Oregon 2024 Election Season Kicks Off
Statewide candidates can now officially file for the 2024 May primary. Plenty have announced plans to seek higher office (or reelection).
Statewide candidates can now officially file for the 2024 May primary. Plenty have announced plans to seek higher office (or reelection):
Oregon Secretary of State Candidates
State Sen. James Manning (D-Eugene) and Treasurer Tobias Read are running for Oregon secretary of state, a job that includes overseeing state elections and audits. Gov. Tina Kotek appointed the current secretary of state, former Portland Auditor LaVonne Griffin-Valade, after fellow Democrat Shemia Fagan resigned in May. [Oregonian]
Oregon’s First Woman Treasurer?
Oregon has now had back-to-back woman governors, and multiple woman secretaries of state, but no woman has held the job of treasurer. State Sen. Elizabeth Steiner (D-Beaverton), a key budget writer and medical doctor, seeks to change that. The current treasurer, Tobias Reed, can’t run again because of term limits restrictions. [KGW]
Absent-Prone Republicans File for Reelection Anyway
Three senators who accumulated at least 10 unexcused absences have so far filed to run again. That’s despite the prohibition in Measure 113, passed by voters last year, which outlawed reelection bids from legislators with that many unexcused absences. They’ll challenge the measure in court. One has announced plans to retire. And the other two whose terms expire next year have yet to decide. [OPB]
More about Local Civics
$106M in Unspent Funds at the Portland Housing Bureau
The Portland Housing Bureau has $106 million in unspent funds, the city administrator disclosed late last week. Some of it may be spoken for, but it leaves open the question of how City Council will spend the funds. When the pot of unspent funds was believed to be only $21 million, City Council was divided over whether to spend it on rent assistance or a Prosper Portland housing project. Maybe all of the above are possible now. [Portland Mercury]
City Cast Portland staffFeb 10, 2026
The Gas Tax and Oregon's Legislative Session
State lawmakers convene in Salem next week after a chaotic few weeks for Democratic state leaders as they scramble to address the issue of transportation funding. They have a key problem: Voters appear to oppose the gas tax passed last fall.
City Cast Portland staffJan 28, 2026
US Sen. Wyden Explains His Votes To Arm Israel
Oregon’s U.S. senators usually vote the same way (like for continuing the government shutdown until healthcare costs are addressed). But a key exception in recent months was Sen. Ron Wyden’s support for continued arms sales to Israel while Sen. Jeff Merkley voted to oppose them. Wyden’s support came up again last weekend — at a Portland Book Festival event featuring Omar Al Ekkad, author of “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” (a title you may recognize as “the one book every Portlander should read right now”).
City Cast Portland staffNov 12, 2025