VESTCAPITAL
BREAKS GROUND
ON PHASE 2
OF CIMMARON
TERRACE
PHS STUDENTS COLLECT
MORE THAN 8,000 CANS,
FOOD ITEMS TO BENEFIT
ST. MARY’S OUTREACH
STANFIELD
SURVIVES MAC-HI
TO ADVANCE TO
FINAL OF COLUMBIA
RIVER CLASH
LIFESTYLES, C1
REGION, A3
WEEKEND EDITION
E O
AST
144th Year, No. 43
SPORTS, B1
REGONIAN
DECEMBER 14-15, 2019
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WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
EO SPOTLIGHT
The rise of the
unaff iliated voter
Umatilla County has
the second highest
percentage of unaff iliated
voters in the state
Jack Jackson views
process as a ‘good
thing’ but with fl aws
By ANDREW CUTLER
East Oregonian
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
U
MATILLA COUNTY —
When it comes to voting,
Umatilla County residents are
a bit free spirited.
Going into the most recent
election, 41.8% of them were not reg-
istered to any political party — the
second-highest unaffi liated rate in the
state.
Some of them were added to the
voter rolls as unaffi liated by default
after the “motor voter” bill used infor-
mation from the Department of Motor
Vehicles to automatically register peo-
ple to vote. But others wear their unaf-
fi liated label proudly, as a conscious
choice.
Tammy Knight of Mission said she
started out registered as a Democrat.
“When I was growing up, my dad
told me that Democrats were the work-
ing party and Republicans were the rich
people, so that’s what I went with,” she
said.
Over time, however, she saw things
Whitman
professor: Trump
impeachment
‘new territory’
she disliked happening in both major
political parties and came to believe
they were both corrupt. So, she even-
tually switched to having no political
party, focusing on individual candi-
dates’ resumes and positions instead.
She has voted for candidates on both
sides of the aisle.
“I like being the wild card, I guess,”
she said.
Dwayne Brown of Hermiston has a
similar story, except he started out as
a Republican after being raised “very
conservative.” He said he still leans
conservative, but got “tired of politics
in general.”
Overall, Brown said he likes feeling
fl exible about how he votes — he voted
See Voter, Page A11
Bundles of ballots sit in trays waiting
to be opened prior to the November
2019 election at the Umatilla County
Elections offi ce in Pendleton.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan, File
WALLA WALLA, Wash. — As
congressional Democrats assemble a
team that will prose-
cute the impeachment
case against President
Donald Trump, Whit-
man University Assis-
tant Professor of Politics
Jack Jackson is sur-
prised the proceedings
Jackson
have moved this far.
Democrats
propelled
Trump’s
impeachment toward a vote by the full
U.S. House on Friday, as the Judiciary
Committee approved charges of abuse
of power and obstruction of Congress in
the constitutional and political storm that
has divided Congress and the nation.
“I am somewhat surprised that
Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi allowed
impeachment to move forward after
some of her earlier comments,” Jack-
son said. “But the evidence of abuse of
power, combined with political mobi-
lization in the country, has forced her
hand in the matter.”
Jackson, who received his juris doc-
tor degree from Cornell Law School,
and focuses his instruction at the Walla
Walla school on political theory and
law with a special emphasis on politi-
cal theories of freedom, public law, fem-
inist and queer theory, constitutionalism
and democracy, and political theories of
time, said the roadmap in the process is
straighforward.
“The Democrats need a majority
of votes in the House,” he said. “This
would then lead to a trial in the Senate.
Removal of the president from offi ce
requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate.
This procedure is set forth in Article 1 of
the Constitution.”
The House is expected to approve
the two articles of impeachment next
week, before lawmakers depart for the
holidays.
In the formal articles of impeach-
ment announced Tuesday, Democrats
contend Trump enlisted a foreign power
in “corrupting” the U.S. election process
See Trump, Page A11
Key departures mean different look for Legislature
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE,
JAKE THOMAS AND
SAM STITES
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Legislators who
have played key roles in Oregon
public policy in recent years are
heading for the exit.
Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Port-
land, might author another book.
Sen. Laurie Monnes Anderson,
D-Gresham, is yearning for some
“alone time.”
Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, is
aiming for Capitol Hill.
And Sen. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos
Bay, has rolled out a familiar polit-
ical trope: leaving offi ce to spend
more time with his family.
So far, 10 lawmakers have
announced that they won’t seek
re-election in 2020, and another six
are seeking new offi ce or running
for the seat they were appointed to
for the fi rst time. That means 16
seats will be up for grabs next year.
Several lawmakers cited age as
a reason.
“It’s my ninth session and I’ll be
85 in March,” said Greenlick. “It’s
time.”
Monnes Anderson, a retired
nurse, decided she wouldn’t run
again after her most recent election
to the Senate in 2016.
“You know, I’m in my 70s and I
put my heart and soul in being a leg-
islator and campaigning,” Monnes
Anderson said. “And it was just get-
ting too much.”
Others cite the rancor and
See Departures, Page A11
EO Media Group fi le photo
So far, 10 lawmakers have announced that they won’t seek re-election in
2020, and another six are seeking new offi ce or running for the seat they
were appointed to for the fi rst time. That means 16 seats will be up for
grabs next year.