By Oregon Campaign Watch,

Oregon Governor candidate and State Senator Christine Drazan was featured on Fox News this week.  Here is the link.

The post Christine Drazan on Fox News first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

By Oregon campaign profile series,

For Mary Dirksen, the Republican hopeful in Senate District 19, Lake Oswego, Tualatin and West Linn, her main concern hits home. Dirksen wants to reverse HB 4037 adopted this year to spur more housing. Dirksen says, “if big developers come into a community with big apartment complexes that are going to impact citizens, they can’t provide testimony at a hearing anymore. They can’t voice their concerns.” Such is the case with a 300-unit apartment development in West Linn still under review. “Residents are very concerned about the impacts. There’s going to be tons more cars, more traffic, and a major thoroughfare is possibly going to be shut down.”

The West Linn development may be the test case of this new law, but Dirksen says Oregonians across the state should watch for similar problems in their neighborhoods. “People are very concerned about Salem dictating to local government what they can and cannot do, and rightfully so. This is Big Salem telling local communities they really don’t have a voice. I want to work on having my constituents have a say in big, huge developments that impact their communities,” added Dirksen.

— You can find more information on candidate Mary Dirksen at MaryDirksen.com
— Oregon Campaign Profile is a project of the Taxpayers Association of Oregon

The post Mary Dirksen (SD#19): People should have more voice in housing debate first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

By Oregon campaign profile series,

Michael Summers the Republican contender for HD 53 in Central Oregon says, “our state doesn’t have a revenue problem; we have a spending problem and a priorities problem.” That’s why Summers would make changes to the Corporate Activity Tax (CAT) as his number one priority if elected. He explains, “it’s a huge reason why we have affordability issues in Oregon in ways that other states don’t. The CAT tax is in the air we breathe, in every apple we buy, in literally everything we do has multiple hits from the CAT tax.”

Under the current law, businesses pay the tax on the first $1 million in gross receipts they generate. Summers would like to raise that threshold, “up to $3 to $5 million because it would make a huge impact of what’s effectively a sales tax on every single purchase. Business owners I talk to want it gone and at the very least reformed.”

There have been business that have closed because of the Corporate Activities Tax.

— You can find more information on candidate Michale Summers at ElectSummers.com
— Oregon Campaign Profile is a project of the Taxpayers Association of Oregon

The post Michael Summers (HD#53) protect small businesses from CAT tax first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

By Oregon campaign profile series,

Seeking re-election to HD 21 in North Salem and Keizer, Kevin Mannix wants to take another run at Oregon’s unfair death tax. If you die, the first $1 million of your estate is currently exempt from state taxes, but more and more estates are reaching that threshold every year. Mannix said, “I will propose we eliminate the death tax, but as an alternative, press for it to be dramatically reformed so the exemption for everyone, especially small businesses, is increased to at least $5 million, and the rate, which currently is from 10- 16%, be maybe a flat rate of 10%.”

People are fleeing the state to avoid the estate tax and to leave something behind for loved ones.  Those people are taking the money they pump into the local economy with them. Mannix has seen business owners in his district close down and move out of state to avoid the death tax. “We’re losing the entrepreneur spirit among people who move to escape this tax,” stated Mannix. “They’ll retire and move to Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, even California— any of the states without a death tax and reside there for over six months every year. They’re not paying any Oregon income tax, but they’re also not paying a death tax.”

— You can find more information on candidate Kevin Mannix at KevinMannix.com.
— Oregon Campaign Profile is a project of the Taxpayers Association of Oregon

The post Kevin Mannix (HD#21): Time to cut the Death Tax first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

Oregonians seeking to enroll in exchange health plans, the Obamacare plans intended to mimic open enrollment in employer-based plans but for the individual market, have been going to the federal government’s website. A decade ago, Oregon famously tried to create its own site, Cover Oregon, to the tune of $300 million, but couldn’t get it to function. Now, for the bargain price of $93 million, we’re trying that again.

In addition to the lower cost, the odds of success are higher. The new ExploreHealthOR.gov will use an existing platform that already serves nine other states rather than build something from scratch. Also, the Oregon Health Plan has been scoped out. This website will only provide exchange plans. If an applicant qualifies for Medicaid, they will be referred to the Oregon Health Authority.

While this looks better than before, why pay anything when Oregonians can just use the proven federal site? The story goes this will give the state access to consumer data and allow more state policy updates.

Good luck with that. We’ll see if it works this weekend, or at least the poor souls that lack employer-based health plans will.

Eric Shierman lives in Salem and is the author of We were winning when I was there.

The post A New Cover Oregon Goes Live this Sunday first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

The Oregon governor’s race is in play.

The National Republican Governor’s Association has donated $5.2 million to Christine Drazan’s campaign.

This puts Drazan slightly ahead of Kotek.

Kotek has these problems …

– Rated among the bottom 5 for least liked governor’s in America.

We wrote this article last week about Kotek’s troubled base:

(10/23/26) There maybe faint signs that Governor Tina Kotek and her liberal base of support is eroding.

Driving through both Portland and Washington County recently has yet to spot a single Kotek campaign lawn sign.  Maybe this is just a coincidence, or anecdotal, or maybe it is a sign that the enthusiasm is just not there.

There was a No Kings Rally in Eugene and only a few hundred people showed up in the second biggest progressive population area in Oregon.

KGW-TV commented on the lower- turn-out in the Portland No Kings Rally saying, “With less than 3 weeks to the midterms, those out here marching in the No Kings rally are hoping to regain some control of Congress, but the noticeably smaller crowd size has spurned fears of complacency.” They interviewed a protestor who confirmed their fears, “Honestly, I’m a little disappointed that this is probably the smallest turnout that we’ve had so far.” The entire 2-year long protest have built up this moment and it appears it is waning.  No signs for Kotek were seen at several of the No Kings Rally.

Candidate Christine Drazan has nearly matched Governor Kotek’s fundraising by bringing in $15 million compared to Kotek’s $17 million.  That is very close. This does not include independent campaigns which are hard to track.

The Oregon Education Association still has refused to endorse Gov.Kotek for not being liberal enough.

This signs of weakness comes at Drazan supporters and State Senator Bruce Starr have launched what may be one of the biggest Get-Out-The-Vote drives in recent history.

A weakness among one group while the other is experiencing increased enthusiasm are the conditions necessary for an upset.

The recent Oregonian Editorial endorsement where they supported her but spent three paragraphs criticizing her maybe what many voters feel — support but with frustrations.

We will get a better picture as the final election draw near.

Stay tuned.

WAS THIS HELPFUL?  Please contribute online at OregonWatchdog.com  to learn about a Charitable Tax Deduction or Political Tax Credit options and more.

The post Drazan gets $5M boost (out raises Kotek) first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

By Oregon campaign profile series,

Tracy Cramer, running for Senate District 11, covering North Salem, Keizer and Woodburn, believes, “success in reducing homelessness isn’t determined by how much we spend. It’s how many people move off the streets and into treatment, recovery and a stable home.” However, state auditors found the housing agency has not “reliably determined” how many people have been helped with hundreds of millions in emergency rental assistance. Cramer says “that’s what happens with minimal oversight.”

Because of that lack of accountability and satisfactory results, Cramer plans to introduce a Homelessness Spending Transparency and Results Act if elected to the Senate. “This law would require every state, county and city dollar spent on homelessness to be listed on a searchable public website each year,” said Cramer. “This will give Oregonians clarity on who should be held accountable for their tax dollars if results aren’t being achieved. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to take Salem’s word for it.”

— You can find more information on candidate Tracy Cramer at Tracy for Oregon
— Oregon Campaign Profile is a project of the Taxpayers Association of Oregon

The post Tracy Cramer’s (SD#11) ambitious Homelessness Spending Transparency and Results Act first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

By Guest Submission Meme,

The post (5 memes) Big government explained first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

By NW Spotlight,

Independent journalist and homeless advocate Kevin Dahlgren shows a video of a man who lost his leg waiting for help.  View the post below, then follow Dahlgren and financially support him.

A homeless man in Salem, Oregon. We definitely need new leadership. I’m voting for @ChristineDrazan https://t.co/q06KYxA8Ym

— Kevin Dahlgren (@kevinvdahlgren) October 29, 2026

The post Homeless man lost leg waiting for housing first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

By Lars Larson
NW and national radio host,

The Northwest Nonsense:

Mayor Keith Wilson keeps blabbing about “resurgence and renewal” downtown Portland, but I just figure he’s been smoking too much of the “Devil’s Lettuce”.

Mayor Wilson talks “tough choices,” but when you consider average police response time of 20 minutes, those choices apparently don’t include public safety.

The Mayor refuses interviews, so I can’t ask him about the latest economic indicator…the fire sale of two major, trendy hotels in downtown.

Portland’s Royal Sonesta sold for 108 million dollars exactly ten years ago.

This week its new owners picked it up for less than 7 million bucks.

I’ll save you the trouble of doing the math: that’s a 94% haircut.

That means each room in that hotel sold for the price of a good used pickup truck… 31 thousand bucks…down from half a million each just ten years ago.

Hotel Zags also sold…down 79 percent in value in just 13 years.

Do you suppose one reason hotels in Portland sell so cheap is that people don’t want to come to a downtown with homeless, drug dealing and violent crime…where the cops are 20 minutes away?

That would be logical, but I know the folks at City Hall ain’t using logic much these days

That’s the Rose City Rap. Join me at noon on KXL for 4 hours of honestly provocative talk. I’m Lars Larson

The post Lars Larson: Hotel fire sale first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.

By Oregon campaign profile series,

Michele Stroh, seeking a seat in Clackamas County’s SD 20, ran for her local school board after her son died from a fake pill laced with Fentanyl. If Stroh gets the opportunity to serve in the legislature, she would “lean into the recent horrific tragedy in Bend, and advocate for armed School Resources Officers (SROs) to be at all of our schools to keep our students safe,” said Stroh. “We have plenty of funding for stuff like this. It’s something we could do that’s tangible. We have to look at our future and one of my biggest things I’m going to advocate for is our student safety.”

Stroh says liberals are calling for more gun control measures, but nothing else would have stopped the shooter in Bend. “Advocating all these little signs saying we’re a gun free zone, you’re just a sitting duck. Look at all the gun restrictions we have, we are like the 12^th highest gun restriction state in the country.” explained Stroh. “Nothing would have changed this, but if we had that presence at the door with an SRO, that would make the difference. “SROs can actually do something to take action.”

— You can find more information on candidate Michele Stroh at VoteStroh.
— Oregon Campaign Profile is a project of the Taxpayers Association of Oregon

The post Michele Stroh (SD#20) says SROs can make our schools safe first appeared on Oregon Catalyst.