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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2022
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Bills
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“Wildlife trade and trafficking are fuel-
ing the rise in diseases that spread from
animals to people, and they’re key driv-
ers of the extinction crisis.”
Similar legislation was considered
but not approved during the 2021 legis-
lative session, after COVID-19 was iden-
tified in mink at an Oregon mink farm.
The current bill does not apply to mink
farms.
Environmental justice: Oregon’s
Environmental Justice Task Force, es-
tablished in 2007, is made up of volun-
teers from around the state
House Bill 4077 replaces the task
force with a new Environmental Justice
Council, with dedicated staff and fund-
ing.
The bill directs the council to develop
a mapping tool to assess environmental,
health and socioeconomic disparities.
The tool will layer data such as air pollu-
tion emissions, ozone levels and toxic
hazards with information such as lin-
guistic isolation and income levels.
“We owe the next generation a
healthier, more sustainable and resil-
ient Oregon,” said Joel Iboa Executive
Director or Oregon Just Transition Alli-
ance.
APPEAL TRIBUNE
Illegal water use: Illegal cannabis
operations are using surface and ground
water without water rights, depleting
supplies for legal agricultural, recre-
ational and other uses. The problem is
especially severe in Southern Oregon,
according to the Oregon Water Re-
sources Department.
House Bill 4061 prohibits water haul-
ing to unregistered or unlicensed can-
nabis grow sites, prohibits providing
false information to law enforcement or
OWRD, and requires certain water sup-
pliers to maintain sales records for at
least 12 months, and provide the records
to law enforcement or the state on re-
quest.
Product stewardship for mattress-
es: Oregon will be the fourth state with a
mattress stewardship program, with the
passage of Senate Bill 1576.
The program will provide free collec-
tion and recycling of used mattresses
throughout the state.
The bill requires the Department of
Environmental Quality to certify a stew-
ardship organization to run the pro-
gram, which will be financed by a fee on
mattress sales.
Reach Task Force: As proposed,
Senate Bill 1518 would have allowed cit-
ies to choose to implement a building
code that requires more energy efficien-
cy standards, to help meet the state’s
greenhouse gas reduction goals.
An amendment weakened the bill,
instead creating a 27-member Task
Force on Resilient Efficient Buildings to
identify and evaluate policies relating to
building codes and building decarboni-
zation.
The task force will recommend legis-
lation to be considered during the 2023
Legislative session. Advocates say
they’re confident more progress will be
made next year.
“Widespread action is needed to
make our existing and new homes and
buildings ready for a clean energy future
and for the climate crisis,” said Meredith
Connolly, Oregon Director of Climate
Solutions. “Oregon has fallen behind in
innovative policies to improve homes
and buildings so they’re more resilient,
affordable, and healthy.
Some bills failed
Some bills that were a priority for en-
vironmental groups did not make it
through, however.
Wildlife corridors: Drivers in Ore-
gon are more likely to collide with an
animal on the road than those in other
West Coast states, insurer State Farm
says.
The state has five wildlife crossings,
compared with 30 in Washington and
50 in California.
House Bill 4130 would have allocated
Primary
Continued from Page 1A
use mass media,” Oregon political ana-
lyst Jim Moore said. “It’s stunning to me
that it has all seemed to be in suspended
animation."
In general, candidates whom politi-
cos consider to be “serious” are those
with previous governmental experience
and — arguably more importantly —
those with a lot of cash on hand. The
size of one’s political action bank ac-
count isn’t important in and of itself, but
having a substantial war chest allows
candidates to shape a race to their bene-
fit.
Before the filing deadline, if a candi-
date already in the race has consider-
able fundraising success, that alone can
discourage potential opponents from
contending for the position.
Once campaign season begins in ear-
nest, candidates need to introduce
themselves to voters while simulta-
neously setting themselves apart from
their rivals. Much of this comes down to
framing: how does a candidate define
themselves and how do they attempt to
define their opponents.
Money makes this much easier. It
pays for highly produced television and
radio advertisements, boosted social
media posts, mailers, yard signs, bill-
boards and webpages. And in Oregon,
there is still no limit on how much mon-
ey an individual can contribute to a
campaign.
As the primary campaign season be-
gins, here is a look at some of the top
races:
Three dozen candidates
for governor
The last time Oregon had a guberna-
torial race this unsettled was in 2002,
when the two primaries were fought for
by three strong candidates on both
sides of the aisle. In total, 11 candidates
participated in the election, with future
governor Ted Kulongoski receiving less
than 50% of the vote in his primary and
Republican primary winner Kevin Man-
nix getting 35%.
Two decades later, more than three
times that number are in the running to
replace Brown — a staggering 17 Demo-
crats and 19 Republicans. Moore specu-
lated the winner of the Republican pri-
mary this year might do so with less
than 30% of the vote.
“For the first time in 20 years, it’s just
totally wide open," he said. "There's no
favorites. No one’s been anointed as the
successor to Kate Brown."
The Democratic race is considered a
two-person contest between former
House Speaker Tina Kotek of Portland
and Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read.
Both have landed noteworthy endorse-
ments and numerous campaign contri-
butions. As of Tuesday, Kotek had about
$950,000 in her campaign account,
while Read had about $610,000.
Things are a bit more crowded at the
top of the Republican primary with at
least half a dozen candidates with expe-
rience, money or both:
h Christine Drazan, former House
Republican leader — $1 million in cam-
paign account.
h Bud Pierce, Salem oncologist and
former gubernatorial candidate —
$175,000 in campaign account.
h Bob Tiernan, former Oregon repre-
sentative — $1 million in campaign ac-
count.
h Stan Pulliam, mayor of Sandy —
$280,000 in campaign account.
h Bridget Barton, GOP consultant —
$410,000 in campaign account.
h Jessica Gomez, entrepreneur —
$110,000 in campaign account.
The full list of candidates for this and
every other race can be found on
ORESTAR through the Oregon Secretary
of State's website.
Candidates and members of the public watch as the registration for the 2022
elections closes on Tuesday, March 8, 2022 at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem,
Ore. ABIGAIL DOLLINS / STATESMAN JOURNAL
Congressional District 6
Oregon was granted a sixth congres-
sional seat for the first time during the
nationwide redistricting process last
year, and 15 candidates have emerged to
become its inaugural representative.
CD 6 encompasses Polk and Yamhill
counties as well as portions of Marion
County (including Salem), Clackamas
County and Washington County.
Six are on the Republican side: Rep.
Ron Noble of McMinnville; former Keiz-
er city councilor Amy Ryan Courser;
clean energy executive Nate Sandvig;
former U.S. representative and state
senator Jim Bunn; Dundee mayor David
Russ; and U.S. Air Force veteran Angela
Plowhead.
Among the Democrats, Rep. Teresa
Alonso Leon of Woodburn, Rep. Andrea
Salinas of Lake Oswego and former
Multnomah County commissioner Lo-
retta Smith are the candidates with the
most government experience. But there
are a host of well-funded, if inexperi-
enced, candidates also vying for oters'
approval.
Redistricting experts rate the district
as leaning Democratic, but outside of
the relative toss-up Congressional Dis-
trict 5, CD 6 appears to be the GOP's best
chance at nabbing another spot in the
congressional delegation. Oregon vot-
ers haven't sent more than one Repub-
lican to the U.S. House of Representa-
tives since 1994.
The new district also has no incum-
bent, so the name recognition and fund-
ing advantages incumbents usually
maintain will not apply.
“It’s wonderfully wide open,” Moore
said.
Here are the top five candidates in
the race when looking at funding, ac-
cording to Federal Election Commission
data. Campaign finance information for
federal races is reported quarterly to the
FEC; the next report will be on April 15.
h Democrat Cody Reynolds, United
States Army veteran — $2 million in
campaign account (from a loan he made
to himself).
h Democrat Matt West, Intel devel-
opment engineer —$620,000 in cam-
paign account.
h Sandvig — $185,000 in campaign
account.
h Salinas — $180,000 in campaign
account.
h Smith — $175,000 in campaign ac-
count.
Bureau of Labor and
Industries commissioner
This statewide race also lacks an in-
cumbent as current BOLI commissioner
Val Hoyle decided to run to represent
Oregon Congressional District 4.
It's also unique as the only nonparti-
san statewide position on the ballot this
year. All candidates will run in the same
primary this spring, but if no one se-
cures more than 50% of the vote, the top
two vote-getters will advance to the No-
vember general election.
Seven candidates have filed for the
position, which is responsible for over-
seeing the state agency tasked with pro-
tecting the rights of workers, enforcing
compliance with employment laws,
educating employers on wage and civil
rights law and promoting workforce de-
velopment.
The position tends to attract fewer
campaign contributions than other con-
tested statewide seats.
The candidates for BOLI commis-
sioner are:
h Casey Kulla, Yamhill County com-
missioner.
h Cheri Helt, former Oregon repre-
sentative.
h Christina Stephenson, civil rights
attorney.
h Brent Barker, principal broker.
h Aaron Baca, small business owner.
h Chris Henry, truck driver.
h Robert Neuman, general laborer.
Oregon Legislature
In the state Legislature, Republicans
hope to at least undo the 18-seat and 37-
seat supermajorities Democrats control
in the Senate and House, respectively.
In the Senate, Republicans have even
loftier goals, believing they have a shot
at flipping at least three seats to secure a
split Senate or even a Republican major-
ity.
They point to Courtney retiring, for-
mer Sen. Betsy Johnson stepping down
to run for governor, general uncertainty
around the new state legislative maps
and the prospect of high Republican
voter enthusiasm as clear marks in their
favor.
“This is the best chance for Republi-
cans to move things around, right now,”
Moore said.
The balance of the Legislature could
come down to a handful of seats in the
relatively purple greater Salem area.
Senate District 11
Next January, for the first time since
1999, Salem will not be represented in
the Oregon Senate by Senate President
Peter Courtney. Five people are running,
two Republicans and three Democrats.
Sen. Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, will
square off against small business owner
Marcello De Cicco in the Republican pri-
mary.
The Democratic race will be among
at least $5 million in the current bienni-
um for structures to help wildlife safely
get across roads. It also would have al-
lowed the state to apply for federal
matching funds available through Presi-
dent Biden’s infrastructure package.
While the bill failed, Oregon invested
$7 million in wildlife crossings through
the budget bill.
Carbon sequestration: In Decem-
ber, the Oregon Department of Environ-
mental Quality adopted its Climate Pro-
tection Program, an ambitious plan to
reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emis-
sions.
At the last minute, the department
dropped
provisions
for
carbon
sequestration. In response, legislators
introduced Senate Bill 1534, creating the
framework to eventually allow natural
and working lands to be voluntarily
managed for carbon sequestration.
The bill was supported by dozens of
climate organizations, small farms and
ranches, and water and conservation
districts. But many of the state’s major
agriculture and forest industry groups
opposed it, saying it could lead to new
regulatory requirements rather than in-
centives or partnerships.
Tracy Loew is a reporter at the
Statesman Journal. She can be reached
at tloew@statesmanjournal.com, 503-
399-6779 or on Twitter at @Tracy_Loew
.
Anthony Rosilez, executive director of
the Oregon Teacher Standards and
Practices Commission; Eric Swenson,
Woodburn mayor; and Richard Walsh,
former Keizer city councilor.
House District 19
With current Rep. Raquel Moore-
Green deciding to run for Senate, this
race also is without an incumbent but is
full of current and former elected poli-
ticians.
Only one Republican is running, for-
mer Salem city councilor TJ Sullivan.
Two current Salem city councilors are
competing against each other in the
Democratic primary — Tom Andersen
and Jackie Leung. Andersen has about
$10,000 in his campaign account, while
Leung has about $20,000.
Adding himself to the mix on Monday
was Rep. Brad Witt, who currently rep-
resents House District 31 northwest of
Portland.
Witt said in October he would not run
for reelection because of how his district
was redrawn; it is now less favorable for
Democrats and he has called the new
maps gerrymandered. It is unclear
when Witt moved into House District 19.
According to the state Constitution,
candidates must live in the district they
seek to represent for at least one year.
Near the end of the 2021 legislative
session, Witt was removed from his po-
sition as chair of the House Agriculture
and Natural Resources committee after
texts he sent to a fellow lawmaker were
found to have violated the Legislature's
workplace harassment policy.
House District 21
Five candidates are seeking the seat
formerly held by Rep. Brian Clem, who
announced his resignation from the
House of Representatives in October.
Salem City Councilor Chris Hoy current-
ly holds the seat after he was appointed
to replace Clem, but does not live in the
re-drawn district.
In the Republican primary, long-time
Oregon politico Kevin Mannix is run-
ning against forklift operator Kyler
McNaught.
Among the Democrats, the race is
among small business owner and veter-
an Ramiro Navarro Jr., farm and outdoor
store manager David McCall and finan-
cial analyst Robert Husseman.
House District 22
Two Republicans and two Democrats
will compete to fill the seat vacated by
Alonso Leon and her campaign for Con-
gress.
Accounts receivable clerk Karl Emm-
rich and senior education policy analyst
Anthony Medina will face off in the
Democratic primary. The Republican
race will be between cybersecurity ana-
lyst Jim Lowder and former dental as-
sistant Tracy Cramer.
The remaining seats in the greater
Salem area won't have a contested pri-
mary on either side of the aisle:
Senate District 10
h Democrat: Sen. Deb Patterson (in-
cumbent)
h Republican: Rep. Raquel Moore-
Green
House District 18
h Republican: Rep. Rick Lewis (in-
cumbent)
h Democrat: Jesse Smith, former
small business owner and part-time
web developer
House District 20
h Democrat: Rep. Paul Evans (incum-
bent)
h Republican: Dan Farrington, medi-
cal consulting business owner
House District 23
h Republican: Anna Scharf (incum-
bent)
h Democrat: Elise Yarnell Hollamon,
Newberg city councilor
Reporter Connor Radnovich covers
the Oregon Legislature and state gov-
ernment.
Contact
him
at
cradnovich@statesmanjournal.com or
503-508-6131, or follow him on Twitter
at @CDRadnovich.