In General

The Oregon Capitol (Salem Reporter archives) Rep. Dan Rayfield, D- Corvallis, wants to keep the campaign field for candidates level this year as courts and legislators untangle campaign finance reforms but he wants to short circuit a voter-approved measure to do that. Dan Meek, a longtime campaign finance reform advocate,[Read More...]

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown told reporters on Friday that the state Legislature should not pass campaign contribution limits during the short session that begins in February. She did not cite any specific benefits of waiting until at least 2021. Voters will decide in November whether to amend the state Constitution to allow contribution caps.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

SALEM — Bowing to the pressures of time and differences of opinion, Democrats are setting aside a legislative effort to slap limits on political campaign contributions. Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, had hoped to get contribution limits through the Senate after they passed the House on June 6. Her[Read More...]

SALEM — Bowing to the pressures of time and differences of opinion, Democrats are setting aside a legislative effort to slap limits on political campaign contributions.

House Bill 2714 would have set specific contribution limits, in anticipation of a constitutional measure making such restrictions legal. Although the bill is now dead, lawmakers appear to be pressing ahead with sending the constitutional change to voters.

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon is one of only five states to have absolutely no limits on how much money can be donated to political campaigns.

Former Independent Party gubernatorial nominee Patrick Starnes writes that the word "unlimited" does not belong in any bill about campaign finance reform. He urges Oregonians to contact state senators to add caps to HB 2714.

Oregon is one of only five states to have absolutely no limits on how much money can be donated to political campaigns. But lawmakers took a step to change that Thursday, when the House passed a measure approving the state's first campaign contribution limits in decades. The proposal caps contributions to House and Senate candidates at $1,000 and $1,500, respectively. Contributions to all other statewide candidates would be capped at $2,800.