ATTORNEY GENERAL
For the first time in over a decade, Oregon will have a new attorney general in the justice department as Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum (D) announced that she would not seek a fourth term, leading four candidates to compete for the open seat in yesterday’s primary.
Michael Cross (R) and former prosecutor Will Lathrop (R) appeared on the Republican ballot for attorney general. Even though votes are still being counted, Lathrop has been declared the winner and will advance to the general: He has secured approximately 65% of the vote as this goes to press.
Lathrop previously served as an assistant district attorney in Yamhill and Marion Counties from 2005 to 2014. He also worked for the National District Attorneys Association before joining the International Justice Mission, a global human rights organization. His campaign has named reducing crime, combating corruption, and limiting agency overreach as his top priorities. Lathrop also says he’d spotlight the office’s role in fighting organized crime, with an emphasis on drug trafficking. Lathrop began raising money for his campaign in the summer of 2022, and has since raised more than $700,000, which is in sharp contrast to the GOP’s previous two nominees for attorney general in the state. In 2016, the Republican contender raised around $75,000 in his race against Rosenblum and received 41.7% of the vote, while the 2020 nominee raised less than $11,000 in 2020 but still received 41.3% of the vote.
Competing for the seat on the Democratic side was State Representative Dan Rayfield (D) and former civil rights investigator Shaina Maxey Pomerantz (D). Ultimately, Rayfield was chosen as the party’s nominee and has captured approximately 77% of the vote, currently.
Rayfield is a five-term legislator and served as Oregon’s Speaker of the House for almost two years before stepping down to focus on the attorney general race. As an attorney, Rayfield practices general civil litigation and consumer protection, and represents people with claims against the insurance industry and large corporations. His campaign priorities include expanding consumer protections, tackling climate change, protecting workers, curbing gun violence, and addressing public safety. Rayfield’s campaign has brought in a little over $800,000 so far.
While this may be a more expensive race than Oregonians are used to, Republicans have not won an attorney general race in Oregon since 1988.
STATE TREASURER
Incumbent State Treasurer Tobias Read (D) is not seeking reelection this year, instead winning the Democratic Party’s nomination for secretary of state. Two Democratic candidates competed to be Read’s successor: State Senator Elizabeth Steiner (D) and investor Jeff Gudman (D) who sought his first position in statewide public office.
Steiner secured the Democratic Party’s nomination with approximately 78% of the current vote. She has an extensive background in the healthcare industry, working positions at the Oregon Health and Science University Cancer Institute, the Oregon Health and Science University, and the Annals of Family Medicine. She has occupied her seat in the state senate since 2012, representing part of northwest Portland and the suburbs of Beaverton. Since 2018, Steiner has served as co-chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee and one of the state’s chief budget writers. During her tenure she has prioritized investments in affordable housing, homelessness, health insurance, education, workforce, and behavioral health. If elected to the treasurer’s office, Steiner pledges to safeguard public dollars, responsibly manage education and pension funds, and ensure state investments align with Oregonians’ values.
State Senator Brian Boquist (I) ran unopposed in the Republican primary for treasurer. First elected to the senate in 2008, he represents parts of Yamhill and Polk counties in northwest Oregon. Boquist retired as an Officer from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. He also worked to prepare service members for combat deployment, and in international aviation and logistics supporting commercial, humanitarian, and peacekeeping operations. During his time in the state senate, Boquist filed a lawsuit in 2018 against then-Governor Kate Brown (D), the Oregon Department of Revenue, and legislative leadership over a law that stopped certain businesses from receiving a federal tax deduction implemented by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. In early 2021, he left the Republican Party and registered with the Independent Party of Oregon.
STATE LEGISLATURE
All 60 seats within the Oregon State House, and 15 of the 30 seats in the State Senate, are up for grabs during this election cycle. During Tuesday’s primary, candidates were chosen for 23 house races and six senate seats. Fourteen (14) incumbents across both chambers are not seeking reelection this year. Fifteen incumbents in the house face no challengers in either the primary or general election. Three candidates in the senate also have no challengers. While the exact partisan numbers may flux, the Democrats’ hold on both chambers is not expected to change.
Four senate Republicans–including the party’s newly minted nominee for treasurer–were forced to end their legislative careers early thanks to a ballot measure approved by Oregon voters in 2022: Measure 113 prohibits members with 10 or more unexcused floor session absences from serving another term in the state legislature. The measure was placed on the ballot after several “walkouts” were led by Republican senators. Walkouts were a tactic to stall the legislative process: If Republican members literally walked out of the chamber, the body did not have a quorum and could not conduct business. Even after the measure passed, 10 Republican senators staged a six-week long walkout in 2023; then, five of these members sued, leading to a unanimous decision by the Oregon Supreme Court earlier this year to uphold their disqualification from the ballot.
Chamber leadership within the house will see a change as Speaker Pro Tem Paul Holvey (D) is retiring. Leadership in the state senate will change, too, as Minority Leader Tim Knopp (R) is one of the members ineligible for reelection.