State Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, will be co-chair of the Legislature’s budget-writing committee that sets spending by state agencies. (File/Portland Tribune) State Sen. Betsy Johnson, a coastal legislator known for tough questioning of state bureaucrats, is getting a more powerful perch to watch over state spending. In what one legislator[Read More…]
POLITICS
Women to hold record number of seats in Oregon Legislature
SALEM — A record 37 Oregon women will serve as state legislators in 2019. Come January, once new lawmakers are sworn in, women will hold 28 out of 60 seats in the House. Women also picked up one seat in the Senate, bringing their numbers in that chamber to nine[Read More…]
A history of Oregon governor’s races
Here is the history of elections for governor in Oregon: 2014 In 2014, Democrat John Kitzhaber secured his fourth term overall as governor, and second consecutive, by beating Republican Dennis Richardson 733,230 to 648,542. Kitzhaber also served as governor from 1995 to 2003. However, he didn’t hold the office long,[Read More…]
With hours to go, Brown and Buehler hit campaign trail one last time
Republican gubernatorial candidate Knute Buehler closes out his campaign day Monday at his headquarters in Tualatin (Photo courtesy of the Buehler campaign) In the closing hours of Oregon governor’s race on Monday, Kate Brown and Knute Buehler took very different approaches to finishing up a campaign that has stretched out[Read More…]
New effort afoot to rein in big money in Oregon political campaigns
SALEM — Advocates have long tried to curtail political spending in Oregon, and are back at it again now, circulating an initiative petition in an effort to let voters decide, in 2020, whether to allow limits. Those efforts got a boost Tuesday after Patrick Starnes, the Independent Party of Oregon candidate,[Read More…]
Oregon governor’s race jostled by independent’s switch to back Brown
Gov. Kate Brown, Democratic incumbent, Patrick Starnes, Independent Party candidate for governor, and KATU anchor Debora Knapp at the station’s studio Tuesday after Starnes decided to endorse Brown. (Oregon Capital Bureau/Paris Achen) On Sunday evening, Patrick Starnes, a cabinet maker and would-be governor, hit “send” on his home computer, dispatching[Read More…]
Democrats quick to return ballots in Oregon, report says
Oregon Democrats are returning election ballots at a much higher rate than Republicans and other voters, according to report Tuesday by the state Elections Division. Out of over 66,000 ballots returned as of Tuesday, more than half came from Democrats, even though they are one-third of Oregon’s 2.7 million registered[Read More…]
Analysts say the close Oregon governor’s race to be settled in Washington, Clackamas counties
Rep. Knute Buehler and Gov. Kate Brown face off in the first of three gubernatorial debates in Portland on Oct. 2 (Jaime Valdez/Portland Tribune) Gov. Kate Brown and Rep. Knute Buehler have traversed the state in search of swing voters to court. They have debated public pension reform, health care,[Read More…]
Oregon’s third-party candidate not giving up on debate fight
The Independent Party of Oregon’s candidate for governor, Patrick Starnes, appears at the first gubernatorial debate. (File/Portland Tribune) Patrick Starnes, a cabinetmaker and gubernatorial candidate from the Independent Party of Oregon, on Tuesday filed an elections complaint that could test a 2017 state law that encourages debate hosts to invite[Read More…]
Independent candidate for governor stymied in debate effort
Patrick Starnes, gubernatorial candidate from Brownsville, makes a point at a debate Tuesday in Portland. (Jaime Valdez/Portland Tribune) Despite a herculean effort to nudge the state’s two-party status quo, Patrick Starnes, Independent Party of Oregon candidate for governor, has been left out of the final two gubernatorial debates. Starnes, a[Read More…]
