NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | October 21, 2016 | PAGE 13
POLITICS
Labor union members
running for legislative seats
Six graduates of the union-spon-
sored Oregon Labor Candidates
School are running for the Ore-
gon Legislature this November.
Two have a fighting chance of
winning office as Democrats —
in open seats in districts where
the two major parties are closely
matched. Two face long odds
against incumbents in Republi-
can-leaning districts. And two
are running without union sup-
port as minor party candidates
against Democrats that have
union endorsements.
Fighting chance
Ray Lister
An electrician and union rep
at IBEW Local
48, he’s running
for House Dis-
trict 26 in
Wilsonville
against Republi-
can real estate
lawyer Richard Vial. The seat
is currently held by a Republi-
can, John Davis, who chose not
to seek re-election. Lister has
raised $143,000, mostly from
labor, while Vial has raised
$293,000 — including $70,000
in loans from his family cof-
fers, and $25,000 from billion-
aire Phil Knight.
—RayLister.com
Teresa Alonso Leon
An SEIU member and the child
of migrant farm
workers, she’s a
Woodburn City
Council member,
and works as the
administrator for
Oregon’s GED
program. She’s raised
$332,000 in her race to succeed
Democrat Betty Komp in
House District 22. Her oppo-
nent, Republican former Mar-
ion County commissioner Patty
Milne, has raised $356,000, in-
cluding $50,000 from Phil
Knight.
—ElectAlonsoLeon.com
Uphill battle
Mark Reynolds
A member of Oregon Educa-
tion Association,
he’s challenging
Hood River Re-
publican incum-
bent Mark John-
son in House
District 52, one
of Oregon’s most
anti-labor legislators. But
Reynolds is being outspent
about 10-to-1.
—ReynoldsForOregon.com
Tom Kane
A member of Portland Associa-
tion of Teachers,
he faces incum-
bent Republican
Vic Gilliam
for House Dis-
trict 18 (Silver-
ton).
—TomKaneForStateHouse.com
Ditching the Democrats
James Ofsink
An AFSCME-represented IT
worker at OHSU,
he’s running for
State Senate as a
candidate for the
Progressive
Party, challeng-
ing Democratic
state rep Kathleen Taylor to fill
the District 21 (Southeast Port-
land) seat being vacated by De-
mocrat Diane Rosenbaum.
—www.ofsink.today
Sami Al-AbdRabbuh
An American Federation of
Teachers-repre-
sented engineer-
ing instructor at
Oregon State
University, he’s
running for
House District 16
as a candidate for the Progres-
sive Party against incumbent
Democrat Dan Rayfield.
—sami2016.com
More local union candidates — City, county, state and federal
Sheri Malstrom, a member of Oregon
Nurses Association, won the Democratic
primary for Oregon House District 27
(Beaverton), and since no Republican filed for
the office, she’ll head to Salem in
January, succeeding Tobias Read, who’s
running for state treasurer.
Amanda Schroeder, president of American
Federation of Government Employees Local
2157, is running for Multnomah County
Commission District 4 against Lori Stegmann,
a Chamber of Commerce board member and
Gresham City Council member.
Shanti Llewallen, a longshore worker and
member of ILWU Local 8, is running for U.S.
Senate as a candidate of the Oregon Working
Families Party. The party decided to challenge
incumbent Ron Wyden because he voted for
Fast Track, paving the way for future NAFTAs.
Mark Crenshaw, president of IBEW Local
280, is running for mayor of Junction City
against Andy Nuckolls, a 2016 graduate of
Junction City High School. Junction City,
population 5,392, is 15 miles north of
Eugene.
Jim Moeller, a mental health and addiction
counselor for Kaiser Permanente, is a member
of Oregon Nurses and Health
Professionals.(OFNHP/AFT) He’s also a
Washington state rep, and this year he’s
running for U.S. Congress against Republican
incumbent Jaime Herrera Beutler.