The Skanner News Endorsements: Oregon Statewide Races

Editor's note: These endorsements have been updated.

FEDERAL

U.S. House Oregon District 1

Suzanne Bonamici

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici has been in her current position since 2012, but we find no signs of her getting complacent. She has supported college loan debt forgiveness and voted for both the Infrastructure Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act. She has countered mounting attacks on reproductive health care by codifying abortion services and access as federal law under the Women’s Health Protection Act, which she helped pass in the U.S. House. She is a champion of Medicare for all, has pushed for greater gun control alongside survivors of school shootings and is a staunch advocate for voters’ rights.

U.S. House Oregon District 3

Maxine Dexter

It’s a daunting task replacing progressive stalwart Earl Blumenauer, who served in the office for nearly three decades. We believe physician Maxine Dexter is up to the task. As a state House representative, Dexter put her medical experience to work by pushing to make naloxone -- which counteracts drug overdoses -- far more accessible to the general public, which has been shown to decrease the number of deaths due to fentanyl. As chair of the Housing and Homelessness Committee, Dexter was instrumental in helping pass a housing package with teeth and a two-prong approach to the crisis: increasing state funding and mitigating bureaucratic obstacles to land use. We are excited to see her bring her healthcare expertise and unwavering focus on housing access to higher office.

U.S. House Oregon District 5

Janelle Bynum

Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-Clackamas) entered the race with a strong record of introducing legislation to advance equity cosponsoring a successful bill to compensate those wrongly convicted and imprisoned, helming the CROWN Act to ban discrimination based on hair type, style or texture, and, as chair of the bipartisan House Judiciary’s Equitable Policing Subcommittee, helped pass a package of bills to better train police to assist with medical emergencies and distress during arrest and to limit the public release of booking photos.

Bynum is also committed to making sure Oregonians have the same reproductive rights they did before Roe vs. Wade was overturned, and her unwavering support for abortion access is sorely needed in a rural region of a state bordering Idaho, which has some of the most Draconian reproductive healthcare bans on the books.

She has the backing of Gov. Tina Kotek, retiring congressman and progressive stalwart Earl Blumenauer and the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, to name a few. If elected, Bynum would be the first Black representative Oregon has ever sent to the U.S. Congress – and we think Congress would benefit greatly from her voice.

U.S. House Oregon District 6

Andrea Salinas

Andrea Salinas has nearly completed her first term representing Oregon’s newly gained sixth Congressional seat, where she has demonstrated her dedication to preventing hunger among seniors, supporting behavioral health workers, ensuring tribal rights and protecting access to reproductive health care. She has proven herself a pragmatic and impactful leader.

Salinas is again challenged for the seat by previous Republican opponent Mike Erickson, whose pro-life, law-and-order platforms have been undermined by accusations from a former partner that he paid for her abortion, and by his own legal record, which includes a DUI in 2016 alongside charges for possession of oxycodone that was not prescribed to him. To us, it’s a clear choice: Salinas will continue with integrity to fight for equity, access and dignity for all Oregonians.

STATEWIDE

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Dan Rayfield

In his time as state legislator and former speaker of the house, Oregon Rep. Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis) has earned the support of retiring Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, who praised Rayfield for the balance of passion and accountability he brings to his vision for Oregon. He also enjoys the support of U.S. senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, the Planned Parenthood PAC of Oregon, the Oregon Nurses Association and Oregon AFL-CIO, to name just a few. He knows the ropes and has committed to fighting national threats to reproductive health care and pledged to fight predatory lenders – priorities borne out by his experience litigating civil rights and consumer protection cases.

SECRETARY OF STATE

Tobias Read

We believe current Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read has the steady judgment to lead the office of Secretary of State, which has unfortunately seen more than its share of controversy since Shemia Fagan resigned last year amid reports she was moonlighting as a consultant for a cannabis company while in office. As voting access issues arise elsewhere in the country, and as conspiracy theories of voter fraud permeate the national conversation, we feel transparency and accountability are especially paramount in a state hailed as a pioneer in ease of voting by mail. Oregon’s inclusive voter registration system is another bragging right for the state, but the Secretary of State’s office has more recently taken another hit as it was revealed that it accidentally registered 1,250 non-citizens to vote, due to a clerical issue, although fewer than 1% of them did. Read has rightly criticized this bungle and vowed to correct course. We can think of no better recommendation than Read’s seven years as a successful state treasurer, and his prior five terms representing Beaverton in the state House.

STATE TREASURER

Elizabeth Steiner Hayward

In her 12 years on the legislature, Oregon Sen. Elizabeth Steiner (D-Portland) has become known as one of the top budget writers in the state. In explaining how her background as a physician informed her passion for state-level number-crunching, she made the astute observation that financial woes are profoundly damaging to physical and emotional health. Her platform has some solutions: She wants to introduce an accessible online portal for Oregonians to start college, retirement and general savings accounts; she aims to see twice as many Oregon students with higher education savings plans and she wants to explore launching a bond program for babies born in Oregon, in which the state would make a deposit.

We admire how clearly Steiner draws the line between the highest accounting position in the state and quality of life for the most vulnerable. We’re eager to see the positive changes she’ll make as state treasurer.

STATE SENATE

District 22

Lew Frederick

Sen. Lew Frederick was elected to state office in 2009. He is the longest -serving member of the state legislature’s BIPOC Caucus, which focuses on equity and on dismantling racist, long-standing policies. He has fought against barriers like book bans and other educational disparities.

But Lew Fredrick, has failed many of his constituents by not supporting the bread and butter issues that affect their everyday lives. He has been unresponsive to their voices regarding economic issues, while other elected officials outside his district have dealt with them, including the Oregon Lottery and the state department of transportation. Community members had to go to other political forces to get things done.

Until he broadens his attention on economic issues of people in his district, we vote NO on Lew Frederick.

District 23

Khan Pham

Khan Pham is running unopposed and has our support.

District 25

Chris Gorsek

chris gorsek2024 intro Incumbent Chris Gorsek has impressed us with his work to increase equity in Oregon, from sponsoring a bill to end the practice of driver's license suspensions due to failure to pay fines, to his partnering with the Legislative BIPOC Caucus members to try to compensate those wrongly convicted of a crime in Oregon.

The former educator and current co-chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation is the right choice to continue leading in east county.

STATE HOUSE

District 39

April Dobson

Rep. Janelle Bynum is leaving her seat in the state House to wrest U.S. House Oregon District 5 from Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Bynum has endorsed Democratic candidate April Dobson, a North Clackamas Schools Board member who leads with the issue of defending reproductive freedom in Oregon, earning her Planned Parenthood of Oregon’s endorsement. From her seat on the school board, Dobson demonstrated her dedication to a solutions-focused approach to homelessness by fighting to keep the Wichita Center open so it could continue to distribute essentials like food and clothing, and provide dental care and afterschool programs, to families in need. School districts are often on the front lines of providing resources to students and families experiencing homelessness, and Dobson’s experience shows she is a champion for working families.

District 43

Tawna Sanchez

Tawna Sanchez is an Indigenous member of the state House who has used her position to respond to the long-ignored epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous people in the region. She brings a background in social work and professional experience in domestic violence intervention to address some of the state’s most pressing issues, like reforming Oregon’s criminal justice system, advocating for elderly Oregonians and addressing income equality. As a foster parent, Sanchez has navigated the Oregon Department of Human Services and seen its weaknesses first hand, and has vowed to make the agency more accountable. Sanchez has boldly promised to introduce legislation that would add a sales tax to alcohol, which would fund prevention, intervention and recovery services for Oregonians 21 and younger – a substantive proposal in a state where nearly 12% of the population is reported to suffer from alcohol use disorders.

Sanchez represents marginalized and under-served communities, and she understands the challenges of working within systems plagued with inherent bias, like law enforcement. We know the state will be even more successful as Sanchez keeps her seat for another term.