For some Republicans (and one Independent) in the Oregon State Senate, the writing is on the wall: Voters wanted them at work. When they didn’t show up 10 times this past legislative session, they were deemed ineligible to run again. There’s a good chance if current legislation holds, they’re out of a job.
For legislators like Sen. Tim Knopp (R-Bend), the senate minority leader and the longtime senator for Bend, this is bad news. He’s been hired by Bend voters to be its senator since all the way back in 2012, and served in the Oregon House before that, but Bend’s demographics have changed and so has its voting patterns. There’s a very strong chance that if he’s off the ballot in 2024, voters will forget him should he choose to run again. Even if he were not currently ineligible to run, he would have had a tough re-election ahead of him.
We’ve opined on the ramifications of Measure 113 a few times this year. After all, it’s not every day that you have a cadre of minority-party legislators who take the nuclear option and shut down the business of a legislative chamber for the better part of a session. What’s changed this week is that the Oregon Secretary of State, who is tasked with following the letter and the spirit of the law, issued an administrative rule that clarified what legislators can and can’t do when they walk out more than 10 times.
Knopp and the other legislators who had more than 10 unexcused absences are attempting to claim that the language of the bill was too confusing, and that due to the way it was worded, they actually are eligible to run in 2024, just not in 2028.
Measure 113 stated that having 10 unexcused absences “shall disqualify the member from holding office as a Senator or Representative for the term following the election after the member’s current term is completed.”
With the assistance of the Oregon Department of Justice, Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade looked at the language of the bill and the language in the voters’ pamphlet and assessed the “intent” of voters, drawing the conclusion that voters wanted legislators out quickly if they walk. This past week, Griffin-Valade directed the Oregon Elections Division to enact an administrative rule that clarifies and provides guidance on who can run and when, under the language of Measure 113.
You gotta hand it to Knopp and the others who are now desperate to challenge the bill. They are hoping to convince a judge that the language of the bill that voters approved with a 68% majority in 2022 wasn’t clear enough, and that they’re still eligible to run in 2024, but not 2028. On the one hand they want to argue that the bill is valid enough to let them run one more time. On the other, they’re setting their sights on appeals and Constitutional challenges to try to get the whole bill thrown out.
Both arguments are fascinating legal and political attempts at subverting the will of the voters. It is easy, in all of the back and forth, to forget that we already had this debate in 2022 when Measure 113 went on the ballot. After seeing Republicans walk out in 2019, 2020 and 2022, Oregonians were pretty clear they wanted better governance going forward. No more running for the Idaho border when you disagree with the majority of representatives in your governing body. The solution to this problem is easy: Republicans need to convince more voters that their candidate should serve and thereby secure a majority so they can enact more legislation. That’s how democracy works.
This is minority politics at its worst, and unfortunately, it’s very likely headed to the courts to decide.
This article appears in Best of Central Oregon 2023.
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Sen Knopp and his colleagues who walked out are in an ironic situation. For years, Republicans have decried judicial rulings by “activist” judges, Now, Sen. Knopp is going to look for just such a judge. Voters were clear, there was no ambiguity in their intent.
The job of “legislator” has many characteristics and responsibilities. One of those—coincidentally, it’s similar to what you’ll find in most job descriptions—is showing up. Being in the minority because the voters don’t like your agenda? That’s just part of American democracy since Day One. Sometimes you have to suffer through that. Other times, your party rules the day.
I would encourage Democrats to use this occasion. Use it to find better means of collaborating with Republicans and Independents, hopefully new ones who are willing to admit that their party is the minority and therefore has to play ball with the majority party’s agenda. Use it to examine their own prejudices against, and ignorance about, rural Oregonians. Come on out and visit. Get out of Salem and Portland.
I would like to see more Republican’s in our government. However, we the people, the voters, voted 68% majority to approve this. As Paul above mentioned…”voters were clear, there was no ambiguity”. If it were not clear when it went to the ballot, then legislators from both sides should have corrected it, or re-wrote it.
In the words of Patriots coach Bill Belichick, “do your job” !
Any judge that overturns this should be BENCHED !
I find Knopp and his ilk’s position frankly infuriating. The intent of the Ballot Proposition was clear, as were our expectations as voters that legislators do the job they were hired to do.