Oregon State Capitol, rotunda (Salem Reporter/file)
Money could become less of a factor in elections in Oregon.
If voters approve Measure 107 Tuesday, the Legislature and local governments could regulate the amount of money that can be donated to those running for public office and allied political campaigns. The measure doesn’t specify the regulations but would open the path to cap spending on political campaigns while requiring political advertisements to include who paid for them.
Oregon is one of five states that don’t limit political donations. Revamping the state’s freewheeling system has eluded campaign finance reform advocates ever since the Oregon Supreme Court determined in 1997 that limits on political donations violated the state constitution.
But that could change. With little organized opposition, Measure 107 could pass. In April, the Oregon Supreme Court reversed itself and ruled that the Legislature and local governments can regulate political spending.
Until the Legislature takes action, there are still no limits on political spending. This election, legislative races in the Salem area have been some of the most expensive in the state.
Gov. Kate Brown has pledged to enact new regulations on political spending. Successful legislative candidates who have been aggressively raising and spending campaign money could end up crafting new regulations for how campaigns are financed when the Legislature meets in January.
The issue is a difficult one legally and politically. The Legislature dodged the issue last session.
While local candidates running for Legislature don’t have specific plans to change how Oregon’s political campaigns are paid for, they broadly voiced support for reforms. Some worry that efforts to restrain political spending will have unintended consequences.
Here is what candidates say about campaign finance reform.
A campaign sign for Denyc Boles on Thursday, October 22. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
State Sen. Denyc Boles, R-Salem
Boles is running in one of the state’s most competitive legislative races. With Democrats holding an 18-12 Senate majority, her election’s results could tip the state’s political balance.
According to campaign filing, Boles as of Oct. 30 has raised $1.2 million in donations.
“Honestly, I think it’s ridiculous,” said Boles. “It is an extraordinary amount of money, especially in hard times.”
She said one reason the race has become so expensive is because she and her opponent, Democrat Deb Patterson, have to buy television ads in the costly Portland market. Her campaign has also had to spend heavily to respond to what she said were attacks.
Boles voted in the Legislature to refer Measure 107 to voters. She didn’t have specifics on how the state should regulate campaign finance. But she’s concerned it could benefit one party over another.
The Legislature could limit how much candidates could raise. But she said money could instead flow to independent political action committees aligned with political parties or candidates (i.e. labor groups supporting Democrats).
A campaign sign for Deb Patterson on Thursday, October 22. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Deb Patterson, candidate for state Senate
In response to emailed questions, Patterson said that the current system allows the wealthiest to have more influence than average voters and she supports limiting political contributions.
“Until we fix our campaign finance system and increase transparency of the flow of money into politics, we won’t have fair representation and equity in our legislation,” said Patterson, whose campaign by Oct. 30 had raised $1.27 million.
She didn’t offer a specific proposal on how political donations should be limited.
But she is concerned that the Legislature could create a system with less transparency. She mentioned “dark money” – political spending by nonprofits that don’t have to publicly identify their donors. She said she’s concerned that the Legislature could approve reforms that would allow “special interests” to increase spending of dark money to influence elections.
A campaign sign for Selma Pierce on Thursday, October 22. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Selma Pierce, candidate for state representative
Another expensive race has been in House District 20, where Republican Selma Pierce is trying to unseat state Rep. Paul Evans, a Democrat.
Pierce has raised $635,553 so far. Her largest contributor has been William “Bud” Pierce, her husband and 2016 GOP gubernatorial candidate, who gave $240,500. Selma Pierce is the second largest contributor to her campaign, giving $239,350.
In October, Future PAC, the campaign wing of House Democrats, sent out a press release blasting Pierce for her and her husband’s “obscene self-funding” of her campaign. The press release accused Pierce of “attempting to buy her way into the state legislature” at a time of financial hardship.
Pierce shot back with a statement criticizing Evans for previously outspending his opponents with funding from “special interests,” including unions. She justified her self-spending saying it was needed to compete with Evans and it ensured she wouldn’t be accountable to special interests.
She also pointed out that she’s had over 400 individual grassroots donors from around the district. Campaign filings show that her fourth-largest source of cash, $21,859.44, came from donations under $100.
In an interview, Pierce said she was badly outspent when she ran against Evans in 2018.
She didn’t have specifics on what campaign finance should look like. But suggested that a $1,000 cap for individual donations would be reasonable. She added that there should also be caps on the amounts political organizations can spend.
A campaign sign for Paul Evans on Thursday, October 22. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
State Rep. Paul Evans, seeking re-election
Evans said in an email it’s “time to recognize the damage our existing ‘wild West’ approach to campaign finance is doing to our form of self-governance.”
While Evans, whose campaign has raised $463,142, didn’t have specifics on what he’d change, he suggested the Legislature form a task force of stakeholders to come up with a new framework. The task force would look into what kind of limits to place on campaign expenditures and spending by groups not tied to campaigns. It would also consider penalties.
State Rep. Raquel Moore-Green, seeking re-election
Republican Raquel Moore-Green has raised $479,020 to keep the House seat she was appointed to last year.
While Democrats have eyed it as a possible pickup, Evan Sorce, chair of the Marion County Democrats Executive Committee, acknowledged that it’s hard to run against such a well-heeled incumbent.
Moore-Green said she didn’t have ideas on how to reform the state’s campaign finance system.
“It’s very stressful,” she said when asked about the amount of money that’s gone into her race. But she said she knew it would be part of running for political office.
Jackie Leung, running for state representative
Leung is running for the House seat representing southeast Salem, Turner and Aumsville. Leung, a member of Salem City Council, has raised $165,627.
Leung said her campaign is more “grassroots-oriented and people-powered.” She didn’t have specific ideas for what changes should be made to Oregon’s campaign finance system. But she said legislators should look to other states to see how their systems work.
Contact reporter Jake Thomas at 503-575-1251 or [email protected] or @jakethomas2009.
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