NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | May 6, 2016 | PAGE 7
The union choice for Oregon Secretary of State is …
All three Democrats running for
Oregon Secretary of State —
Brad Avakian, Richard Devlin,
and Val Hoyle — have long and
close relationships with organ-
ized labor. The Oregon AFL-
CIO stayed neutral in the pri-
mary; Oregon Building Trades
Council endorsed all three. Ore-
gon’s secretary of state oversees
elections, corporate records, and
audits of state agencies, and be-
comes governor in the event of
a vacancy. The Northwest Labor
Press interviewed all three.
Avakian has been courting la-
bor support for eight years as
Oregon’s labor commissioner, a
job in which he’s responsible for
overseeing apprenticeship pro-
grams and enforcing wage and
hour, civil rights, and prevailing
wage laws. He’s run a very ag-
gressive campaign and is en-
dorsed by as many as 20 labor
organizations. A civil rights
lawyer by profession, he ran for
Secretary of State once before,
in 2008, but accepted the labor
commissioner position when
then-governor Ted Kulongoski
appointed him to replace Dan
Gardner, who resigned. Two
Brad Avakian, Richard Devlin, and Val Hoyle get ready for an October debate
at the Oregon AFL-CIO convention in Seaside.
years later, he ran for Congress
and lost to Suzanne Bonamici.
Avakian is proposing a number
of things that have not been part
of the secretary of state’s job,
like getting more civics educa-
tion in schools, partnering with
green energy providers, and au-
diting private companies that
have business with the state, to
make sure they obey labor laws.
Hoyle, former House Major-
ity Leader, is backed by the Fire
Fighters and Painters unions and
by IBEW Local 48. The daugh-
ter of a union firefighter, she
was once a member of HERE
Local 26 in Boston, and in col-
lege she worked as a lobbyist
for Massachusetts building
trades unions. She moved to
Oregon to work for the Burley
bike trailer company, a worker-
owned coop. In her campaign
for Secretary of State, Hoyle
says she wants same-day voter
registration and to make ballots
available in other languages.
Devlin, endorsed by the Ore-
gon Nurses Association, has a
Union and Independently-owned locations
throughout Washington and Oregon
Oregon & SW Washington
Beaverton - 503.914.4003
Chehalis - 360.639.3377
Eugene/Springfield - 541.622.0602
Gresham- 503.914.4005
Longview - 360.639.3388
Salem - 503.914.4007
Salmon Creek - 360.639.3399
on! Southern Oregon - 541.227.6966
Coming so
t.
get on the lis
Call now to
Western Washington
Arlington - 360.282.0803
Auburn - 253.220.4104
Bellevue - 425.201.0600
Bellingham - 360.282.0804
Bonney Lake - 253.220.4105
Bothell - 425.201.1703
Carnation - 425.201.1934
Everett - 425.201.4343
Federal Way - 253.220.4106
Issaquah - 425.201.4411
Kent - 253.220.4107
Lakewood - 253.220.4108
Lynnwood - 425.201.4422
Maple Valley - 425.201.4433
Marysville - 360.488.4400
Monroe - 360.639.3300
Mount Vernon - 360.639.3311
Olympia - 360.639.3322
Poulsbo - 360.639.3344
Puyallup - 253.220.4109
Redmond - 425.249.3415
Renton - 425.249.3416
SeaTac - 206.432.4706
Seattle - 206.432.4707
Sequim - 360.639.3355
Shoreline - 206.432.4708
Silverdale - 360.639.3366
Snohomish - 425.577.6755
Tacoma - 253.220.4110
Tukwila - 425.577.6775
Eastern Washington
Ellensburg - 509.361.5500
Kennewick - 509.361.5511
Moses Lake - 509.361.5522
Pasco - 509.361.5533
Spokane - 509.361.5544
Spokane (North) - 509.361.5566
Spokane Valley - 509.361.5577
Wenatchee - 509.361.5588
Yakima - 509.361.5599
31-year record of public service,
first at Tualatin City Council
and Metro, then as a state legis-
lator. He’s co-chair of Ways and
Means, and a former Senate
Majority Leader. He’s most en-
thusiastic about the job’s auditor
role, making sure state agencies
are efficient and effective.
Avakian and Hoyle say they’re
strongly against NAFTA-style
trade agreements like the Trans-
Pacific Partnership; Devlin’s po-
sition wasn’t as clear. Avakian
says he supports a union-backed
ballot measure to raise taxes on
big corporations; Hoyle and De-
vlin said it wouldn’t be appropri-
ate for someone seeking to be the
state’s top elections officer to take
sides. Avakian and Devlin would-
n’t say who they prefer for presi-
dent; Hoyle backs Hillary Clin-
ton.
Avakian and Hoyle have each
raised about $580,000 in the last
year and a half; Devlin raised
$287,000. Avakian and Hoyle
say they’d like to see a publicly
financed elections. All three say
they want campaign finance
limits and greater transparency.
— Don McIntosh
What would you say to
our readers?
Brad Avakian
“Pick the progressive Democrat. Pick
the labor Democrat. There’s a reason
that nearly all the unions in this race
have endorsed me and not my
opponents. And that’s because I will
always stand up for a collective
bargaining agreement. I will always
respect the picket line.”
Val Hoyle
“I grew up in a union household. I
consider myself a labor Democrat. I
come from a more blue collar
background. My father was a union
member. My grandfather helped start
the New York Laborers union. My son
is member of UFCW. My politics are
based on the values that I learned
growing up in union halls.”
Richard Devlin
“I believe union members really have a
stake in good government, and the
secretary of state is at the core of good
government, the primary
responsibilities being the chief elections
officer and the chief auditor of public
accounts. Ensuring that our elections are
impartial and fair and ensuring that
public dollars are spent wisely effectively
and efficiently should be a concern to
union members and all Oregonians.”
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