ELECTION 2020
MyEagleNews.com
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Carina Miller grew up in
Senate District 30 living in the
Warm Springs Indian Reser-
vation near Madras and now
runs as the Democratic nom-
inee for a chance to continue
serving the communities in
the district.
Miller said, while growing
up in rural Oregon on the res-
ervation, she recognized there
were many issues in the dis-
trict that were not dealt with
that continue to be ignored.
“With things like Black
Lives Matter, it’s important
now more than ever to have
leadership that aren’t just
going to acknowledge but
address these issues,” Miller
said. “It’s everything across
the board that needs attention,
and its not getting it.”
Miller listed climate
change as another issue that
is not getting the attention it
deserves. She was a supporter
of the Clean Energy Jobs Bill,
and was elected on the Warm
Springs Tribal Council during
this time.
The lack of advocacy from
the local representatives when
they were in Salem and how
information was disseminated
regarding the bill was frustrat-
ing to Miller because she said
it was not an accurate portrayal
of the people they were repre-
senting or the bill presented.
Miller worked as a social
worker and educator and
worked directly with children
and family and saw how this
impacted them.
“That’s where my pas-
sion for running for office
comes from because I worked
with people directly that
were impacted by the lack of
resources,” Miller said. “Our
local economies haven’t been
thriving, and the things that are
being supported are more ben-
efiting for corporate people,
and they’re not benefiting fam-
ilies and humans who live in
this district.”
Miller
said
her
background
and
work
as an edu-
cator, social
Carina Miller
worker, earn-
ing a degree in ethnic stud-
ies, being the energy commit-
tee co-chair for the Affiliated
Tribes of Northwest Indians
and serving as the chair of the
Native caucus for the Demo-
cratic Party of Oregon gives
her a unique experience that
current and past senators never
had.
“I am running because I
care about this district, and
I care about all the people,
and I know I have the experi-
ence to actually pass bills that
will have a positive impact on
everybody,” Miller said.
A goal that Miller has is to
pass a carbon bill that doesn’t
leave out the counties that were
cut in the recent edit so coun-
ties in the district could have
access to funds to deal with
utility costs and electricity. She
would also like to look at edu-
cation and Senate Bill 13.
Senate Bill 13, now known
as Tribal History/Shared His-
tory, directs the Oregon
Department of Education to
create K-12 Native Ameri-
can Curriculum for inclusion
in Oregon public schools,
according to Oregon’s state
website.
She said tribes are currently
developing the curriculum, but
the ethnic studies bill only had
appropriation for those stan-
dards. It still needs to be pushed
forward to receive funding for
professional development.
She also wants to look at
funding issues related to the
Public Employee Retirement
System through tax reform.
“The solution is tax reform,
and nobody wants to just say
it,” Miller said. “Those are the
kind of things I want to work
on so we can stop focusing on
these areas that take up all of
our time in legislature asking
‘Where is tax revenue going
to come from?’ when we can
start looking at how we can
transition from an extractive
natural resource economy in
rural Oregon to a sustainable
A9
Findley wants to continue representing his
constituents and have their voices heard
Miller looks to use her experience,
background to effect positive change
Democrat says many
issues are not getting
the attention they
deserve
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
one and decentralize services
Incumbent Republican
that are more affordable for
said he supports peaceful
families.”
Miller said COVID-19
protests but not property
is a hard situation due to the
destruction, assault
uncertainty with the virus, but
she hopes communities pri-
oritize helping other people
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
first, follow guidance from
science officials and recog-
nize that leaders can be united
Lynn Findley said, as a
state senator, being a voice
in moving forward with the
for the communities in his
coronavirus.
district has been an import-
Miller added she knows
ant responsibility along with
there are many people who
getting feedback on pro-
aren’t taking COVID-19 seri-
posed legislation so his con-
ously, and she doesn’t want
stituents can be heard in
to disrespect their opin-
ions because as an indige-
Salem.
nous woman, she recognizes
As the pandemic con-
tinues,
this
that
some-
times the gov-
responsibility
ernment mis-
has become
represents what
greater since
they’re really
COVID-19
doing. How-
has
made
SENATE
ever, she added
public input
DISTRICT 30
people need to
harder
to
also understand
receive.
what people have lost due to
“The public hearings we
the pandemic.
have are invited testimony
Warm Springs has expe-
only, and we don’t get peo-
ple who come in and give us
rienced lost lives due to the
good input, and I don’t like
pandemic, including the wife
that,” Findley said. “I need
of the Warm Springs chief,
to ensure that I’m that con-
according to Miller.
duit between policymakers
“We need to be responsi-
ble leaders and acknowledge
in Salem and people on the
the pain that has happened,”
ground that it impacts.”
Miller said. “I just want it to
Findley, the Republi-
can incumbent for Oregon’s
be clear that the whole pic-
ture is shown of how native
Senate District 30 from Vale,
communities are at a higher
said being in a superminority
rate, being disproportionately
is difficult because their
impacted, and that’s not being
voice is not always needed
addressed at all by our repre-
or wanted, but he believes
sentation here.”
success in the legislature is
Miller said, when it comes
achieved by reaching across
to topics like racism, human-
the aisle and working with
ities and supporting immi-
colleagues.
grants who are neighbors, she
“As I was in the House,
will take a stand and address
I think I passed more legis-
lation than any other Repub-
these topics.
lican because I listen and
“I’m very well versed, and
I talk,” Findley said. “You
I want to put my best foot for-
ward, and I think if you look
work with them collabora-
tively to find a good solution
at my work that’s always been
for all.”
reflected,” Miller said. “I have
The biggest success that
been prepared by my commu-
nity, by my grandparents, by
he has had so far as a sen-
ator was the 911 bill in the
my tribal elders and co-lead-
ers on council. They taught me
last long session. He said the
and got me ready, and I have a
bill originated in John Day
lot of actual work that proves I
because the city called him
am ready to make the changes
and said their 911 dispatch
for this district, changes they
center was failing due to a
deserve.”
lack of funds.
ELECTION
2020
with the governor’s office,
Oregon Health Authority
and the Oregon Department
of Education to open some
rural schools and businesses.
“We’ve got to be respect-
ful, and we have to have
a safe work environment
where everybody feels safe,”
Findley said. “COVID is
here, and we have to learn
how to live with it and deal
with it appropriately so we
don’t kill our economy.
Masks are terribly uncom-
fortable, but if I wear a mask
and it allows a business to
stay open, it’s worth wearing
a mask.”
Findley said he respects
and fully supports anyone’s
ability to peacefully state
their case and protest, but he
does not support the destruc-
tion of private property and
assaulting others.
“I’ve had a lot of con-
versations with other cau-
cus members on both sides
of the aisle, and there are
probably some injustices
that have occurred, and we
need to work better on that,
but we’re in a law and order
environment society, and
we have to respect our law
enforcement folks,” Findley
said.
He said the state needs
to help law enforcement do
a better job through training
and through augmentation of
people who handle mental
health situations.
Findley said he strives to
have open communication
and tries to be as transpar-
ent as he can with the virtual
town halls. He tries to visit
each community in person.
He also established weekly
communication
between
county
commissioners
and elected legislators to
talk about what is being
done right and what can be
improved on.
“We’re all in this
together, and I respect
and understand the boun-
tiful natural resources we
have here, and we need
to protect them,” Findley
said. “They didn’t become
degraded overnight, and
they’re not going to be
fixed overnight.”
Find-
ley worked
with
the
city of John
Day, and
together
they devel-
Sen. Lynn
oped legis-
Findley
lation that
raised the fee collected for
telephones, landlines and
cellphones to go directly to
the 911 funds.
“That took a lot of work,”
Findley said. “The first thing
you say is here’s a conserva-
tive Republican pushing to
raise taxes, which is some-
thing I typically don’t do,
but in this case it was a crit-
ical key safety measure for
all of Oregon, and it took the
entire session to do it col-
laboratively with people on
both sides of the aisle.”
Findley said there were
some hot-button issues
during the last session, such
as the cap and trade climate
legislation, which was very
divisive. He said the legis-
lature heard from 34 of 36
counties in the state who
opposed the bill. He said
he is not a climate change
denier and believes the cli-
mate is changing and carbon
levels are high, but getting
to the problem requires more
than just taxing people.
“In my district’s case,
we have better measures
to reduce carbon,” Findley
said. “Carbon sequestration
with our natural resources
is a key component of that,
and that’s through for-
est management, rangeland
management and having
healthy ecosystems, which
reduces fires, which are bet-
ter alternatives.”
Findley served on a
COVID-19 committee in the
second special session and
said the virus has impacted
every aspect of life.
He has been engaged on
talking about the impacts on
rural Oregon. Some areas,
such as Wheeler County,
with one case confirmed in
the county, faced with the
same economic restrictions
as downtown Portland, he
said.
Findley continues to work
Merkley bids for a third 6-year term in the U.S. Senate
Republican
challenger, QAnon
supporter Perkins
condemns Portland
protests
Sen. Jeff
Merkley
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeff
Merkley is seeking to sew up
his seat for another six years,
hoping Democrats can snatch
the Senate majority from
Republicans on Nov. 3.
“I’m going to work to fix
our broken and dysfunctional
Senate so it isn’t just a grave-
yard for good ideas,” Merk-
ley said in March 3 video to
supporters.
Merkley ironically made
the comment while throwing
in the towel on his unofficial
bid to be the Democratic nom-
inee against President Trump.
Since 2019, he’d visited
Iowa and New Hampshire to
court progressive Democrats.
He’s the third most liberal
member of the Senate, accord-
Jo Rae
Perkins
ing to voting site GovTrack.
us, with only Sen. Bernie
Sanders of Vermont and Kris-
ten Gillibrand of New York to
his left.
With his polling numbers
behind most of the 15-per-
son primary field at the time,
Merkley switched his atten-
tion back to the Senate. There
he starts out with the advan-
tages of incumbency and the
286,560 voter registration
edge Democrats hold over
Republicans in Oregon.
Linn County Republican
Party Chair Jo Rae Perkins
is his opponent in the Senate
race, but Merkley more often
is running against Donald
Trump and the Senate major-
ity that has made the presi-
dent’s policies into laws.
Merkley voted for Trump’s
impeachment and against the
president’s nominees for the
Supreme Court, Brett Kava-
naugh and Neil Gorsuch.
Against a Senate Republican
majority, Merkley was on the
losing end of those votes.
Merkley has called out the
“racist rants and glorification
of violence” of white suprem-
acist groups he says Trump
implicitly condones. He
co-sponsored legislation to
ensure there are enough poll-
ing places on election day.
He’s criticized what he says
was Trump’s dismissal of
COVID-19 at the beginning
of the pandemic crisis. Merk-
ley says presidential inaction,
delay and misinformation
undercut efforts to slow the
virus, which has killed more
than 208,000 people in the
United States.
Perkins says she is a social
and fiscal conservative who
is an outspoken supporter of
Trump and his policies on
immigration, gun rights and
taxes.
Perkins says Democrats’
impact on the state is best
illustrated by more than 100
days of protests in Portland.
In a recent online ad, she
zeroed in on Merkley amid
visuals of demonstrators run-
ning in streets, law enforce-
ment in riot gear and the air
swirling with tear gas.
“This is not the Oregon
you signed up for,” the ads
say before shifting to a scene
of Perkins looking out across
a sweeping rural landscape.
Perkins has attracted
national attention for her sup-
port of QAnon, a growing
conspiracy theory movement
that believes a “deep state”
of government officials is
trying to undermine Trump.
The group is designated by
the FBI as a domestic terror-
ist threat.
After winning the Sen-
ate primary, Perkins made a
video using the QAnon slo-
gan, ”Where we go one, we
go all.”
“I stand with President
Trump,” Perkins says. “I
stand with Q and the team.
Thank you, anons, thank you,
patriots. Together, we can
save our republic.”
Merkley has also been
endorsed by the Independent
and Working Families par-
ties. Gary Dye is the Liber-
tarian, and Ibrahim Taher has
been endorsed by both the
Pacific Green and Progres-
sive parties.
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