Obscure Source Of Oregon Gubernatorial Candidate Greg Wooldridge Reveal Quirk In Law

Obscure Source Of Oregon Gubernatorial Candidate Greg Wooldridge Reveal Quirk In Law . News Oregon Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Wooldridge speaks at 2018 Dorchester Conference. He beat Rep. Knute  Buehler with 40 percent of the vote in a straw poll there. Anonymous campaign donations are banned in Oregon, but nearly half the money raised by a leading Republican gubernatorial candidate cannot be directly traced because it comes from two out of state corporations. The two corporations have donated $125,000 of the $288,000 raised so far by candidate Greg Wooldridge, who lists “the sunshine of accountability” as part of his campaign platform. What the functions of the corporations are — and who is behind them — was a mystery only partly cleared up by the campaign after the donations were made. One is tied to a California real estate executive, but the other, listed as a Nevada firm, had its business license yanked, an Associated Press review found.

The Largest Independent Expenditure of This Election Cycle Is Rooted in a California Trailer Park Fortune

It’s surprisingly easy for large out-of-state interests to influence Oregon politics from behind several smokescreens.

(Grant Kratzer)

The largest independent expenditure so far in this spring's election cycle is $90,000 spent on a TV attack ad.

The campaign commercial, which began airing by May 1, accuses former Rep. Shemia Fagan of hypocrisy in her crusade to overturn Oregon's statewide ban on rent control.

Fagan is seeking to unseat incumbent state Sen. Rod Monroe in the Democratic primary.

But Monroe didn't pay for the ad.

Instead, a political action committee spent the money in a Democratic primary that's turned into a knock-down, drag-out fight over the future of housing policy in Oregon.

Rod Monroe (right) speaks at a forum while Shemia Fagan and Kayse Jama look on. (Daniel Stindt)

The reasons for the expenditure are clear: The funders want to keep the rent-control ban in place. But the individuals behind the campaign contributions are far more opaque.

It's surprisingly easy for large out-of-state interests to influence Oregon politics from behind several smokescreens.

Dan Meek, a lawyer and advocate for campaign finance reform, expressed alarm that the ad fails to fully disclose its funders. "It says that democracy is in peril, if not in death throes," says Meek.