Caucus Cohesion or Cage Match?
One week after an election that saw deep blue acrylic poured over the nation’s congressional map, Oregon Democrats are poised to revisit their own canvas and decide whether to touch up the caucus artwork ahead of the 2027 legislative session.
Vote By Mail, or Vote By Snail
Today, as the calendar creeps closer to Election Day on Nov. 3, tossing your ballot in the mail is a game of Russian Roullet. Mrs. Wesselink isn’t there anymore to guarantee your vote will be counted.
Democrats have long decried changes to the U.S. Postal Service as an effort to suppress votes. Republicans counter that the changes are designed to help stem the red ink from the USPS that has sent costs soaring and revenue declining.
A Victory for Free Speech and a Lesson on Civil Rights History
Beth Schmidt, the Safe Routes to School coordinator who organized the annual Ruby Bridges Walk to School event for Salem Schools, has been awarded $250,000 in a settlement with the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments (MWVCOG).
Underdog, or Under the Radar?
Chris Beck knows his candidacy is a longshot in Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District. But Beck is hoping incumbent Rep. Cliff Bentz’s unwavering loyalty to President Trump, along with the administration’s policies that have negatively impacted so many of his constituents, will work in his favor.
Part V — The Real Work Begins: Navigating Oregon’s Medicaid Implementation
Before we can measure success, we have to define it. That may sound obvious, but when it comes to gauging complex systems we naturally gravitate toward measuring what’s easiest to count, but that isn’t always what we most need to know.
Debating the Debate
Portland-area voters deserve a debate in their city that is focused on their issues. Those voters will likely swing the election. If Drazan can reduce Kotek’s large advantage in the area by just a few percentage points, she could claim Mahonia Hall. Kotek, on the other hand, needs to shore up some dissatisfied Democrats who may be thinking of voting for Drazan knowing the Legislature will still be firmly in Democratic control, and want a rev limiter on some of the more radical ideas coming out of those chambers.
Part I — Canola at a Crossroads
Like a prickly weed that won’t stay pulled, the debate over growing canola in the Willamette Valley keeps popping back up in Salem as legislators grapple with how to regulate the crop while protecting Oregon’s high-value specialty seed industry.
Part IV — The Real Work Begins: Navigating Oregon’s Medicaid Implementation
The previous installment of this series ended with an important question: If no one person can see the whole picture on implementation, then who has the ultimate responsibility to bring these perspectives together?
Three’s Company
Upset about what he feels is an expedited erosion of the working class by both political parties, Clay Bearnson has been nominated by the Independent Party of Oregon for Senate District 3 in Southern Oregon.