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Volume XLVIV • Number 12
‘City
of
Roses’
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday •May 6, 2020
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Important Election Looms
Photo by b everly
c orbell /t he
P ortland o bserver
Portland Attorney
Ernie Warren puts his
31 years as lawyer
heading up his own
law firm and a lifetime
of pursing justice
issues as qualifications
in a campaign for
election as an Oregon
Circuit Court Judge for
Multnomah County.
Warren Campaigns for Judge
Experience and community
ties win accolades
b everly c orbell
t he P ortland o bserver
Ernest “Ernie” Warren Jr., a seasoned Portland lawyer,
passionate civil and criminal defense attorney and long
time advocate for pursing justice issues, is asking voters
to put him on the bench for an open seat on the Oregon
Circuit Court for Multnomah County, one of six candi-
dates running in Oregon’s May 19 vote-by-mail election.
Warren has been a mainstay in Portland’s African
American community since his family migrated here from
Texas in the 1930s and ‘40s.
The Warren clan came to Portland from Pleasant Hill,
Texas after mechanization took their farming jobs, During
World War II, employment at ESCO Corporation, today
a global manufacturer of metal parts, provided economic
opportunity. By the 1960s, there were more Warrens in
Portland than back in Texas, and like other second and
third generation members of the black community, they
were employed in many different professions.
In an interview the Portland Observer, Warren told how
his father, Ernest Warren Sr., was a successful insurance
by
broker. But far from coddling his son, the senior Warren
was insistent that his son learn the value of work. From
the time he was just 9 years old, while other kids were
playing summer sports, Warren Jr. was expected to work
and work hard.
Warren said he remembers joining his grandfather at
the time, who would pick him up before daybreak, to go
pick whatever produce was in season on local farms.
“So I know what it’s like to go out and pick berries and
beans all summer long and have your hands all stained
with dirt,” he said.
Warren said the values he learned growing up in a big
close knit family formed the basis for his lifelong involve-
ment in the community. In 1990, he opened the first Afri-
can American-owned law firm in the state with the goal of
“being a resource to the community, serving the common
good and steadfastly pursuing justice.” He said he was in-
spired by the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “Injustice
anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
“I’m running because I want to be a person who main-
tains justice and always do what is right,” Warren said.
In his 31 years in practice serving a diverse clientele,
Warren earned a reputation as a passionate attorney and
Ballots out;
countdown begins
by M ichael l eighton
P ortland o bserver e ditor
Voters in the May 19 Primary have less than two weeks
to mark their ballots in an important vote-by-mail election
that will decide who wins many local offices outright or
sends their campaigns into a runoff in November. In ad-
dition, two ballot measures face ratification and adoption
with a simple majority.
In Portland, a diverse field of candidates faces votes
with candidates of color and clearly liberal credentials
running in all four contested races for seats on the Portland
City Council, including mayor; an open position on the
Oregon Circuit Court in Multnomah County; and contest-
ed positions for Metro Councilor and Oregon Secretary of
State. The names of Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Ber-
nie Sanders will appear on the Democratic Primary Ballot
for President, but Biden is already the presumed nominee
after beating Sanders in recent contests and holding what
political experts say is an insurmountable lead. Sanders
and Warren have already conceded, but in some cases they
can collect more delegates for the party convention.
A two-way race for Multnomah County District At-
torney features Mike Schmidt, a former deputy DA and
justice reform candidate who has won endorsements from
civil rights and racial justice advocates versus Ethan O.
Knight, another former deputy DA and assistant U.S. At-
torney who has endorsements from a wide swath of the
legal establishment, prosecutors, police and firefighters.
Two ballot measures face voters in Portland, a proposed
city measure to renew a 10-cent per gallon fuel tax to pay
for street repairs, maintenance and safety; and a proposed
Metro tax on high incomes and business profits of over $5
million to pay for homeless services.
c ontinued on P age 11
c ontinued on P age 11
Ballots for the May 19 vote by mail election are out.