Campaign Finance Reform - in Oregon

Advocates are pressing a crop of political candidates to abide by local campaign finance limits, which were passed by voters last year but quickly faced legal challenges.

Ronald Buel, a member of political action committee Honest Elections Oregon, filed complaints with the Portland City Auditor’s Office claiming that since September, Wheeler accepted 15 donations that exceeded $500 and Ozzie Gonzalez and Jack Kerfoot each accepted four.

Mayor Ted Wheeler and three other local political candidates are facing scrutiny for accepting hefty donations that clash with local campaign finance regulations passed by voters. On Thursday, a Portland resident who campaigned for the new policies filed official complaints against those four candidates, kicking off an investigation that could land the candidates in court. In 2018, Portlanders voted by an overwhelming majority to approve Measure 26-200, a campaign finance reform initiative that, among other...

This month Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler donated $16,000 to charities that originally came as campaign donations from the man at the center of last week's impeachment inquiry hearings, Gordon Sondland. One KATU News Viewer wanted to know why Wheeler didn’t give the money back. Turns out, politicians have a lot of freedom in what they can do with campaign donations in Portland and Oregon.

Oregon Supreme Court justices pepper attorneys with questions about whether the court should uphold a Multnomah County ordinance allowing strict limits on donations.

Wheeler’s campaign announced Nov. 8, 2019 that he won’t enroll in the city’s new public campaign finance program. He is seeking to become Portland's first two-term mayor since Vera Katz.

Rep. Jennifer Williamson (D-Portland) says she’ll go her own way.

The top three Democrats vying for the state’s second-highest office are all planning their own proposals for limiting money. 

The weak investigation into allegations of illegal campaign finance activity by former Rep. Deborah Boone show that not only is the elections division unable to enforce laws that currently exist, but it may not be able to handle campaign contribution limits that Oregonians want to enact. Although the secretary of state's office has made some changes, other reforms are needed as well.

The Secretary of State’s office said Tuesday it will seek to beef up enforcement of Oregon’s campaign finance laws after a report by The Oregonian/OregonLive last week that showed minimal investigation into alleged violations.

Just 600 big donors accounted for nearly 60% of all money given to city campaigns in 2012. The wave of big money that has crashed over US politics since Citizens United has not spared Portland, Oregon,...

State lawmakers put a constitutional amendment on the 2020 ballot with bi-partisan support.

Campaign donors expect their money to be spent getting candidates elected. The wrinkle is, it's unusual for candidates to pay themselves in the process.

When elected officials provided their statements of economic interest to the Oregon Government Ethics Commission last month, the filing for Rep. Mike Schaufler (D-Happy Valley) included one unusual,Politics

The Oregon Legislature is poised to move the state out of dead last on some measures. But not all of them.

The Oregon Legislature took a big step this weekend toward allowing the state to curb the flow of unlimited money into political campaigns.

Voters in November 2020 will decide whether the Oregon Constitution should allow donation limits.

Oregon Legislature moves forward with a constitutional amendment to allow campaign contribution caps.

Companies and industries with interests in House Bill 2020 donated $650,000 to sitting Oregon senators.

As the Oregon Legislature prepares to resume, the fate of campaign finance reform in Portland, Multnomah and statewide may rest on whether a constitutional amendment is approved before the Legislature shuts down. Activists have urged Democratic leaders to deliver on months of discussions of changing the state Constitution to allow[Read More...]

Many of us are excited about the Oregon House of Representatives blocking billionaires from buying our elections and I want to thank most of our Lane County state representatives for their support …

Letter to the editor

Portland's election officer is still figuring out how to implement the charter changes requiring campaign finance disclosures for upcoming elections.

The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled in the past that any caps on campaign limits violates the Oregon constitution; a referral would amend the constitution.