The Liftoff: What Drazan's entrance into the race for Gov. means
PLUS: Redistricting is officially over; Portland makes history; Newberg saga gets weirder; Cameron Whitten joins the pod; and a political powerbroker steps down.
Welcome back to The Liftoff!
Before we dive into this week’s Liftoff, we wanted to honor the passing of two civic trailblazers who each earned a spot in Oregon history for their contributions to this state. Rest in peace to Stu Rasmussen, former Mayor of Silverton, and Charles Moose, former Portland Police Chief. Rasmussen was the first openly transgender mayor in American history and Moose was the first Black police chief in Portland.
1. Drazan shakes up the GOP primary for governor
In a major, somewhat-unexpected development, House Republican Leader Christine Drazan announced she will run for Governor. She joins a crowded GOP primary field—and she starts with about $165,000 in her campaign account. Drazan has a successful record as a fundraiser and is widely perceived as an effective political strategist. She is a viable, top-tier contender to win the GOP nomination.
Peter Wong wrote a profile piece on one Drazan’s chief competitors in the GOP primary, Dr. Bud Pierce. Why does Pierce think a Republican can win this time? Here’s a quote from him about independent candidate Sen. Betsy Johnson:
"She's a Democrat, and she's going to attract Democratic votes," he said. "She's a proud Democrat, and that's what she is."
Willamette Week has a fascinating interview with pollster John Horvick examining the question of how Johnson might impact the race for Governor (he has a different take than Pierce). Among the interesting tidbits: he thinks the electoral floor is 25% for Republicans and 35% for Democrats.
On the Democratic side, a few quick hits:
First, a policy disagreement between State Treasurer Tobias Read and Speaker Tina Kotek on divestment from fossil fuel companies.
Statement from Read: “When we exit investments, we do so for performance reasons, not political or personal ones.”
Statement from Kotek: “Speaker Kotek ... supports pursuing strategies to divest Oregon’s public funds from fossil fuels.”
Next, a potential sign of things to come: Nick Kristof had his first campaign complaint filed against him.
2. Supreme Court makes legislative and congressional maps official
The Supreme Court makes it official: legislative districts are locked in—and so are congressional districts. That means it’s full-speed ahead to the 2022 primary election this May. Here are some legislative developments:
Michael Sipe is running as a Republican in House District 53 (Rep. Jack Zika is retiring).
Rep. E. Werner Reschke is running in the new HD 55.
Former Rep. Akasha Lawrence Spence is one step closer to joining the state senate in District 18 for the remainder of the current term; she will be running for Portland City Council against Commissioner Dan Ryan in the 2022 election.
Rep. Vikki Breese Iverson is running for reelection in the new House District 59.
Another quick note on the implications of Drazan’s run for Governor on the House GOP caucus. Her departure means that the House GOP leadership will look completely different in 2023. Drazan will be gone as Leader; her deputy, Rep. Daniel Bonham will likely be in the senate. Of the 8 elected members of House GOP leadership, there have been announcements or rumors of at least 5 moving on.
3. Portland Wrap-up: Car theft skyrockets; Black population is growing (sort of); Drag Club makes history; and council politics
Car thefts in Portland are skyrocketing according to recently released data from Portland Police Bureau. The city had fewer than 600 thefts per month around this time last year—but that number has increased to over 1,000 just last month. Kandra Kant at KPTV has the full story on the stats and Savannah Eadens has some frightening personal stories from victims over at the Oregonian.
Candace Avalos has a column in The Oregonian with a progressive vision that counters the calls from Mayor Ted Wheeler and others for a greater investment in law enforcement officers in response to a record crime wave. Here’s an excerpt:
We cannot keep turning to police and prison as the answers to a gun violence crisis rooted in social and economic causes. Instead in moments like these, we must resist the same Band-Aid solutions that got us here in the first place…
In other news, Portland’s Black population is growing—but that isn’t the full picture. Here’s a fascinating story in the Oregonian by Jamie Goldberg who gives a (very) deep dive on the history and population data of Portland’s historically Black areas. The piece is well-researched and also gives an in-depth overview of some of the public policy issues (like affordable housing) that are heavily impacting Black Oregonians. Some population stats from the article:
“The Black population in North and Northeast Portland declined by 13.5% during the last 10 years as more than 3,000 Black residents moved away, new numbers from the 2020 census show.”
“The decline wasn’t as steep as the previous decade, when the Black population in the historically Black neighborhoods declined by more than 22%.
But the exodus of Black residents from inner North and Northeast Portland continued over the last 10 years even as Multnomah County added more than 10,000 Black residents.”
Meanwhile, Portland recently added a new site on the National Register of Historic Places. Darcelle XV, which was opened in 1967 by Walter Cole, is the first site in Oregon to be named in the National Register of Historical places for its importance to the LGBTQ+ community.
Fun Tidbit: Cole, who goes by the name Darcelle, may also be the oldest drag queen in the world. Katia Riddle at NPR has the full story.
Finally, in some 2022 council election news, Commissioner Dan Ryan announced the endorsement of two of his colleagues: Mingus Mapps and Carmen Rubio. His other two colleagues, JoAnn Hardesty and Ted Wheeler, have not endorsed him or his opponents (yet).
4. The Newberg School District saga keeps getting weirder
A conservative majority on the Newberg School District recently fired the district’s superintendent without cause. The Board Secretary then resigned in protest. Now, both the Chair (Dave Brown) and the Vice Chair (Brian Shannon) have active recall campaigns against them. There is currently no superintendent, no interim superintendent, no board secretary, and no employee in the district that directly reports to the school board.
So what happens next?
Ryan Clarke, who recently left the Newberg Graphic to join The Oregonian, has the full story. Some highlights:
Last week, Board Chair Dave Brown emailed the district’s communications director to set up a Zoom meeting for this Tuesday (tomorrow) with a topic of “interim superintendent” (not clear whether this means discussing a process or actually appointing someone).
The communications director offered a strong response pushing back on the chair:
“If I am going to go outside of my job description and perform the duties of an interim Board Secretary, I am going to insist on following public meeting law … I will not put myself or the district at legal risk by taking on the de facto role of Board Secretary without taking measures to follow state law and Board approved policy.”
It appears that Brown did not alert his colleagues of the proposed meeting. One of his board colleagues said they have been “completely shut out” and “unable to perform [their] duties as an elected official.”
The article also speculates a potential candidate for interim superintendent: a GOP candidate for Governor and current superintendent of the Alsea School District, Marc Thielman. Thielman claims he has acted as a “consultant” to Chair Dave Brown, and that Brown has asked him if he is interested in the role. Thielman has made national headlines for telling parents how to avoid mask mandates.
5. Portland’s “non-profit superstar” Cameron Whitten joins The Bridge
After a decade of activism, Cameron Whitten is fired up and optimistic about Portland's future. Whitten’s political activism journey began on the streets during the 2011 Occupy Portland movement, where he emerged as a key influencer, including with a hunger strike that lasted over a month. In the years that followed, Cameron ran for Portland mayor and has been an active participant in the Black Lives Matter movement since its inception.
During the height of Portland protests in the summer of 2020, Cameron was able to raise over a million dollars for the Black Resilience Fund. This laid the foundation for Cameron's non-profit work with Brown Hope that they continue to lead today. After receiving the Skidmore Prize, Willamette Week recently referred to Cameron as Portland's non-profit "Superstar".
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6. News Roundup
Julia Brim-Edwards, a longtime executive at Nike and powerful political powerbroker, is leaving the company. No word yet on what’s next for her.
Three finalists have been announced to be the next U.S. Attorney for Oregon: Craig Gabriel, Vivek Kothari, and Natalie Wight.
A ballot measure to legalize sex work may be coming soon. Willamette Week has you covered with the story.
Capitol Chronicle: Women superintendents, who account for fewer than 1 in 4 superintendents in Oregon, face explicit and implicit sexism. Click here for the full story.
Oregonian sports columnist John Canzano proposes selling the naming rights to the Ducks vs. Beavers football game (which is no longer called “The Civil War”) to the highest corporate bidder—then splitting the proceeds among the players.
Déjà vu all over again: “Riot declared as Portland antifa protest Rittenhouse verdict” from Zane Sparling at the Portland Tribune.
The O: Newberg, Reynolds schools take security measures after social media threats
An emotional story about how one rural school district is innovating to help its most vulnerable students. Kathy Aney has the story at the Eastern Oregonian.
LGBTQ+ identified senior citizens facing serious challenges in Oregon; Sen. Kate Lieber and Sen. Bill Kennemer consider solutions.
Some great news: big money will begin to flow to treatment centers.
This is the song that never ends: new development for the proposed Jordan Cove project
Thank you for reading.
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Not to get too pedantic, but a carjacking is definitely not the same thing as a car theft. Carjacking involves the use of or threat of physical force on a person when someone is stealing a car. The article references 1,000 car thefts, not 1,000 carjackings (still a big deal, obviously, but to say there have been 1,000 carjackings is not accurate).