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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (June 3, 2016)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | June 3, 2016 | PAGE 5 ...Organized labor’s 2016 Oregon primary election scorecard From Page 1 will face each other in a Novem- ber runoff. time votes were counted, he was the only Republican candidate still standing. Trump has fre- quently criticized NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but the billionaire also has fre- quently taken positions at odds with organized labor, both polit- ically and as an employer. Union members who are fans of the one-time host of The Ap- prentice will want to look closer at that record in the months leading up to the November election. CLACKAMAS COUNTY CONGRESS Garnering 73 percent of the vote, four-term incumbent De- mocrat Kurt Schrader easily brushed off a primary challenge from former state rep Dave McTeague. Labor unions have been unhappy with Schrader for several recent votes in Con- gress, including support for “fast track” legislation that could speed passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In the November general election. Schrader will face off against Republican attorney Colm Willis, a former political direc- tor for Oregon Right to Life. All other incumbents won by even larger margins against little- known primary challengers: U.S. Senate Democrat Ron Wyden, and House Democrats Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blume- nauer, and Peter DeFazio, and House Republican Greg Walden. Statewide elections GOVERNOR With 84 percent support from Democrats, incumbent governor Kate Brown easily won primary challenges against lesser-known challengers. She’ll face Salem Republican Bud Pierce, a cancer doctor, in November. SECRETARY OF STATE Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian won the Democratic primary, with 39 percent to 24 percent for former State Rep Val Hoyle and 26 percent for State Sen. Richard Devlin. All three Democrats had support from some quarters in labor, but Avakian had broader labor sup- port than the others. And more than the others, he also took sides on some issues important to labor, including hostility to NAFTA-style trade deals and support for a pending ballot measure to raise taxes on big It was a low-key election night party at Hillary Clinton’s campaign Portland HQ. If the former secretary of state came off a bit stiff and flat, that’s because a cardboard cutout was her only Oregon appearance save for a $2,400-a-plate fundraiser last August. Behind her, her supporters watch U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders make a televised announcement of his 56-44 percent Oregon primary win. corporations. Avakian will face Republican Dennis Richardson in November. Richardson, who served six terms in the Oregon House, ran for governor in 2014. TREASURER State Rep. Tobias Reed, unop- posed in the Democratic pri- mary, will face Republican Jeff Gudman in the fall. ATTORNEY GENERAL Incumbent Democrat Ellen Rosenblum, unopposed in the Democratic primary, will run against veterans’ rights attorney Daniel Zene Crowe, who was unopposed in the Republican primary. State legislative elections Union political organization can really make a difference in state legislative races, which are often decided on the basis of a few hundred votes. This year saw a bumper crop of union members running for legislative office, most of them trained and sup- ported by the union-funded Ore- gon Labor Candidates School. But the biggest primary disap- pointment for labor may have come several days after election night. Roberta Phillip-Robbins, a member of AFSCME Local 88, quit her job as a youth and gang violence prevention spe- cialist at Multnomah County in order to run for House District 43, because her program is fed- erally funded and federal rules prohibit campaigning. And labor organizations including AF- SCME, Service Employees In- ternational Union (SEIU), Ore- gon Education Association (OEA), United Food and Com- mercial Workers Local 555, and the Oregon AFL-CIO made her race a priority. She was slightly ahead on election night, but in the end her opponent, Tawna Sanchez, won by just 105 votes. Sanchez, who received a dual endorsement from the Oregon State Building Trades Council, succeeds labor stalwart (and AF- TRA member) Lew Frederick, who’s running for State Senate. Ray Lister, an electrician and union rep for IBEW Local 48, won with 77 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary for House District 26 (Wilsonville). In November he’ll face Repub- lican real estate lawyer Richard Vial for the seat formerly held by Republican John Davis. Teresa Alonso Leon, an SEIU member, ran unopposed for House District 22, but she’ll have to beat Republican former Marion County commissioner Patty Milne in order to succeed Democrat Betty Komp. Sheri Malstrom, a member of Oregon Nurses Association, won with 88 percent in Demo- cratic primary for House District 27 (Beaverton). No Republican filed for the office, so she’ll be headed to Salem in January, suc- ceeding Tobias Read, who’s run- ning for state treasurer. Mark Reynolds, a member of OEA, won with 75 percent in the Democratic primary for House District 52 (Hood River). He’ll go on to challenge Repub- lican incumbent Mark Johnson, one of the most anti-labor mem- bers of the Oregon Legislature, in November. Tom Kane, a member of Port- land Association of Teachers, was unopposed in the Demo- cratic primary, and will chal- lenge incumbent Republican Vic Gilliam for House District 18 (Silverton). Metro elections Incumbent Metro Councilors Sam Chase, Bob Stacey and Craig Dirksen won re-election. Chase and Stacey were en- dorsed by the Northwest Ore- gon Labor Council (NOLC), and Dirksen was backed by the Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council (CPBCTC). County elections MULTNOMAH COUNTY State rep and labor ally Jessica Vega Pederson ran unopposed to succeed Judy Shiprack for County Commission, District 3. And Amanda Schroeder, Veter- ans Administration employee and president of the American Federation of Government Em- ployees, had a surprisingly ro- bust second place finish against Gresham City Councilor Lori Stegmann in the race to replace term-limited Diane McKeel in District 4. Stegmann, a Repub- lican and former leader of the Gresham Chamber of Com- merce, got 46 percent of the vote after raising $154,000 and garnering endorsements from Gresham Professional Fire Fighters Local 1062, the Fairview Police Officers Asso- ciation, and Multnomah County Chair Deb Kafoury. Schroeder, a first-time candidate, got 39 percent after raising just $32,000 and campaigning after work and on weekends. The two Incumbent Position 3 Commis- sioner Martha Schrader was en- dorsed by NOLC and eight other labor organizations, and won outright with 53 percent. The Labor Council didn’t make endorsements in other county races, other than to urge voters not to support incumbent chair John Ludlow or Position 4 com- missioner Tootie Smith, two noted union foes. But voters haven’t seen the last of them. Ludlow placed second, and will face off against County Com- missioner Jim Bernard in a No- vember runoff. And Smith will face retired probation officer Ken Humberston in a runoff. WASHINGTON COUNTY Incumbent commissioners Dick Schouten and Roy Rogers won re-election. NOLC endorsed Schouten, who ran unopposed, and Rogers, who was endorsed by the building trades, won with 52 percent of the vote to 24 per- cent for Glendora Claybrooks. COLUMBIA COUNTY Incumbent Position 1 Commis- sioner Margaret Magruder, en- dorsed by NOLC, placed first, but faces a runoff against Wayne Mayo. Position 3 Commissioner Tony Hyde, a 20-year incum- bent, had NOLC’s endorsement, but lost to Alex Tardif, an oppo- nent of fossil fuels projects, by 51-48 percent. HOOD RIVER COUNTY Voters approved Measure 14-55 by 69 percent, prohibiting bot- tled water production and trans- port in the county. Swiss multi- national Nestlé has been trying for seven years to get approval to draw water from a state- owned spring near Cascade Locks in the Columbia Gorge. Oregon AFSCME opposed the giveaway of public water, and contributed $1,000 to the ballot measure campaign. Municipal elections CITY OF PORTLAND State Treasurer Ted Wheeler won the mayor’s race outright with 57 percent of the vote against Jules Bailey and 13 other candidates. The Northwest Oregon Labor Council and Fire Fighters Local 43 didn’t take sides between front-runners Turn to Page 8
