7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2018
Buehler: Vowed to end homelessness Money: Cost of
state races has
jumped nearly
$18M in 20 years
Continued from Page 1A
President Donald Trump
has sought to expand offshore
drilling to improve economic
security and energy domi-
nance. Brown, a Democrat,
asked the Trump administra-
tion to exempt Oregon, but has
not heard back. Florida, which
has a Republican governor, has
received an exemption.
Buehler, a Republican, said
he is against offshore drill-
ing but raised doubts about
whether it would even become
an issue in Oregon. No one
has attempted to drill off the
coast since 1964, and little was
recovered.
“I’m certainly against drill-
ing offshore, but that is more
about distraction, and the gov-
ernor is trying to distract peo-
ple’s attention from the big
issues in Oregon,” Buehler
said. “No one’s going to be
drilling off the Oregon Coast.
It’s very expensive. It’s very
risky, and there’s lots of very
inexpensive places to drill for
oil right now, so it’s more polit-
ical theater than actual, real
policymaking.”
Buehler, a Bend orthope-
dic surgeon, ate breakfast at
Pig ’N Pancake after speaking
with diners.
The gubernatorial candi-
date also reiterated his opposi-
Continued from Page 1A
Linh DePledge/For The Daily Astorian
State Rep. Knute Buehler and his wife, Patty, spoke to diners at Pig ‘N Pancake in Astoria
on Saturday during a campaign stop.
tion to a gillnetting ban on the
Columbia River.
Former
Gov.
John
Kitzhaber, who was behind a
2013 agreement between Ore-
gon and Washington state to
phase out gillnetting on the
river’s main stem, recently
appeared in several videos
advocating for the states to
keep the ban in place. Brown
criticized the state Fish and
Wildlife Commission’s consid-
eration last year to allow some
gillnetting, eventually leading
the commission to back down.
The two states are in
the process of reviewing
the agreement.
“Unfortunately she tends
to avoid taking a stand, and
that vacuum starts to be filled
by other people,” Buehler said
of Brown. “It’s another exam-
ple where we need leadership
from a governor to really start
to deal with these problems
and not have former gover-
nors, you know, weighing in
on such important issues.”
Buehler said homelessness
is one of the main problems
he heard about in his visit to
Astoria. The City Council ear-
lier this month unanimously
passed a ban on camping in
the woods, leading to intense
debate.
Buehler has vowed to end
homelessness within five
years of taking office. His
plan, released in August, calls
for 4,000 emergency shelters
throughout the state.
“It’s become a big, big
problem in the Portland metro
area, but now it’s just not iso-
lated there,” he said. “It’s so
big now that it’s going to take
leadership from the governor
to help solve. It’s beyond the
ability of local nonprofits or
even local government to deal
with it.”
Owen: ‘I have some worries, but I’m optimistic’
Continued from Page 1A
When he told the American
Legion about the diagnosis, the
legion’s auxiliary jumped into
action to organize a fundraising
dinner to help pay for health
care costs.
“We’re just here to help
Matt,” said Jack Kerwin, the
legion’s first vice commander.
“I mean, everybody just loves
the guy.”
In one night, dozens of cus-
tomers and co-workers over the
years came out to raise about
$16,000 to pay for treatment.
“I suppose you can’t put
this in the paper, but I guess
my reaction would be, ‘Holy
s---!’ I honestly didn’t think
I was that well-liked,” Owen
laughed. “It feels wonderful to
know the community comes to
support its residents when one
is in need.”
In a packed legion hall,
every customer and colleague
has their own connection to
Owen.
“He’s just so funny, kind
and generous,” said Nannette
Cooper, a regular customer
who first met Owen at the Sea-
side Golf Course. “He’s just so
positive, and with a situation
like his, man, that’s half the
battle.”
Jose Sosa, who used to
work with Owen at the Lum-
beryard, remembers him as a
role model as a teenager.
“On the outside he can look
intimidating, but he is one of
the sweetest people I know,”
Sosa said. “He’s the type of
guy who will always stick up
for you.”
Tonya Spath, another for-
mer co-worker, remembers a
particularly busy and under-
staffed New Year’s Eve shift,
where Owen, as the manager,
was pitching in to do every-
thing from manning the door,
serving orders and washing the
dishes.
What makes the moment
“Matt,” Spath said, is the way
he kept his cool.
“I remember we were all
like, ‘This sucks!’” Spath said.
“He said, ‘Yeah, it does. But
we’ll get through it.’ That’s
what makes him special. He’s
always calm. He’s always
Matt.”
It’s a mentality he is sticking
with as he faces the unknowns
that come with cancer treat-
ment, and one he hopes to keep
sharing behind the counter at
the American Legion.
“Sure, I have some wor-
ries,” he said. “But I’m
optimistic.”
Facing a hotly contested
Democratic primary in May,
Mitchell’s campaign fund-
raising started earlier and
had surpassed $400,000 as of
Friday.
A member of the Ser-
vice Employees Interna-
tional Union, Mitchell has
received more than $225,000
from labor and education
unions; more than $57,000
from Future PAC, the cam-
paign committee for state
House Democrats; and more
than $46,000 from the Ore-
gon League of Conservation
Voters.
Nearly 40 percent of her
fundraising so far has been
in-kind contributions from
groups campaigning on her
behalf.
In the primary, Mitch-
ell scored an upset victory
over Tim Josi, a Tillamook
County commissioner and
former state representative
heavily backed by regional
industries and incumbent
politicians, and John Orr, a
local attorney and environ-
mentalist whose campaign
was more grassroots and
raised less than $20,000.
Lower faced no oppo-
nent in the Republican pri-
mary and began most of her
fundraising during the gen-
eral election, so far gathering
more than $164,000.
After coming in third in
the Democratic primary, Josi
crossed the political aisle and
endorsed Lower, who has
since been backed by many
of the same timber, agri-
culture and other industry
groups that supported Josi,
along with state Republicans.
Some of Lower’s largest
contributions so far include
more than $90,000 from
Tiffiny
Mitchell
Vineeta
Lower
Republican groups and state
House lawmakers; $12,000
from the Low Income Den-
tal PAC formed by Advan-
tage Dental, a large Medicaid
recipient; more than $10,000
from the Right to Life PAC
opposing abortion; and more
than $16,000 from agricul-
tural, lumber and fishing
groups and companies.
The campaigns for House
District 32 between 2012
and 2016 gathered less than
$272,000 in contributions
when incumbent state Rep.
Deborah Boone, D-Can-
non Beach, was running for
re-election, according to the
National Institute on Money
in Politics, a nonprofit track-
ing campaign finance.
This year’s campaign to
replace her has so far gath-
ered more than $485,000 in
cash contributions.
A report by the institute
showed that over the past 20
years, the collective cost of
state legislative races in Ore-
gon has jumped from around
$2 million to $20 million
each election. More than 90
percent of the better-funded
candidates in past few elec-
tion cycles have won the
election, according to the
institute.
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