Letter to Editor of The Oregonian

The government of Oregon is being captured by big money.  Candidates for Governor spent over $80 million on their campaigns, doubling  the previous record of $40 million and 40-fold the amount spent in 1998.  Candidates for the Oregon Legislature spent over $41 million also setting a new record.  This does not count the portion of the $14 million spent by the "leadership committees" of the Democrats and Republican caucuses in the Oregon Legislature that was not contributed directly to candidates.

The top 10 Oregon Senate candidates spent an average of $1.5 million each; they spent around $50 per vote.  The top 10 Oregon House candidates spent an average of $867,000 each; they spent nearly $60 per vote.  One man alone contributed $5.25 million to candidates for Oregon Governor this year.

Oregon is one of 5 states with no enforced limits on campaign contributions.  The result is that Oregon campaigns are among the most expensive in the United States, making candidates dependent on and beholden to their huge donors.

Voters should demand that the Oregon Legislature, with Governor-elect Tina Kotek, enact effective campaign finance reform, including limits on campaign contributions and requiring that political ads name their largest funders.

Dan Meek
Volunteer, Honest Elections Oregon
honest-elections.com

Credit to Hillary Borrud and The Oregonian for the charts on donors to the candidates for Governor.

This Election Proves Oregon Badly Needs Campaign Finance Reform

 The government of Oregon is being captured by big money.  So far over $75 million has been raised for the 2022 campaigns for Governor ($68 million by the top 3 candidates), beating the previous record of $40 million.  Over $48 million has been contributed for seats in the Oregon Legislature, beating the previous record of $35 million.  No doubt the final totals for 2022 will be higher.

The average person has no realistic chance to earn a seat in the Oregon Legislature.  The campaigns of the top 10 Oregon Senate candidates now have spent an average of $1.3 million each.  A Senate win typically requires about 30,000 votes, so the candidates are spending over $40 per vote.  The campaigns of the top 10 Oregon House candidates now have spent an average of $745,000 each.  A House win typically requires about 15,000 votes, so the candidates are spending about $50 per vote.

One man alone has contributed $5.25 million to candidates for Oregon Governor this year.

Oregon is one of 5 states with no limits on campaign contributions.  The result is that Oregon campaigns are among the most expensive in the United States, making candidates dependent on and beholden to their huge donors.

It is crucial that candidates for public office take a stand for campaign contribution limits and disclosure requirements.  Honest Elections Oregon distributed to all candidates for Governor and the Oregon Legislature.  Of the candidates running in the general election, 87 responded and 104 did not, despite numerous emails and phone calls to every campaign.

27 earn A’s - 23 earn B’s - 4 earn C’s - 9 earn D’s - 104 earn F’s

Voters should respect the candidates who responded and who earned high marks.  They should shun candidates who refused to respond or indicated no support for campaign finance reform.

Here again are the links to see the grades of those who responded and the identities of those who did not:  https://bit.ly/orcandsurvey and  https://bit.ly/candsilent.

Honest Elections Oregon concluded:

• Measure 107 (2020) amended the Oregon Constitution to explicitly allow limits on campaign contributions and requirements that political ads name their largest funders. Despite 78% of Oregon voters approving Measure 107 (2020), many candidates remain unwilling to publicly announce where they stand. 87 candidates completed the survey in this first year, while 104 did not. [The results table omits candidates who responded but were eliminated in the primary election.]

• Candidates for the Oregon Legislature who earned A+ were Jeff Golden of Ashland, Ashley Pelton of Cottage Grove, Walt Trandum of Sandy, and John Lively of Springfield.

• Only two general election candidates for Governor responded: Tina Kotek (Democrat, earned a B) and L. Leon Noble (Libertarian, earned a D).  All others earned Fs for not responding.

Points were assigned for answers consistent with Honest Elections Oregon priorities, including capping campaign contributions and clearer disclosure rules, including a requirement that political ads name their 4 largest actual funders (not just nice-sounding names of committees). Grades range from A+ for the best answers to D for the worst.

We urge voters to read the ratings and vote accordingly.

Dan Meek
Volunteer, Honest Elections Oregon
honest-elections.com

Willamette Week Article on Tina Kotek's Claim to Take Contribution Limits Seriously

Oregon’s Wealthiest Man Has Caused Tina Kotek to Take Contribution Limits Seriously—or at Least Claim She Does

October 12, 2022

Tina Kotek, the Democratic nominee locked in a dead heat in the Oregon governor’s race, took time out from campaigning Oct. 10 to hold a “roundtable on campaign finance reform.” The event was occasioned by Nike co-founder Phil Knight writing Kotek’s Republican opponent, Christine Drazan, a check for $1 million on Oct. 6.

“Oregon is in danger of flipping red due to the influx of large donations from billionaires and corporate special interests looking to influence the election,” Kotek’s campaign wrote in an email publicizing the roundtable.

There’s some irony in Kotek’s newfound interest in limiting campaign contributions.

First, despite Knight’s check, Kotek led Drazan as of Oct. 10 in total fundraising: $16 million to $14.5 million.

Second, as the longest-serving House speaker in Oregon history (nine years, ending in January 2022), Kotek demonstrated a steely efficiency at passing difficult bills—except ones that would limit campaign contributions.

Will Democrats Ever Wake Up to the Need for Campaign Finance Reform in Oregon?

 Now that Phil Knight (retired from Nike) has contributed $3.75 million to Betsy Johnson (NAV) and $1 million to Christine Drazen (R), the Democrats appear to be waking up to the need for campaign finance reform in Oregon.  Too late.

The Democrats have been in control of the Oregon Legislature since 2007 (except for the even split in 2011) and have controlled the Governor's Office since 1987.  They have adopted zero limits on campaign contributions and almost entirely meaningless tagline requirements on political advertisements (after repealing Oregon's previous tagline requirements in 2001).

Now the Democrats are being outspent 2-1 in the Governor's race by the opponents.  All rely heavily on gigantic contributions.

HEO Surveys Candidates on Campaign Finance Reform

HEO Surveys Candidates on Campaign Finance Reform

Survey Shows Most Oregon Candidates are Ignoring Voter Demands for Campaign Finance Reform.

While there are a few champions of campaign finance reform (CFR) among Oregon candidates for statewide or legislative office, most declined to answer the survey or expressed views inconsistent with the wishes of Oregon voters.

“Even though Oregon voters have overwhelmingly voted for campaign finance reform, including in 2020, Oregon legislators have not adopted contribution limits or meaningful disclosure requirements,” said Mindy Lowden of Wolf-PAC Oregon.

Honest Elections Oregon (HEO) surveyed the positions on campaign finance reform issues of all 2022 candidates for Governor and the Oregon Legislature. 37 candidates responded to the survey. Here are their answers.

HEO then evaluated their answers, assigning points for answers that are consistent with the goals of HEO. HEO then applied a grading scale ranging from A+ for the best answers to D for the worst, reserving F for the candidates who did not respond to the survey, despite repeated requests by email and phone over a period of several weeks. Here are the grades of those who responded.

For more information, see Report on Candidate Survey. It details the survey purpose, procedure, responses, scoring, and analysis, with tables for each respondent’s answers and scores and list of non-respondents.​​​

Read More about the Survey 

Our 2022 Initiative Petitions are Dead

The Oregon Supreme Court on March 29, 2022, finally denied our mandamus petition to to overrule the Secretary of State’s unprecedented and unlawful rejection of Initiative Petitions 43, 44, and 45.  The Court declined to say whether we are right or wrong; just that mandamus is an extraordinary remedy.

So Now We Focus on a Statewide Initiative for 2024
Stay Tuned

In 2022, we will also ask all statewide and legislative candidates in Oregon to state their positions on real campaign finance reform in Oregon, including contribution limits and requirements that political ads name their largest funders.  We will publish those results on this website.

Honest Elections Files Mandamus Action against Secretary of State in Oregon Supreme Court

February 16, 2022 --- Campaign finance reformers today filed a petition for writ of mandamus, asking the Oregon Supreme Court to overrule the Secretary of State’s unprecedented rejection of Initiative Petitions 43, 44, and 45, which is based on misinterpretation of the Oregon Constitution: “The full text of the proposed measure was not included.” No other Oregon Secretary of State has required including in an initiative petition the text of subsections of existing law that are not changed by the proposed measure.

See full Press Release.

The Oregonian editorializes for Honest Elections Oregon's effort to get campaign finance reform on the November 2022 ballot

 The Oregonian editorializes for Honest Elections Oregon's effort to get campaign finance reform on the November 2022 ballot:

The print edition on February 13 stated:  "Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, who has benefited from millions in union donations, disqualified three campaign-finance petitions that seek to impose donation caps.  Oregonians tired of the outsized power of big money in Oregon elections should hop the petitioners' efforts to reinstate the petitions prevail at the Oregon Supreme Court, the editorial board writes."

Honest Elections Testifies at Oregon Senate Hearing

Dan Meek testified for Honest Elections Oregon at the hearing of the Senate Rules Committee of the Oregon Legislature on campaign finance reform bills.  TESTIMONY HERE

Oregon Attorney General Issues Certified Ballot Titles for All 3 of Our Initiative Petitions

Disregarding the incorrect decision of the Secretary of State to reject our initiative petitions, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum  on February 9 issued certified ballot titles for all 3 petitions.  Her office also disputed Secretary Fagan's statement that she based her decision on advice from the Attorney General.

​So our initiatives are not dead!

Campaign Finance Reform Advocates Outraged at Secretary of State's Rejection of their Ballot Measures

Secretary of State Shemia Fagan Cancels Initiatives for No Valid Reason

Statement of Honest Elections Oregon (Feb. 9, 2022):

Supporters of real campaign finance reform in Oregon are outraged by the action of Secretary of State Shemia Fagan today to disqualify all serious campaign finance reform initiative petitions. Any of them would:

• establish political campaign contribution limits 

• require that political advertisements name their largest funders 

• require faster and more complete public disclosure of campaign spending, including "dark money"

There is no valid legal basis for refusing to allow the gathering of signatures on these initiatives (Petitions 43, 44, and 45). All of them satisfy all criteria in the Oregon Constitution and laws. The Honest Elections Oregon coalition will on Friday ask the Oregon Supreme Court in a mandamus action to require Secretary Fagan to allow the initiatives to obtain voter signatures. A total of 112,020 verified registered voter signatures must be submitted by July 8.

Contrary to the Secretary's suggestion that the campaign finance reform advocates "start over" after correcting what she claims is a technical error (15 words in petitions that range from 11,000 to 16,000 words), the ballot title process has built-in delays for government actions that consume at least 4 months. Starting over now would mean not being about to start collecting the 112,020 required signatures until early June--leaving only about one month, which is not enough.

Unless the Oregon Supreme Court issues such an order promptly, the window for gathering enough signatures will have closed, and Secretary Fagan's decision will preclude all statewide campaign finance reform initiatives until November 2024.

Your help needed NOW to get big money out of politics

​A few days ago we learned that the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office is considering using an obscure interpretation to block any chance for getting big money out of Oregon politics in 2022 and we need your help to put pressure on Secretary Fagan to do the right thing.

Can you contact Secretary Fagan's office and tell her the importance of allowing Initiative Petitions 43, 44, and 45 to move forward?
Call: 503-986-1523 (leaving a voicemail is ok)
Email: oregon.sos@sos.​ oregon.gov
​​ ​​​​​​​
On Thursday we were alerted that Secretary Fagan was considering rejecting Petitions 43, 44, and 45 (three different versions we have been working on to bring sensible limits to money in Oregon politics) on the basis that they do not include the “full text” of the law being amended. In fact all three petitions follow the longstanding precedent of including the full text of the subsections that are being amended, but not the text of the subsections that will not be changed.

As far as we can tell, no other Secretary of State has ever rejected a petition for this reason, despite many following the same standard of only including the subsections being amended. In fact, Initiative Petition 3 is currently collecting signatures and was approved in October of 2020 with exactly this same issue. Ballot initiatives certified under the last several Secretaries of State, both Democrat and Republican, have used this longstanding interpretation. Changing the standard now, with no advance notice, beginning with these petitions to get big money out of Oregon politics, reeks of elected officials applying different standards based on what is favored by the politically connected. During the comment period on these petitions only one party raised this specific concern: the United Food and Commercial Workers, who also donated $50,000 to the Secretary’s 2020 campaign.

An official determination from Secretary Fagan’s Office is expected in the next few days, and hearing from Oregonians now asking her to do the right thing could make a real difference.

Please call or email Secretary of State Shemia Fagan and tell her that you want to see real campaign finance reform on your 2022 ballot and that she should not reinterpret the Oregon constitution to keep Oregonians from being able to weigh in on sensible limits to money in politics.

Call: 503-986-1523 (leaving a voicemail is ok)
Email: oregon.sos@sos.​ oregon.gov
​ ​​​​​​​
Some talking points you might use:

• Oregon voters overwhelming passed Measure 107 in 2020 paving the way for real campaign finance reform and now they deserve to be able to vote on actually changing the role of money in Oregon politics.
  
  
• Our legal research indicates that no other Oregon Secretary of State has used the "full text" reason to disqualify initiative petitions.
  
  
• Secretary Fagan's unprecedented rationale is that "full text" means must reprint every section of Oregon Revised Statutes that the measure affects, not just the subsections it affects. This interpretation overturns longstanding practice exercised by Secretary Bev Clarno and others. Secretary Clarno in the 2022 election cycle approved Initiative Petition #3, which does exactly what IP 43-45 do--shows changes to a subsection without reprinting the other subsections which the measure does not change.
  
  
• Any change to interpretations, should be neutrally applied and messaged to the public, not decided in secret and applied only to petitions disfavored by the politically powerful.
  
  
• Secretary Fagan should reverse this tentative decision, do the right thing, and allow Oregon voters to have a chance to have a voice on campaign finance reform in the November 2022 election.

The Willamette Week did a brief article on this if you want to share with your networks: https://www.wweek.com/news/state/2022/02/06/secretary-of-state-shemia-fagan-poised-to-delay-campaign-finance-measures-on-technicality/
A more comprehensive Oregonian article is here Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan plans to kill effort to set campaign contribution limits in 2022.

Please help us put positive pressure on the Secretary Fagan and allow these transformational initiatives to move forward and ultimately allow Oregon voters to decide the role we want big money to play in our democracy.

Secretary of State Shemia Fagan Plans to Kill Our Ballot Measures

Secretary of State Shemia Fagan Plans to Kill Our Ballot Measures
February 7, 2022   by David Delk

We just learned that the Oregon Secretary of State plans to use an obscure interpretation to kill our 2022 ballot measures for getting big money out of Oregon politics. We need your help to persuade Secretary Shemia Fagan to do the right thing.

Can you contact Secretary Fagan's office and tell her the importance of allowing Initiative Petitions 43, 44, and 45 to move forward?

Call:  503-986-1523 (leaving a voicemail is ok)
(choose extension 3 or 0)
​
Email: oregon.sos@sos.​oregon.gov​​​​​​​​​

Here is an Oregonian article about this:
Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan plans to kill
effort to set campaign contribution limits in 2022.

​This could happen as early as tomorrow.

DETAILS HERE​

Oregonian Article on Labor Union Campaign Finance Measures

 Oregon unions propose campaign finance limits that would still allow big donations -- from unions

The Oregonian 
December 22, 2021

by Rob Davis

After private negotiations to control political donations broke down, labor unions have filed three dueling campaign finance initiative petitions for the 2022 ballot that are far looser than measures already proposed by good government groups.

While the two camps agree that political money needs to be controlled in Oregon, one of five states with no caps on campaign donations, they have unresolved differences.

The union proposals, submitted to Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan last week, would still allow unions and other member-based organizations to make large donations to political campaigns. OPB first reported the proposals’ submission.

A one-page initiative proposed by the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, which represents more than 28,000 grocery store and non-food retail workers, would allow massive donations to state leaders.

How? The UFCW plan, Initiative Petition 48, would permit member-based organizations to donate $100 per member. A group like AARP, which has 38 million members nationwide, could in theory make a $3.8 billion donation under the UFCW plan.

The other two proposals from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents more than 30,000 public employees in Oregon, are similar to the plans from good government groups. But they would allow labor unions, which give more to Democratic candidates than Republicans, to make larger donations than the good government groups propose. The labor groups didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The AFSCME proposals, initiative petitions 46 and 47, would allow unions to give more than $1 million apiece to candidates through so-called small donor committees. They would permit donations of $50 per member living or working in Oregon; some Oregon labor groups have as many as 40,000 members. Donations from individuals would be capped at $2,000 for statewide offices, like governor, and $1,000 for legislators, judges and district attorneys.

Good government groups, including Honest Elections Oregon and the League of Women Voters, have proposed lower limits on small donor committees, with restrictions on both how much they could collect from members and how much they could give to any candidate.

OPB Article on Labor Union Campaign Finance Measures

Competing measures could muddy Oregon’s campaign finance debate

Oregon Public Broadcastng 
December 21, 2021

by Dirk VanderHart

After talks between left-leaning organizations broke down, three groups have filed proposals for reining in political spending.

Weeks after they came to an impasse over how Oregon should crack down on money in politics, left-leaning organizations are signaling they might just fight it out at the ballot box.

On Friday, two groups that are often aligned filed dueling ballot measure proposals for how to place limits on the state’s permissive campaign finance laws. Those proposals — one affiliated with public-sector labor and advocacy groups, the other from a private-sector union — join a series of three proposals filed earlier this month by good government groups.

The upshot: Six separate ideas for cracking down on political giving in the state have now been floated for the November 2022 ballot. Many, if not most, will die before they reach voters, but even two competing campaign finance measures next year could create confusion that advocates have been hoping to avoid.

Oregonian Article on 2022 Measures

Oregon good government groups file initiatives to cap campaign contributions, shed light on ‘dark money’

The Oregonian

by Hillary Borrud     December 9, 2021

Oregon voters could get a chance to decide whether to cap political donations and mandate transparency on who truly pays for political ads, under three proposed ballot initiatives filed this week.

The issues are hugely popular with voters, who overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment in 2020 to explicitly allow campaign contribution limits and requirements that political ads identify the individuals or groups that paid for them. More than 1.7 million people voted for it, the most ever to support a ballot measure.

Now the good government groups that helped campaign for last year’s constitutional changes want voters to approve the types of political money limits and disclosures allowed under the amendment. They also want to create a public financing system, although not all of their proposals would do so.

Despite voters’ clear desire for donation limits and greater transparency, state lawmakers failed to agree on a plan to achieve those goals after months of closed-door negotiations with political players including big donors from across the political spectrum.

Coalition files ballot initiatives to reform Oregon's campaign finance laws

KATU     December 7, 2021

PORTLAND, Ore. — A coalition of campaign-finance-reform-minded groups have filed three ballot initiatives with the secretary of state’s office that they want to put before Oregon voters next year.
Honest Elections Oregon says its initiatives will help reduce the “perception and reality of corruption” in campaigns, increase transparency and elevate more voices in elections.
The coalition’s push for voters to have a voice on campaign finance reform comes after the Legislature earlier this year failed to pass bills that would have limited contributions to campaigns and create a small donor program.
The three initiatives filed Monday would do those two things, as well as require political ads to be transparent about who is funding them.
“I am proud of the measures we have filed and the extensive process we embarked on to craft the best policies possible with both local and national experts," said Jason Kafoury with Honest Elections Oregon. "We hope in the coming months, during the ballot title review process, to continue building a big tent to support these measures and to continue to work with historically marginalized communities."
He added the initiatives "could move Oregon from the Wild Wild West of campaign finance to leading the way with one the best programs in the nation.”
Oregon is one of five states that doesn’t have any limits on campaign contributions.
Oregon voters in November 2020 approved Measure 107, which amended the state Constitution to allow limits to political contributions.
Read the text of the initiatives

Initiative 43

Initiative 44

Initiative 45
The initiatives, as filed by Honest Elections, include things like limiting individual contributions to candidates running for statewide office to $2,000 per election cycle, limiting contributions from multicandidate committees to $2,000 per election cycle and limiting political party contributions to $50,000 per election cycle.
One of the initiatives also includes creating a public funding system for those running for state office and positions of judge and district attorney, where donations would be matched with public funds.
Source: https://katu.com/news/politics/coalition-files-ballot-initiatives-to-reform-oregons-campaign-finance-laws

Press Release on 2022 Measures

December 7, 2021 PORTLAND, Oregon

Honest Elections Oregon, a coalition of pro-democracy groups and advocates, filed ballot initiatives to enhance the campaign finance system in Oregon, reduce the perception and reality of corruption, and empower more voices in Oregon’s elections.  These measures:

• include large campaign contribution limits to reduce outsized big money influence
• require political ads to transparently reveal their largest funders
• create a small donor matching program to make smaller contributions matter and improve opportunities for candidates from historically marginalized communities
  

“I am honored to support the ballot campaign finance reform initiatives filed today. These measures can help to restore voters’ confidence in healthy democracy. Voters must know that our elections are fair and free of undue influence by powerful dark money at the expense of voters. We can accomplish this and restore trust in our political system.”

          --Rebecca Gladstone, President, League of Women Voters of Oregon

“I am proud of the measures we have filed and the extensive process we embarked on to craft the best policies possible with both local and national experts. We hope in the coming months, during the ballot title review process, to continue building a big tent to support these measures and to continue to work with historically marginalized communities. We know that voters want to take big money out of politics. These initiatives could move Oregon from the Wild Wild West of campaign finance to leading the way with one the best programs in the nation.”

          --Jason Kafoury, Honest Elections Oregon

Honest Elections Oregon worked successfully to pass campaign finance reforms in Multnomah County (2016) and the City of Portland (2018), proving not only that such policies are needed and popular but also that they work. The goal is to simply limit the corrosive impact money has had in Oregon politics and hold accountable those who attempt to subvert the will of democracy by buying elections.

OPB Article on Our 2022 Measures

Good government groups are pushing campaign finance limits in Oregon.  They might have competition.

Oregon Public Broadcasting    December 7, 2021

Following months of negotiations, labor unions and advocacy groups did not sign onto a plan for creating new campaign regulations.

After months of negotiations over what a system of campaign finance limits might look like for Oregon, a collection of left-leaning groups came to an impasse last week.

Now some participants in those negotiations are going it alone.

A coalition of good governance groups filed three potential ballot measures with the state on Monday that would shake up Oregon’s permissive system of funding campaigns. The group says it will decide on one to put forward to voters in 2022, once polling shows which is most popular.

While complex and differing in their specifics, each of the proposals would create new limits on what individuals, advocacy groups, labor organizations, corporations and political parties can contribute to candidates and causes.

The proposals also include requirements that political advertisements prominently display top donors, and that so-called “dark money” groups disclose their funding sources if they engage in campaigning.

One of the proposals would implement a system of public campaign financing, allowing candidates to accept small donations from individual donors and have that money multiplied by matching public funds. With public funding of up to $8 million a cycle for gubernatorial candidates — and far lower amounts for other offices —-- the system is designed to allow candidates to run competitive campaigns without focusing solely on big donors.

Salem Statesman Article on CFR Bill at OR Legislature

Advocates see holes in Oregon campaign finance reform legislation Connor Radnovich Sales Statesman-Journal   May 26, 2019 Become a Statesman Journal subscriber Reforming Oregon's campaign finance laws was a priority for a number of top lawmakers heading into the 2019 legislative session, but with only five weeks left some advocates are underwhelmed by the current proposals. The three bills under consideration would set limits on campaign contributions to candidates and political action committees, require some disclosure on who is paying for political advertisements and attempt to shine a light on the funding behind so-called "dark money" groups. But concerns have been raised that proposed campaign contribution limits are too high, certain political action committees are exempt from limits and the advertisement disclosure is ineffective at best.