by Tim Gruver, The Center Square | June 02, 2021 08:00 AM Print this article
Oregon has no limits on how much money one person can spend on its elections. Voters and state lawmakers agree that needs to change.
Last fall, Oregonians voted to allow state lawmakers to pass statewide campaign finance reform. To date, political campaigns in the state report contributions and expenditures to the Secretary of State. Historically, spending limits have been up to local officials to decide.
Cities like Portland passed campaign finance limits of their own in 2018, limiting individual and political action committee (PAC) donations to $508. In Portland, unions and business groups are banned from throwing money into candidate races, but small donor committees have free rein. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was sued for breaking those rules last fall after he allegedly donated $150,000 to his own 2020 reelection campaign.
February 10 2021
Our readers also believe Portland is ill but not dying, that the Oregon Cares Fund is a necessary lifeline, and more.
In George Washington s farewell address, he warned of the dangers of political parties and their dangers of partisanship even when current political parties were being formed by founding fathers John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. But even with Washington s warning, America pursued establishing the majority two party system we have today.
As an Oregon non-affiliated voter, it is basically impossible to run for political office with the requirement to collect a minimum of 1% of verified voters per district in the specified time allowed. Non-affiliated voters cannot vote during an Oregon primary election because they are closed, leaving them to only vote during the general elections, which only have approved party candidates. Was this what our founding fathers fought the revolution for?