State
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
A9
Voters block
sanctuary state
law repeal,
grocery tax ban
By Claire Withycombe
Capital Bureau
Pamplin Media Group/Jonathan House
Gov. Kate Brown addresses her supporters after results showed she won re-election for a four-year term.
With win, Brown looks
ahead to four more years
By Troy Brynelson
Capital Bureau
On Election Day, Kate
Brown ended a record-breaking
year for campaign spending and
anticipating what could be her
last four years in public office.
The Democrat defeated Re-
publican Knute Buehler, a sur-
geon and state legislator from
Bend, in a race that was decided
quickly after balloting ended.
Her election means a con-
tinuing press on environmental
issues and on education. With
no election ahead of her, she
faces a term with a firmer hold
on the office and less of a need
to grasp political advantage.
The two spent more than $30
million combined in their bids
for Oregon’s top desk, noted es-
pecially by major donations to
Buehler from Nike co-founder
Phil Knight.
Brown, from a lectern at the
Hilton Portland Downtown, told
supporters that voters showed
how elections in Oregon aren’t
all about who raises the most
money.
“No one person should be
able to buy the governor’s of-
fice,” Brown said to cheers.
Polls closed at 8 p.m. and,
although first results trickled in
around 8 p.m., Brown was de-
clared the winner by 8:20. Bue-
hler conceded after 8:30, telling
supporters at the Sentinel Hotel
in Portland that he was as disap-
pointed as they were.
“My voice will not be lead-
ing this state for the next four
years and I certainly accept that
decision,” he said. “But let’s
also be very clear: The status
quo in this state is not tolerable.”
Polls leading into Novem-
ber showed the two candidates
virtually neck-and-neck. In her
nearly eight-minute victory
speech, Brown said her stances
on education, affordable hous-
ing and health care won over
Oregonians.
“This election shows that
when Oregonians are given
an opportunity to invest in our
classrooms, to build affordable
housing, to protect healthcare,
it’s not a toss-up. It’s not even a
close call,” she said.
But, afterward, Brown con-
ceded she worried it could have
been much closer.
“I knew the race was going
to be close, and thought it would
be close all along, but to take
this solid of a lead made me re-
ally happy,” she said.
Victory secured Brown her
second term as Oregon’s gov-
ernor. She succeeded to the job
in 2015 after the resignation of
former Gov. John Kitzhaber.
Brown, 58, then won a special
election in 2016.
It also secured Brown a gov-
ernance with a Democratic su-
permajority, as the party seized
at least three seats in the Oregon
House.
“It’s just really cool to be
able to pick up races in the state
House and the Senate and really
be able to make a huge differ-
ence over the next two years in
Oregon, and keep Oregon mov-
ing forward,” Brown said.
Brown’s victory was lauded
by environmental groups and
some unions. Doug Moore, ex-
ecutive director of the Oregon
League of Conservation Voters,
said Brown’s re-election kept
the climate in good hands.
“Climate change was on the
ballot, and climate change won
with Kate Brown,” he said.
Joe Baessler, political di-
rector for Oregon’s American
Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees, which
represents government workers,
said Brown’s leadership is bet-
ter for affordable housing initia-
tives and public employees.
“She didn’t get enough
credit for it, but she had a lita-
ny of great accomplishments,”
Baessler said, noting that he
hoped to see strong progres-
sive policies in Brown’s next
term. “We have agencies that
are barely able to accomplish
the tasks they’re mandated to
because they don’t have the re-
sources.”
Work to do
Brown appeared ready to get
started on her next term during
her victory speech. She said as
much as she was flanked by two
dozen schoolchildren and her
husband.
“Make no mistake. The fight
isn’t over. We’ve still got lots of
work to do,” she said. “We’ve
never had someone so divisive
in the White House or someone
with such less respect for the
truth or for the people impacted
by his decisions.”
In the weeks up to the elec-
tion, Brown has outlined several
directions she would take her
second term — hoping to bol-
ster education, combat climate
change, reduce homelessness
and more — and she may just
have four years to do it.
Brown, who started her ca-
reer in 1991 and has run for
office eight times, said she does
not plan to run again in 2022.
She said she wants to spend
more time with her husband,
Dan Little, and do things that
make her happy.
Governing will remain her
focus until then. She aims to
increase funding for initiatives
to bring about more affordable
housing and tamp homeless-
ness.
“Every Oregonian deserves
access to a warm, safe, dry, af-
fordable and accessible place to
call home,” she said before elec-
tion night.
On climate change, Brown
said Oregon needs to become
a global leader to reduce car-
bon emissions. The issue has
become more important as the
Trump administration has cut
back environmental regulations.
She pointed to rising drought
conditions and wildfires.
“Oregon has to step up —
states have to step up — when
you have a federal administra-
tion that is literally ignoring this
problem and ignoring science
and ignoring realities of what’s
happening on the ground,” she
said.
On health care, Brown said
her goal is to get 99 percent of
Oregon insured.
And, after the performance
of Oregon’s public schools be-
came a hotspot late in the cam-
paign, Brown said she hopes to
reinforce education and career
training in the state.
Brown specifically high-
lighted she has spent a lot of
time with Colt Gill, director of
the state Department of Educa-
tion, and she plans to keep meet-
ing with district superintendents
throughout the state. She wants
to understand and replicate suc-
cesses in the state, like in Eagle
Point, where she said schools
lowered absenteeism and raised
graduation rates.
When asked about legacy
policy, Brown pointed to Future
Ready Oregon and other pro-
grams that offer jobs training
and technical skills.
“That means closing the
skills gap between the work-
force that we have and the
workforce that we need to fuel
the economy of Oregon’s fu-
ture,” she said.
Brown plans to tackle these
goals with a team that resem-
bles the team now. She told
the Oregon Capital Bureau in
an interview that she does not
plan to shuffle staff, although it
is common for people to leave
after an election cycle. Chief of
Staff Nik Blosser, who came on
in January 2017, will remain.
On her upcoming budget,
to be released in December,
Brown wouldn’t disclose much.
She said this budget will be eas-
ier to balance than the last, when
the state faced a deficit creeping
toward $2 billion. This time
around, she said, it’s a manage-
able $800 million, fully due to
funding the Oregon Health Plan.
Dems strengthen grip on Oregon Legislature
By Claire Withycombe
Capital Bureau
Democrats gained key seats
in the Oregon House and Sen-
ate on Election Day, securing a
long-coveted “super majority”
in each chamber.
That means that Democrats
will hold 60 percent of the
seats in each chamber when
the Legislature convenes in
January.
That composition may
make it easier for Democrats
to pass legislation considered
more partisan such as tax in-
creases or restrictions on car-
bon emissions.
It’s unclear whether mod-
erate Democrats will get on
board with more controversial
or progressive priorities, but
the development also erodes
the political clout of Republi-
cans in the Legislature.
All 60 seats in the House
were up for election this year,
while 17 Senate seats went be-
fore voters.
Democrats picked up three
seats in the House, defeating
Republican incumbents. They
now hold 38 seats.
Courtney Neron beat Rep.
Rich Vial, R-Scholls, Rachel
Prusak beat Rep. Julie Parrish,
R-Tualatin, and Democrat
Anna Williams beat Rep. Jeff
Helfrich, R-Hood River.
Democrats also picked up
at least one seat in the Senate,
giving them 18 seats.
Democrat Jeff Golden de-
feated Republican Jessica Go-
mez in southern Oregon’s third
Senate district in a race to re-
place retiring Republican Alan
DeBoer.
After the election, where
voters rejected two tax-related
ballot measures, lawmakers
also won’t be hemmed in by
limitations on taxing groceries
or by stricter voting require-
ments to change tax expendi-
tures like credits, exemptions
and deductions.
There were several com-
petitive races in the House this
year, with some Democratic
candidates raising and spend-
ing more than $800,000.
Cash flowed freely in con-
tests in Happy Valley, Hood
River and Polk County, where
the major party candidates
spent more than $1.3 million
in each race.
A contest between incum-
bent Sen. Chuck Thomsen,
R-Hood River, and Democrat-
ic challenger Chrissy Reitz, a
former nurse and the chair of
the Hood River School Board,
proved competitive and expen-
sive.
Together the candidates
spent about $1.4 million in
2018, according to campaign
finance records. Thomsen re-
ceived 28,940 votes to Reitz’s
28,607, according to Secretary
of State records.
On election night, Ore-
gonians blocked attempts to
overturn the state’s sanctu-
ary status for undocument-
ed immigrants and affirmed
public funding for repro-
ductive health care, holding
onto its status as a socially
liberal state.
In so doing, Oregon vot-
ers rejected socially con-
servative priorities by large
margins.
They also roundly re-
jected fiscally conservative
measures that attempted to
restrict tax increases, open-
ing the door for broader tax
reforms in the 2019 legisla-
tive session.
In early statewide re-
turns, about 58 percent of
voters rejected Measure 103,
which would have banned
taxes on groceries.
And about 66 percent
of voters counted rejected
Measure 104, which would
require a three-fifths major-
ity vote in the Legislature on
certain tax-related measures.
Under that measure,
lawmakers — 60 percent in
both the House and Senate
— would have had to vote
“yes” to approve changes to
tax credits, exemptions and
deductions, or fee increases.
The liberal coalition Our
Oregon claimed that the
state in this election defend-
ed itself from out-of-state
interests.
“By rejecting Measures
103 and 104, Oregonians
came together to defend our
values from outside special
interests who tried to in-
crease their profits at the ex-
pense of Oregon families,”
said Our Oregon Executive
Director Becca Uherbelau in
a written statement. “Voters
once again made a statement
for all of Oregon’s leaders
to hear: we want strong in-
vestments in health care and
education.”
Proponents of Measure
104 said the measure’s com-
plicated ballot title present-
ed an insurmountable chal-
lenge.
“The complicated and
confusing ballot title was
just too much to over-
come,” said Shawn Cleave,
government affairs director
for the Oregon Association
of Realtors, in a written
statement. “Our coalition
will continue to fight to pro-
tect important deductions
like the mortgage interest
and property tax deductions
that keep homeownership
affordable for many of our
friends and neighbors.”
Measure 105 would have
overturned a state law that
prohibits local police from
using their resources to ap-
prehend people whose only
violation of law is being in
the country without legal
permission. About 63 per-
cent of voters said no.
Supporters of the mea-
sure challenged a law that
has been in place since
1987. It was designed to
prevent racial profiling by
police.
“It reaffirms the feeling
that Oregon is a welcom-
ing state,” said Levi Her-
rera-Lopez, executive di-
rector of Mano a Mano, a
community organization in
Salem that primarily serves
Latino families.
Herrera-Lopez joined
many Mano a Mano staff
knocking on doors urging
people to vote no on the
measure. He said the results
validate what they heard
from voters on the ground.
“Us immigrants, we’re
seen as people who can
contribute to the commu-
nity,” he said. “The rhetor-
ical significance of invaders
doesn’t hold ground here in
Oregon.”
The measure prompted
a divide within the state’s
police community, with 16
largely rural sheriffs sup-
porting the measure. Other
police officials spoke out
against it publicly, includ-
ing Multnomah County
Sheriff Mike Reese and
Deschutes County District
Attorney John Hummel.
The measure demon-
strated the renewed interest
in immigration policy since
now-President
Donald
Trump announced his can-
didacy in 2015.
Voters also blocked
Measure 106, which was
mounted by a pro-life group
that wanted to ban public
funding for most abortions.
About 64 percent of voters
rejected Measure 106.
Pro-choice
advocates
were buoyant about the re-
sults.
“Together, we made
sure that Oregon voters
saw Measure 106 for what
it was: a backdoor ban on
abortion,” said Grayson
Dempsey, executive direc-
tor of NARAL’s Pro-Choice
Oregon political action
committee. “In Oregon,
we trust women to make
their own decisions — and
a right is not a right if you
cannot afford to access it.”
Amid a statewide hous-
ing crisis, Oregonians also
approved a measure that al-
lows local governments to
use public bond money for
private housing projects.
Nearly 56 percent of vot-
ers approved the measure.
“Housing is affecting
everybody, whether it’s our
workers at OHSU who are
getting priced out of Port-
land or workers in Pendle-
ton who are worried about
finding housing,” said Joe
Baessler, political direc-
tor for Oregon’s American
Federation of State, County
and Municipal Employees,
which represents govern-
ment workers. “It took me
by surprise how strongly
our members felt about that
measure.”
The measure requires
local voters’ approval of
any such bonds, annual au-
dits and public reporting on
how the borrowed funds are
spent.
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