about 2022—and he supports changing Portland’s form of government, saying: “There's no way we should stay with the commission form of government.”
The Oregonian published a devastating portrait of the challenges and failures of Portland’s effort to transition homeless individuals to housing: “But among the 34% of survey respondents who reported a caseworker did offer housing help, 75% said they never heard from a worker again, leaving them feeling let down and frustrated.”
People for Portland is out with a new poll that shows Portlanders don’t believe the city is spending its money effectively on addressing the homelessness crisis.
The Portland Police Bureau in hot water after an alarmingly inappropriate meme was included in training presentation.
6. Sarah Iannarone joins The Bridge and talks future of transportation, whether she’ll run again, and restoring Portland’s identity
Sarah Iannarone is a well-known figure in Oregon politics, twice running for mayor of Portland. She is a staunch progressive with a loyal following. This is a fascinating episode: Iannarone talks openly about her experiences running (and why she thinks she lost, which might surprise you). She also provides a helpful framework for understanding and categorizing Portland political figures like Ted Wheeler, Mingus Mapps, and Jo Ann Hardesty. There’s also a discussion of transportation policy and whether Oregon has to choose about between an electric car future or a mass transportation future.
7. Oregon’s big illegal marijuana problem; hemp infused candies might get the axe; academic study shows hemp might block COVID
Big things (and news!) are happening in Oregon’s marijuana scene. To start, national publications have become particularly interested in Oregon’s growing illegal marijuana problem. Felisa Rogers for the The Guardian and Natalie Fertig at Politico dropped two pieces (nearly simultaneously) about the burgeoning illegal marijuana trade in Oregon.
The stories (both are must reads) showcase a large and influential black market in our own backyard which has been mired with international drug cartels, labor exploitation, and a lack of law enforcement resources to deal with a vast array of issues. Southern and rural Josephine and Jackson County are at the forefront of this growing problem. The legislature also recognized the severity of the issue by funneling $25 million to help law enforcement combat the problem. A few select quotations from the pieces:
“Over the last two years, there’s been such an influx of outlaw farmers that southern Oregon now rivals California’s notorious Emerald Triangle as a national center of illegal weed cultivation.”
“Since the cannabis farmers moved in (none of whom appear to be licensed based on state records), Longnecker says he’s had bullets whiz by his head when working outside, and regularly hears gunshots in the middle of the night.”
“Even though marijuana cultivation has been legal in Oregon since 2014, Jackson County Sheriff Nate Sickler says there could be up to 1,000 illegal operations in a region of more than 4,000 square miles.”
“Local law enforcement officials believe that people from every U.S. state and as many as 20 countries have purchased property in Jackson or Josephine counties. Cartels roll in and offer long-time residents as much as a million dollars in cash for their property, and hoop houses follow soon after the sale is complete. Residents have become accustomed to hearing Bulgarian, Chinese, Russian and even Hebrew spoken at the grocery store.”
”In Douglas county raid [last] November, police seized 500,000 pounds of weed, which they estimate is worth $500 million.”
In other business news, your favorite hemp-infused candies might be taken off the market soon.
Finally, scientists at Oregon State University conducted a study showing that hemp compounds may help to block coronavirus from entering the human body. KGW has a write up on the study.
8. What are the most important issues to Oregonians?
Houselessness/homelessness is the top issue that Oregonians want their elected leaders to address. Climate change is second, and housing affordability is third. Consider this foreshadowing for issues that will show in campaign advertisements.
9. Is this the Dark Ages of Oregon sports?
The Beavers lost the LA Bowl. Then the Ducks lost the Alamo Bowl. The Thorns lost in the semis. The Timbers lost in a heartbreaking finals shootout. Diego Valeri, a Portland Timbers icon for the last decade, is retiring.
The Blazers are the literal opposite of the “most improved” team in the NBA—they have the biggest decline in winning percentage compared to last year. And now superstar Damian Lillard will out be out for two months to recover from a medical procedure.
Neither the women’s or men’s basketball teams at Oregon or Oregon State have cracked the top 25 rankings.
Even Dillon, the mascot of the Portland Pickles, is embroiled in a “Anthony Weiner-style” Twitter controversy (the “lewd” photo tagged the Twitter accounts of Oscar Mayer and Corn Nuts).
Any news from the Portland Diamond Project (MLB to PDX)?
10. News round-up
COVID Rundown: Schools are closing across the state because of omicron-related staffing shortages.
Meanwhile, Governor Kate Brown is doubling her deployment of the National Guard to support the healthcare system.
Phil Knight, Tim Boyle, and Pat Reser donated big checks to Washington County’s District Attorney, as he’s challenged from the left.
Layoffs loom for Travis Boersma’s horse racing operation/gambling center; he calls it a “bait-and-switch” situation.
Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger doubled down on his position that there’s no reason focus on China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
Here is the entire story of the Newberg School District controversies, all in one place.
Serious problems plague Oregon’s public defense system—and it might get worse.
A veteran prosecutor is quitting the Multnomah County DA’s office, citing District Attorney Mike Schmidt’s leadership.
Thank you for reading.
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