27 earn A’s - 23 earn and B’s - 4 earn C’s - 9 earn D’s - 104 earn F’s
Tina Kotek earns best grade among candidates for Governor
For the first year ever in Oregon, candidates are getting grades for democracy. Honest Elections Oregon conducted a statewide survey and review of candidates for all statewide and legislative public offices, and the Results have been released.
“Oregon voters overwhelmingly support laws to curb the huge influence of big money on our political system,” said James Ofsink, a volunteer with Honest Elections. “Voters deserve to know where candidates stand on this issue.”
The current election cycle is already by far Oregon’s most expensive in history, setting new spending records, including for Governor ($63 million and climbing), for State Senator ($19 million and climbing) and for State Representative ($23 million and climbing).
Some key takeaways from the results:
- Measure 107 (2020) amended the Oregon Constitution to explicitly allow limits on campaign contributions and requirements that political ads name their largest funders. Despite 78% of Oregon voters approving Measure 107 (2020), many candidates remain unwilling to publicly announce where they stand. 87 candidates completed the survey in this first year, while 104 did not. [The results table omits candidates who responded but were eliminated in the primary election.]
- Candidates for the Oregon Legislature who earned A+ were Jeff Golden of Ashland, Ashley Pelton of Cottage Grove, Walt Trandum of Sandy, and John Lively of Springfield. “We are glad that there are some champions for democracy, and we hope that will lead to real outcomes and better rules,” said Jason Kafoury, a volunteer with Honest Elections.
- Only two general election candidates for Governor responded: Tina Kotek (earned a B) and L. Leon Noble (earned a D). “We are encouraged that 51 candidates like Tina Kotek expressed support for campaign contribution limits and requiring that political ads name their largest funders,” Kafoury added.
Points were assigned for answers consistent with Honest Elections Oregon priorities, including capping campaign contributions and clearer disclosure rules, including a requirement that political ads name their 4 largest actual funders (not just nice-sounding names of committees). Grades range from A+ for the best answers to D for the worst. All candidates who did not respond, despite weeks of repeated requests by email and phone, earned Fs and are Listed Here.
"There is no campaign finance reform measure on the 2022 ballot, but the responses show that campaign finance reform is on the ballot. Oregon voters have some meaningful choices for getting big money out of our political system, when they cast their votes,” said James Ofsink. “Votes should be earned, not bought.”
"We heartily commend the effort of those who responded," said Honest Elections volunteer Dan Meek.
Contact:
Dan Meek
Gary Lietke
Note: If your system cannot follow Constant Contact internal links, the Survey Results are here: https://bit.ly/orcandsurvey. The list of non-responding candidates is here: https://bit.ly/candsilent
