VOTE
Like Your Uterus Is on the Line —
BECAUSE IT IS
EW ’S TAKE ON THE GENERAL ELECTION
By Editorial Board
F
shares his scrappiness and ability to digest and discuss
wonky topics without completely nerding out, and she’s
also very much her own woman with a clear pro-worker,
pro-small business, pro-health care platform. Her most
well-known and well-funded opponent, Alek Skarlatos, is
such a trainwreck he couldn’t get elected county commis-
sioner in Douglas County. Still, in the current political
atmosphere, we take nothing for granted. Hoyle advo-
cates for abortion rights, Skarlatos, on the other hand,
hits “like” on photos of underage girls in bikinis on social
media. Vote Hoyle.
ormer President Donald Trump didn’t
actually grab us by the pussy, but he did
kick us in the uterus. He’s thankfully out
of office, but his anti-choice, anti-people
of color, anti-LGBTQIA, anti-environment
legacy lingers. Voting in this election in the
wake of the Supreme Court’s rotten, anti-
abortion Dobbs decision is one of many small steps we
can take to reclaim the good things about our country,
our state and our local government. The good folks don’t
always win, but we don’t stay down for long.
So, vote. Vote for good people who care about others,
vote for people who care about bodily autonomy and
health care and mental health; vote for those who want
the unhoused to have homes and those who want people
with less money and less access to power to have their
lives improved. Vote like the good things in the world
— the climate, the community, the ability to have control
over your own uterus — are on the line. Because they are.
— Camilla Mortensen and the Eugene Weekly editorial board
U.S. Representative, 5th District
Jamie McLeod-Skinner (D, I, WF)
Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R)
We have been following Jamie McLeod-Skinner’s
political efforts for a while now. We liked her when we
first encountered her in 2018 running against Republican
Congressman Greg Walden for the 2nd District seat, and
we like her now that the redistricting has put her into the
5th District, where she unseated incumbent Democrat
Kurt Schrader in the primary. She is pro-environment
and pro-control over your own uterus. Her opponent Lori
Chavez-DeRemer is campaigning on spurious attacks on
Critical Race Theory and Trumpian calls of “America First.”
NATIONAL RACES
CONGRESS
Senate
Ron Wyden (D, I), incumbent
Jo Rae Perkins (R), Dan Pulju (Pacific Green), Chris Henry
(Progressive)
You’d be hard pressed to find another senator dedi-
cated to traveling throughout their home state like Sen.
SENATOR RON WYDEN
E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M
VAL HOYLE
STATE RACES
Ron Wyden. And while on the road, he says he’s always
available to speak with whoever he sees while shopping at
his favorite store: Fred Meyer. And, policy-wise, it’s noth-
ing but net for the basketball-loving Wyden. Among his
accomplishments during his current term are expanding
crisis response teams modeled after CAHOOTS through
Medicaid and holding pharmaceutical companies that raise
drug prices accountable through an anti-price gouging
provision in the Inflation Reduction Act law. With another
term, Wyden says he’ll find ways to create more housing,
address wildfires and improve mental health resources.
Whether he’s looking to improve the lives of residents in
eastern Oregon hit by hailstorms or protect people trying
to access reproductive services without having their
data being used against them by anti-abortion zealots,
Wyden says the best politics is doing your job. “And the
best politics is doing policy,” he adds.
U.S. Representative, 4th District
Val Hoyle (D, Working Families)
Alek Skarlatos (R), Mike Beilstein (Progressive, Pacific
Green), Levi Leatherberry (I, Libertarian), Jim Howard
(Constitution)
Rep. Peter DeFazio is a hard act to follow, and for years
— long before the irascible yet kind of endearing congress-
man decided to retire — there has been speculation
over who could take his place. Current Bureau of Labor
and Industries Commissioner Val Hoyle fits the bill. She
Photos by Todd Cooper
Governor
Tina Kotek (D, WF)
Donice Noelle Smith (Constitution), Betsy Johnson (nonaf-
filiated), Christine Drazan (R)
Democratic Party nominee and former House Speaker
Tina Kotek has the legislative experience to lead Oregon
boldly and well. She knows Oregon’s issues, from home-
lessness to wildfires, and has the plans — and the leader-
ship skills — to address them.
TINA KOTEK
O C T O B E R
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