OREGON
A8 — THE OBSERVER
Only one
certainty in
governor’s
race: The 3
candidates
will debate
By JULIA SHUMWAY
Oregon Capital Chronicle
SALEM — The three
women running for gov-
ernor of Oregon will
debate each other before
the November elec-
tion. When, where and
what about remains
undetermined.
Debates about debates
heated up over the past
couple weeks, with Demo-
crat Tina Kotek calling for
a forum solely dedicated
to gun violence and unaf-
filiated candidate Betsy
Johnson seeking televised
debates in all areas of the
state. Republican Christine
Drazan is reviewing every
proposal.
Kotek on Thursday,
June 30, slammed Johnson
and Drazan for not
responding to her call for a
gun violence forum in the
wake of a mass shooting at
a Texas elementary school.
Kotek, the former
speaker of the Oregon
House, supported gun
control laws including
expanded background
checks and preventing
people convicted of
domestic abuse from
obtaining guns, while
Johnson voted against
those measures as a
Democratic state sen-
ator. Drazan, who was
the Republican House
leader from 2019 to 2021,
voted against legislation
requiring safe gun storage
and touts an “A” rating
from the National Rifle
Association.
“Right now, Oregonians
are looking for leaders
who will have the courage
to stand up to the NRA
and fight to reduce gun
violence,” Kotek said in a
statement. “Representative
Drazan and Senator John-
son’s silence makes it clear
that they would rather
cater to the gun lobby
than stand up for com-
mon-sense policies to pre-
vent gun violence.”
Johnson’s commu-
nications director, Jen-
nifer Sitton, said Johnson
assumed Kotek’s call for a
gun violence forum was a
“political ploy” on Kotek’s
part.
Drazan campaign man-
ager Trey Rosser declined
to say whether Drazan
will participate in a forum
about gun violence, but
said in an emailed state-
ment that Drazan looks
forward to debates that
will give her the oppor-
tunity to compare Kotek,
Johnson and Gov. Kate
Brown.
“Christine looks for-
ward to comparing and
contrasting her record and
her vision for Oregon with
the two career Democrats
that are expected to be on
the ballot this November,”
Rosser said. “We will be
reviewing all proposed
debates with a commit-
ment to ensuring they are
fair and balanced and look
forward to participating in
as many as possible.”
Earlier in June, Johnson
asked for debates in Bend,
Coos Bay, Eugene, Med-
ford, Pendleton and Port-
land along with a previ-
ously agreed-to debate
hosted by the Oregon
Newspaper Publishers
Association.
Kotek countered with
a proposal for forums
in Eugene, Salem, Port-
land, Medford and Herm-
iston, as well as a debate
hosted by Oregon Public
Broadcasting without a set
location.
Both campaigns said
they’re finalizing details
over debates. Kotek com-
munications director Katie
Wertheimer said Kotek
would consider partici-
pating in issue-specific
forums proposed by other
campaigns.
THuRSday, July 7, 2022
Oregon voters may decide new firearms requirements
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Only two initiatives
appear likely to qualify for a state-
wide vote Nov. 8 as Oregon’s dead-
line approaches for petitioners to
submit signatures.
That deadline is Friday, July 8.
The state Elections Division will
have up to 30 days afterward to
verify signatures, generally done
with sampling.
The mass shootings in Buffalo,
N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas, have given
momentum to advocates of a mea-
sure to set new requirements for
firearms permits and limit ammuni-
tion magazines to 10 rounds each.
At the end of May, they had sub-
mitted barely 2,500 of the 112,020
signatures required to qualify it
for the statewide ballot. One week
before the deadline, that total had
shot up to around 120,000 — and
a chief petitioner says the goal is
140,000.
The Rev. Dr. W.J. Mark
Knutson, pastor of Augustana
Lutheran Church in Portland, said
a wet spring and the ongoing coro-
navirus pandemic slowed sig-
nature-gathering efforts by 500
volunteers.
Then came Buffalo, where 10
Black people were shot dead May
14 in a supermarket, and Uvalde,
where 19 children and two teachers
died 10 days later at Robb Elemen-
tary School.
“People were saying they could
not sit anymore, so we had 1,000
Pamplin Media Group, File
Oregon lawmakers and civic groups plan to push for gun law changes on the ballot
and in the Capitol.
new volunteers come forward
to join the 500,” Knutson said
in an interview. “A lot were par-
ents with children — it was pretty
amazing. They are learning about
democracy.
“The process is as important
as the result — democratic action
by the people. In this nation right
now, we need to see democracy at
work.”
In addition to the limit on
ammunition magazines, the mea-
sure would require people to
undergo classroom and live-fire
training before they obtain a fire-
arms permit, and complete back-
ground checks. (Current law allows
a purchaser to obtain a gun even if
the check is incomplete after three
days; the measure would require
the check to be completed.)
The other initiative awaiting
qualification for the ballot is a pro-
posed constitutional amendment
to bar legislators from seeking
re-election if they have 10 or
more absences that have not been
excused by the Senate president
or House speaker. Advocates have
submitted 183,942 signatures; the
requirement for a constitutional
amendment is 149,360.
Public employee unions led the
drive for the measure after walk-
outs by minority Republicans sty-
mied legislative action in 2019 and
2020. The 2020 walkouts forced
the majority Democrats to scuttle
proposed climate-change legisla-
tion and shut down the short ses-
sion. (Republican senators walked
out for one day in 2021; Republi-
cans in the House were deterred
from doing so by a 2021 rule that
set a maximum daily fine of $500
for an unexcused absence.)
The Oregon Constitution pegs
signature requirements to a share
of the votes cast for governor in
the most recent election. It’s 6% for
an initiative, which changes state
law, and 8% for a constitutional
amendment.
Voters also will see two consti-
tutional amendments referred by
the 2021 Legislature. One would
define health care as a right; the
other would remove slavery as a
punishment for crime.
The Lift Every Voice Oregon
movement also had another ini-
tiative to ban assault weapons.
Though technically still alive,
Knutson said advocates chose to
focus their efforts on the other
measure.
“That one will save more lives,”
he said. “The permit (requirement)
applies to every gun. People right
now can buy guns with no training,
no knowledge of how they work
and no understanding of what they
can do.”
The limit on magazines, he said,
“would take the ammo from assault
weapons.”
Assuming that the measure
qualifies for the ballot and voters
pass it, he said, advocates will take
a version of the assault-weapons
ban to the 2023 Legislature.
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