BY SARAH ROSS

SUNRIVER- Another candidate announced his campaign Thursday to challenge Senator Ron Wyden in November’s election.

Robin Parker, a Sunriver businessman, joins the ranks of 12 other people who hope to represent Oregon in the United States Senate.

“I believe it’s time for a revival of the Senate. It’s time to make the Senate relevant to the American people again,” state Parker in Thursday’s press release.

In the running so far are 9 Republicans, 1 Libertarian, and 3 Democrats, including Wyden. A May 18 primary will shrink the race down to one candidate from each party, who then will proceed to the general election in November.

The Oregonian’s Jeff Mapes recently reported on a poll commissioned by the Wyden campaign which showed Wyden having a 30-point lead over his challengers. Similarly, a February Rasmussen poll showed Wyden having a 14-point lead over challenger Jim Huffman.

Wyden has served in Congress for over 30 years, with 14 of those in the US Senate. He currently chairs the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests and the Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs and Global Competitiveness.

BY SARAH ROSS

PORTLAND- With the arrival of census forms this week, the political question following the 2010 census lies in how the change in population will affect state legislative and Congressional representation.

According to the Legislative Policy and Research Office, counties growing faster than the state average will gain greater representation in the state legislature, meaning the districts in those areas will be made geographically smaller than they currently are.

Estimates put out by Portland State University’s Population Research Center show that Oregon’s fastest growing counties are Crook, Deschutes, Jackson, Jefferson, Morrow, and Washington. Even though these areas fall within more Republican areas, Charles Rynerson, a professor at the Population Research center, said this doesn’t necessarily mean there will be greater growth in Republican legislative representation.

“It depends on who draws the boundaries,” said Rynerson. He indicated that districts could be drawn to make them more swing areas or more partisan.

The power to draw the lines generally lies with the Oregon legislature, although since 1961 it has failed to enact a legislative plan that has been approved by the Supreme Court. Instead, plans for redistricting have been designed by the Secretary of State and then approved by the state’s Supreme Court.

Criteria to be considered when redistricting include contiguity, population equity, use of existing geographic or political boundaries, not dividing communities of interest, and connections by transportation links. Also, law prevents boundaries from favoring political parties or incumbent legislators; and boundaries may not be drawn for the purpose of thinning the voting strength of minority groups.

On a national level, a surprise came in December when population estimates released by Election Data Services showed that rather than gaining a Congressional seat as expected from 2008 estimates, Oregon likely will not gain or lose any seats in Congress following the 2010 census. Oregon may fall short of the cutoff by 15,000 to 22,000 people.

Oregon’s neighbor to the south seems to be in a similar situation, gaining no Congressional seats for the first time since entering the Union. However, California’s rise in population could push it to a two-thirds democratic majority in their state legislature.

Washington State, however, is poised to pick up another Congressional seat, surpassing the cutoff by nearly 25,000 people.

Update- Dan Phegley of Ask Damascus spoke to Oregon Politico Friday saying, “The important this is that people got to vote on this.” He added that although the vote was a set back, nothing was lost.

BY SARAH ROSS

DAMASCUS- Election returns came back negative for supporters of the four initiatives put on the special election ballots in Damascus Tuesday night.

The initiatives, put forth by the Ask Damascus organization, included the prohibition of public mass transit rail in the city limits, which failed by 51%, and the requirement of written testimony from city council members when voting on ordinances with an emergency clause, which failed by 53%.

Additionally, the initiatives included a requirement for intergovernmental agreements to go to voters, which failed by 55%, as well as a cap on city spending to no more than 2.5% than the previous year with an $8M limit for the 2010-2011 budget year, which also failed by just under 53%.

Supporters of the initiatives were shocked when they discovered that all four initiatives had been voted down, since similar efforts to limit government had been successful just over a year ago.

Dan Phegley, Founder of the Ask Damascus organization, stated when he heard the results, “How do you express how you feel when your city votes to put itself under Metro control?”

Phegley’s statement refers to Metro’s plans for the Damascus and Boring areas.

In response to the election results, Damascus City Manager Jim Bennett expressed his relief, saying, “I think it’s very gratifying that the citizens have shown the faith in their local government that they did last night.”

He then added that it is now up to the city to show the citizens that they made the right choice.

Damascus was brought into the metro area’s urban growth boundary in 2000 and was incorporated as a city in 2004. A population estimate from Portland State University estimated the city had 9,985 residents in 2009, with just over 3,000 people voting in the March 9 election.

BY SARAH ROSS

PORTLAND- Democrat gubernatorial candidates John Kitzhaber and Bill Bradbury both gained support from union organizations this weekend with endorsements coming from the AFL-CIO and the state’s teachers unions.

Former Governor Kitzhaber received the private sector endorsements of the AFL-CIO, which add to his list of endorsements from numerous other labor organizations including firefighters, carpenters, and electricians.

In their endorsement of Kitzhaber, AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain praised Kitzhaber for his understanding of the pressures faced by union members and middle-class families.

“Of all the candidates he has the strongest plan to create jobs and help lead Oregon out of the recession. We are looking forward to playing an active role in his campaign,” said Chamberlain.

Meanwhile, the Oregon Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, and the Oregon School Employees Association announced Saturday their endorsement of former Secretary of State Bradbury.

“It is clear to us that Bill Bradbury understands our schools and our students need support today – not sometime years in the future. He knows today’s students deserve the high quality education they have been promised, and as governor he will fight for them,” stated OSEA President Merlene Martin.

UPDATE- Allen Alley won Sunday’s straw poll at the Dorchester conference by a margin of 60 votes over 2nd place winner Chris Dudley.

BY SARAH ROSS

SEASIDE- Amidst the annual gathering of Oregon Republicans, known as the Dorchester Conference, the three Republican candidates for governor debated the state’s top issues and their strategies Friday night.

The candidates, Allen Alley, Chris Dudley, and John Lim, met at the conference where participants each year vote on the Republican Party positions on state and national policy issues.

The debate, moderated by Eastern Oregon’s Congressman Greg Walden, R, consisted of questions on Eastern Oregon, drawing young and independent voters, the Klamath Basin agreement, education, and tax policy.

The candidates‘answers on each question were similar and even they each admitted that there were not many differences in their policy ideas.

When asked their top priorities, each man stated jobs was the issue needed most to be focused on.
“We need government to work on the same side as business and not against it,” said Dudley in his answer also naming education and putting into place an administration with business experience.

Alley specified his answers to not just creating jobs, but instead creating careers through economic freedom. Additionally, he mentioned a need for energy independence and control on government liabilities.

Lim told the audience he believed in creating jobs by keeping the government from growing too fast and jokingly said, as the only Asian governor, he would get money back from Asian countries which drew great laughter from the crowds.

In their closing statements, the candidates addressed problems with “out of control” government spending.
“We spent 37% more and got nothing,” said Alley.

Dudley said that he is optimistic the problems can be resolved saying, “This mess we’re in is not impossible to fix. If we stand together, we can change the direction.”

Lim finished the evening by pointing out flaws in the other candidates’ voting records and policy positions then calling himself the best candidate for the governor’s race.

Don’t miss the exclusive video!

BY SARAH ROSS

PORTLAND- In his official announcement to run for the United States Senate, Jim Huffman made clear Thursday that the focus of his campaign is job creation.

“What we need is more jobs for Oregonians,” Huffman said to his supporters gathered at Halton Trucking Company in Northeast Portland.

The campaign platform Huffman presented consists of economic freedom, lower government spending, and private-sector job creation.

In his campaign brochure, he stated, “The Washington DC power elites said their TARP bailout and their stimulus spending would save the economy. What they really sought was to save their own jobs with handouts to favored business and political supporters. We need government to work for ‘We the People’ again.”

Huffman emphasized reforming Washington by bringing in fewer career politicians and more “people with real world experience.” In his speech he cited statistics showing that only 18% of Americans approve of the job that Congress is doing, and 80% believe the government is broken.

Huffman is running as a Republican against Oregon’s senior senator, Ron Wyden, who has served as a Democrat in Congress since 1981. Also running against Wyden is Libertarian candidate Marc Delphine, active in the state’s tea party movement and Bend businessman, Sam Carpenter.

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