Portland candidates talked swapping donations to hit small donor threshold | Worth Your Time
Willamette Week's Sophie Peel broke the story about messages between candidates suggesting they trade donations as they tried to qualify for public matching ...
Your piece strongly implies that the reciprocal donations were not counted toward the 250 needed to qualify for the public funding program. But the program did not disqualify those donations. It treated them like any other donations. The director of the program stated that it was up to each candidate to not report those donations as "qualifying," but in fact the candidates did report those donations as qualifying.
Justice department officials recently concluded there's no evidence establishing beyond a reasonable doubt that anyone knowingly misreported a $500,000 donation to the Democratic Party of Oregon. But the shoddy due diligence, failure to resolve conflicting information and arrogance by state officials overseeing campaign finance laws show plenty of poor decisions, the editorial board writes.
One of the most drastic tax changes in Oregon history will be on the ballot in November. If it passes, it could put hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars in your family’s pocket.
RFK Jr. is likely to appear on Oregon ballots this fall
On Monday, state elections officials certified a new political party formed with the express purpose of nominating the independent presidential candidate.
Portland Elections Office Investigating Rene Gonzalez For Using Taxpayer Funds on Wikipedia Edits
Portland's Elections Office is investigating potential campaign finance violations by City Commissioner Rene Gonzalez. The Auditor’s Office, which houses the Elections Office, confirmed the investigation to the Mercury Friday, after receiving three complaints about the commissioner’s expenditure of $6,400 in city funds to edit his Wikipedia page. Gonzalez, who was elected to Portland City Council in 2022, is currently running for mayor. The use of taxpayer funds to enhance Gonzalez’s Wikipedia page was first reported...
Portland Commissioner Rene Gonzalez spent thousands in city funds to polish Wikipedia page
Gonzalez’s office at City Hall hired a New York-based company in March to develop a handful of requested edits, records obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive show.
Utah Supreme Court sides with opponents of redistricting that carved up Democratic-leaning area
Utah’s Supreme Court has ruled in favor of opponents of redistricting that carved up Democratic-leaning Salt Lake County among four congressional districts that have since elected Republicans by wide margins.
How Portland elects its mayor is about to drastically change. Here are the promises — and pitfalls
The move adds Portland to a small but growing list of U.S. cities, states and other jurisdictions that have adopted a widely used form of single-winner ranked-choice voting.
Montana Supreme Court allows signatures of inactive voters to count on ballot petitions
Montana's Supreme Court is allowing the signatures of inactive voters to count on petitions seeking to qualify constitutional initiatives for the November ballot, including one to protect abortion rights.