NWLP Nov. 21, 2008:NWLP
11/18/08
9:43 AM
Page 3
...Election night victory parties everywhere in Oregon
(From Page 1)
Kopel-Bailey Dist. 42, Portland;
Michael Dembrow, Dist. 45, Portland;
Jefferson Smith, Dist. 47, Portland;
Nick Kahl Dist. 49, Troutdale; Brent
Barton, Dist. 51, Clackamas; and
Suzanne VanOrman Dist. 52, Hood
River.
Dembrow is a union activist and
president of the American Federation
of Teachers-Oregon Local 2277 at
Portland Community College.
Dembrow and the others will join a
bevy of incumbent state reps who
were re-elected with labor’s support.
They are: Rep. Peter Buckley, Dist. 5,
Ashland; Rep. Paul Holvey, Dist. 8,
Eugene; Rep. Arnie Roblan, Dist. 9,
Coos Bay; Rep. Jean Cowan Dist. 10,
Newport; Rep. Phil Barnhart, Dist. 11,
Eugene; Rep. E. Terry Beyer, Dist. 12,
Springfield; Rep. Nancy Nathanson,
Dist. 13, N. Eugene; Rep. Chris Ed-
wards, Dist. 14, Eugene; Rep, Sara
Gelser, Dist. 16, Corvallis; Rep. Brian
Clem; Dist. 21, Salem; Rep. Betty
Komp, Dist. 22, Woodburn; Rep. To-
bias Read, Dist. 27, Washington
County; Rep. Jeff Barker, Dist. 28,
Aloha; Rep. Chuck Riley, Dist. 29,
Hillsboro; Rep. David Edwards, Dist.
30, Hillsboro; Rep. Brad Witt, Dist.
31, Clatskanie; Rep. Mitch Greenlick,
Dist. 33, Portland; Rep. Larry Galizio,
Dist. 35, Tigard; Rep. Mary Nolan,
Dist. 36, Portland; Rep. Dave Hunt,
Dist. 40, Clackamas Co.; Rep. Car-
olyn Tomei, Dist. 41, Milwaukie; Rep.
Chip Shields, Dist. 43, Portland; Rep.
Tina Kotek, Dist. 44, Portland; Rep.
Ben Cannon, Dist. 46, Portland; and
Rep. Michael Schaufler, Dist. 48,
Happy Valley.
Only three endorsed House candi-
dates lost their races. They were
Richard Riggs in District 20, Salem;
Jessica Adamson in District 26, Sher-
wood; and Toby Forsberg in District
39, Oregon City. Forsberg lost by just
439 votes to former Clackamas County
Commissioner Bill Kennemer.
Six of seven AFL-CIO-endorsed
candidates for the Oregon Senate were
successful, including incumbents
Joanne Verger, District 5, Coos Bay;
Mark Hass, District 14, Washington
County/SW Portland; and Laurie
Monnes Anderson, Senate District 25,
Gresham.
Newcomers elected to the Senate,
but no strangers to labor, are Suzanne
Bonamici, District 17, Beaverton; Di-
ane Rosenbaum, District 21, Portland;
and Jackie Dingfelder, District 23,
Portland. Each served in the House
and each had strong labor voting
records in that chamber. Rosenbaum
is a member of Communications
Workers of America Local 7901 and is
a past Executive Board member of the
Oregon AFL-CIO.
Eldon Rollins was the only casu-
alty, in Senate District 1, Coquille.
The Oregon AFL-CIO took posi-
tions on 12 statewide ballot measures
— and was successful on all of them.
Labor endorsed Measures 54, 55, 56,
and 57 and opposed Measures 58
through 65. Five of the opposition
measures were sponsored by union
foe Bill Sizemore. One — Measure
64 — was Sizemore’s fourth attempt
at trying to ban employer collection
of union dues if any money is spent on
politics.
“These victories, combined with
Oregon’s outright rejection once again
of the anti-worker agenda espoused by
Bill Sizemore and his buddies, pave
the way for a brighter future for work-
ing families,” Chamberlain said.
Approximately 83 percent of regis-
tered voters cast a ballot in Oregon.
In local races, labor also did well.
The Northwest Oregon Labor
Council was victorious in 46 of the 49
races it participated in.
NOLC helped elect Judy Shiprack
to the Multnomah County Board of
Commissioners. She is the wife of
Bob Shiprack, executive director of
the Oregon State Building and Con-
struction Trades Council. NOLC’s
other endorsed candidate for the com-
mission, Carla Piluso, was defeated by
Diane McKeel in a very close race
(926 votes) out of nearly 55,000 bal-
lots cast.
In the contest for Portland City
Council, NOLC’s endorsed candidate,
Charles Lewis, lost to Amanda Fritz
by a wide margin. Fritz, however, was
endorsed by several union locals, in-
cluding Portland AFSCME Local 189
and Laborers Municipal Employees
Local 483. Both of those unions have
members who work for the city.
In Clackamas County, Charlotte
Lehan was elected to the County
Commission and Craig Roberts was
re-elected sheriff.
In Gresham, Shirley Craddick and
Paul Warr-King were re-elected to the
City Council, while in Columbia
County Earl Fisher and Tony Hyde
outpolled their opponents for seats on
that county’s Board of Commission-
ers.
Additionally, Columbia County
Circuit Court Judge Jenefer Grant
held on to her position, defeating chal-
lenger David Herr.
A school children’s investment
measure (Measure 26-94) in Portland
passed, while a police funding levy in
Gresham failed. NOLC had endorsed
both measures.
The Marion-Polk-Yamhill Coun-
ties Labor Council helped re-elect Bill
Burgess as Marion County clerk. He
was in a race targeted by Republicans
for the non-partisan post.
In Yamhill County, labor-backed
Rebekah Stern Doll was elected county
clerk, while Kris Bledsoe lost her bid
for county commissioner.
Backed by Linn-Benton-Lincoln
Counties Labor Council, Sharon
Konopa was elected mayor of Albany
and is the first woman to hold that post
in the history of the city. Sharon, who
served three terms on the Albany City
Council, is married to Steve Konopa, a
union representative of United Food
and Commercial Workers Local 555.
Three endorsed candidates for Al-
bany City Council — Bill Root, Mike
Styler and Frank Frentzel — were de-
feated. Frentzel is president of AF-
SCME Local 2043 at the City of
Lebanon.
Jim Gorley, financial secretary of
Steelworkers Local 1189, was elected
to the Sweet Home City Council, and
in Benton County, labor-endorsed
Annabelle Jaramillo and Jay Dixon
were elected to the Board of Commis-
sioners.
The Columbia Pacific Building
and Construction Trades Council
probably made the difference for Pa-
tricia Roberts in her race for Clatsop
County Commissioner. Roberts de-
feated Jim Scheller by just 15 votes.
CPBCTC-endorsed candidates in
Fairview and Wood Village didn’t fare
quite as well. Theresa Davis, wife of
IBEW Local 48 Business Manager
Clif Davis, lost her bid for Fairview
City Council, as did Laborers Local
296 Business Representative Gary
Moore in Wood Village.
A union-supported construction
bond measure in Centennial School
district also was defeated.
In Washington State, two CP-
BCTC-endorsed candidates for the
Clark County Board of Commission-
ers were defeated. Jeanne Harris was
outpolled by Mark Boldt, and Pam
Brokaw lost a nail-biter to Tom
Mielke by just 190 votes out of
168,000 ballots cast.
In Skamania County, Bruce Scher-
ling lost his bid for county commis-
sioner.
Broadway Floral
for the BEST flowers call
503-288-5537
1638 NE Broadway, Portland
NOVEMBER 21, 2008
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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