Republican Mike Erickson announced Wednesday that he would seek a rematch against freshman Rep. Andrea Salinas, the Oregon Democrat who beat him 50-48 after a nasty 2022 contest. But Erickson, who is no stranger to scandal, continues to argue that he lost only because of an attack ad from Salinas, and he's currently suing her for defamation.
Erickson, a wealthy logistics consultant, doesn't have the May 21 GOP primary himself, as former state Sen. Denyc Boles launched her own campaign in August. Boles, though, has struggled to raise money, finishing December with just $52,000 in the bank. The 6th District, which is based in the Salem area and Portland's southwestern suburbs, favored Joe Biden 55-42 in 2020, but Republicans hope that Salinas' tight 2022 win portends another close race.
Erickson's new bid is his latest in a long string of campaigns for public office, though he's yet to score a victory. He decisively lost races for the state House in 1988 and 1992, and his victorious opponent that second time was none other than future Gov. Kate Brown. He set his sights higher in 2006 when he took on Democratic Rep. Darlene Hooley in an old version of the swingy 5th District, but the blue wave helped carry the incumbent to a 54-43 victory.
Hooley decided to retire the following cycle, however, finally giving Erickson the opening he needed. First, though, he had to get through a tough primary against 2002 gubernatorial nominee Kevin Mannix, who sent out mailers late in the race accusing Erickson of impregnating a girlfriend in 2000 and paying for a subsequent abortion.
Erickson said Mannix's allegations were "unsubstantiated and untrue," though he admitted he'd given the woman, whom The Oregonian identified only as Tawnya, $300 and taken her to a doctor. He also insisted that he hadn't even known she was pregnant.
"She asked for some money to go have a doctor's appointment—not knowing what that was—and whatever happened, happened, I guess," Erickson claimed. "I didn't even know she had an abortion." Tawnya, however, told the paper that Erickson knew what he was paying for.
Erickson still managed to narrowly beat Mannix, but he lost the general election 54-38 to Democrat Kurt Schrader as Barack Obama was carrying the district by a 54-43 margin. Erickson then disappeared from electoral politics for more than a decade only to unexpectedly reemerge in 2022 to seek the brand-new 6th District, which was created after Oregon gained a seat thanks to reapportionment following the last census.
This time, Erickson had no trouble securing the GOP nomination, and despite his many past failures, it soon became clear that he had a chance to beat Salinas in what was shaping up to be a tough year for Oregon Democrats. Salinas' side ran ads accusing the Republican of wanting to "outlaw abortion" despite allegedly paying for one, but it was a different TV spot about his past that prompted him to file suit.
Erickson took particular issue with a Salinas commercial highlighting his 2016 arrest and conviction for drunk driving in which the narrator noted that, in addition to the DUI, Erickson was "charged with illegal drug possession for illegal oxycodone."
Erickson's legal team insisted that he had "never been charged with illegal possession of drugs." Erickson's lawyer in the DUI case said that she'd made a "mistake" following his arrest by filing a plea agreement stating that prosecutors had "agreed to dismiss felony possession of controlled substance upon tender of guilty plea."
An attorney for Salinas, however, cited that very statement in support of the ad's truthfulness, arguing that "a charge is a charge, whether or not the DA files it."
Erickson was unpersuaded, and he initially threatened to respond to a defeat at the ballot box by suing to overturn the election. However, while he cited a state law that requires nominees and elected officials to be removed if a judge rules that they knowingly made false statements about an opponent, it remains unclear whether this provision has ever been successfully employed to reverse the results of an election.
Salinas ultimately prevailed by 2 percentage points despite difficult headwinds. While Democrat Tina Kotek won her own campaign to succeed Brown as governor, Republican Christine Drazan beat her 46-44 in the 6th District. (Another 9% went to independent Betsy Johnson.) Erickson soon made good on his threat to file a lawsuit, though he brought only claims for defamation rather than attempt to reverse the election results.
That lawsuit remains active. A state judge rejected Salinas' attempt to have the matter dismissed soon after the election, though Salinas has appealed, and the state Court of Appeals is set to hear the case on Monday.
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