The Oregonian endorsed Rob Brading in a piece titled
"Clean House: Replace Speaker Karen Minnis."
As House speaker, Karen Minnis has presided over two of the longest, most rancorous and least productive sessions in the history of the Oregon Legislature.
That's enough. Oregon voters should not stand for another legislative session rife with bad blood and partisanship, where little or nothing gets done on the core issues of education, health care and public safety.
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If Oregonians hold anyone in the Legislature accountable in this election -- and they should -- it must be Minnis.
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This can't go on. Voters must shake up the legislative leadership in the only direct way voters can in this election. In House District 49, voters should choose Democrat Rob Brading to replace Republican Karen Minnis.
We wanted to introduce to you a fantastic candidate,
Rob Brading, who's running in what the Oregonian called "Oregon's most important legislative race."
Rob is the CEO of Multnomah Public Television and is a former Chamber of Commerce President and current member of the local library. He is the son of a preacher as well. The Oregonian says of him:
He is as bright and engaging as any of the major candidates in this election season. He has a broad and successful background in public service, leading the Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce and serving on advisory boards for county libraries, Gresham police and the local affiliate for Habitat for Humanity.
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He is a mainstream Democrat who believes Oregon should strengthen its investment in schools and universities, and should join states such as Massachusetts and Vermont in exploring creative ways to address the health care crisis. Brading is more than capable of serving the people of District 49.
You can see Rob's ads here, here, and here.
She outspent Rob $250 thousand to $30 thousand in 2004, and won 53 to 47. This year, she's on her way to raising a million dollars in corporate interest money to save her seat. Let's show her Oregon can't be bought by special interests.
Democrats picked up the Oregon Senate in 2004, and we only need to flip 3 seats to tie or 4 to take over the House. These are the races we need to win to pick up the Oregon House. This will help put Democrats in a strong position for redistricting, which the Oregon legislature controls. If Democrats are cut out of the process, there are one or two Democratic-held Congressional seats the Republicans could make harder for Democrats to win.
For more information and updates, check out the Oregon House blog.
You can see this post about Eric Palmer in Iowa, who also has a good shot at beating a Republican leader.
Bottom line is that Democrats will never have long-term success without winning state legislatures.
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