2014 General Election

RACE	ME	WILLAMETTE WEEK	THE OREGONIAN	PORTLAND MERCURY	PORTLAND TRIBUNE	BASIC RIGHTS OR	PLANNED PARENT.
US SEN	MERKLEY	MERKLEY	("UGH.")	MERKLEY			MERKLEY
US REP 3RD	BLUMENAUER	BLUMENAUER	BLUMENAUER
OR GOV	KITZHABER	KITZHABER	KITZHABER	KITZHABER	(NONE)	KITZHABER	KITZHABER
OR REP 42ND	NOSSE	NOSSE				NOSSE	NOSSE
OR 86 COLLEGE FUND	YES	YES	NO	YES	YES	YES
OR 87 NAT'L GUARD	YES	YES	YES
OR 88 DRIVER LICENSES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
OR 89 SEX EQUALITY	YES	YES	NO	YES			YES
OR 90 TOP TWO PRIMARY	YES	YES	YES	NO	YES		NO
OR 91 MARIJUANA	YES	YES	YES	YES
OR 92 GMO	NO	NO	NO	NO
PTLD 26-159 PARKS	YES	YES	YES	YES
METRO 26-160 DENSITY	NO	YES		YES	YES
PPS 26-161 LEVY	YES	YES	NO	YES

THE DETAILS:

ME	CANDIDATE	ENDORSEMENTS
US SENATOR
[_]	Mike Montchalin LIBERTARIAN
[X]	Jeff Merkley [INCUMBENT] DEMOCRAT | INDEPENDENT | WORKING FAMILIES	WILLAMETTE WEEK | PORTLAND MERCURY | PLANNED PARENTHOOD
[_]	Christina Jean Lugo PACIFIC GREEN
[_]	James E Leuenberger CONSTITUTION
[_]	Monica Wehby REPUBLICAN
Keeping the US Senate and judicial confirmations out of Republicans' control trumps all other considerations.
US REPRESENTATIVE, 3RD DISTRICT
[_]	Michael Meo PACIFIC GREEN
[_]	James Buchal INDEPENDENT | REPUBLICAN | CONSTITUTION	RIGHT TO LIFE
[X]	Earl Blumenauer [INCUMBENT] DEMOCRAT	WILLAMETTE WEEK | THE OREGONIAN
[_]	Jeffrey J Langan LIBERTARIAN
[_]	David Walker
It's annoying that Democrats have pretty much given-up on taking back the House. Trying and losing is better than giving-up.
OREGON GOVERNOR
[_]	Dennis Richardson REPUBLICAN | INDEPENDENT	RIGHT TO LIFE
[_]	Chris Henry PROGRESSIVE
[_]	Aaron Auer CONSTITUTION
[X]	John Kitzhaber [INCUMBENT] DEMOCRAT | WORKING FAMILIES	WILLAMETTE WEEK | PORTLAND MERCURY | THE OREGONIAN | BASIC RIGHTS OREGON | PORTLAND BUSINESS ALLIANCE | NARAL PRO-CHOICE | OREGON LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS | SIERRA CLUB | PLANNED PARENTHOOD | FMR GOV TED KULONGOSKI | US SEN RON WYDEN & JEFF MERKLEY
[_]	Paul Grad LIBERTARIAN
[_]	Jason Levin PACIFIC GREEN
While I respect Governor Kitzhaber for setting high goals for CoverOregon, he deserves criticism for its spectacular failure and mismanagement. I was also disappointed that he continued to support and waste funds on the Washington State SUV Bridge. His fiancee's recent confessions about past illegal interests are irrelevant -- she isn't running for office. However, that Kitzhaber bestowed the First Lady title on a long-time girlfriend and then allowed her to use the title for lobbying and business connections is troubling -- especially for an experienced statesmen. Unbelievably Kitzhaber remains a better choice than the GOP's guy. I admit that I kinda admire Republican State Rep. Dennis Richardson plucky campaign. He started his campaign early spamming an impressively large number of Oregonians' e-mail boxes -- although the e-mails seemed more like the rants from that fringe right-wing conspiracy theorists relative or friend we all have. He touted that he would live in the Portland-area for the summer to connect with urban voters -- but ended-up staying rent-free in a 3,000 sf house in the wealthy Lake Oswego enclave. While he understandably tries to campaigns on the Democratic governor's bad press, he hasn't explained why Oregonians should elect their first Republican to statewide office in 12 years.
OREGON STATE REPRESENTATIVE, 42ND DISTRICT
[X]	Rob Nosse DEMOCRAT | WORKING FAMILIES	WILLAMETTE WEEK | BASIC RIGHTS OREGON | PLANNED PARENTHOOD
[_]	Bruce Alexander Knight LIBERTARIAN
OREGON STATE JUDICIARY: 4TH DIST CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE, POSITION 12
[X]	Gregory F. Silver [INCUMBENT]
EAST MULTNOMAH SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT: DIRECTOR AT LARGE 2
[X]	Nellie McAdams
EAST MULTNOMAH SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT: DIRECTOR ZONE 3
[X]	Michael Guebert

OREGON MEASURE 86 Amends Constitution: Requires creation of fund for Oregonians pursuing post-secondary education, authorizes state indebtedness to finance fund
[X]	Yes	WILLAMETTE WEEK | PORTLAND MERCURY | BASIC RIGHTS OREGON | LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS | ECUMENICAL MINISTRIES OF OREGON | DEMOCRATIC PARTY | THE SKANNER | PORTLAND TRIBUNE | WORKING FAMILIES | PORTLAND BUSINESS ALLIANCE
[_]	No	THE OREGONIAN
Apparently this scheme involves borrowing money to invest in the stock market and using the profits to offer financial aid. Willamette Week still endorsed the measure even though they had concerns: "...some of the details of how his proposed funding mechanism would work worry us. "The state would be playing the stock market with borrowed funds, which some financial experts view as irresponsible investing. Oregon runs the risk of another stock-market crash and spending the next decade trimming budgets to pay it back..." The bigger risk though is the state continuing its trend of completely giving-up on college education. This modest plan is better than no plan.
OREGON MEASURE 87 Amends Constitution: Permits employment of state judges by National Guard (military service) and state public universities (teaching)
[X]	Yes	WILLAMETTE WEEK | THE OREGONIAN | THE SKANNER | DEMOCRATIC PARTY
[_]	No
[_]	No	THE OREGONIAN
The only argument I could find opposing this measure was concerns about having judges work for two branches of government. However, judges are already allowed to work for private universities and Oregon barely funds it's state colleges, so I doubt judges are scheming to unduly influence legislation for fat college paychecks. Nor do I think a judge serving in the National Guard will lead to a Judge Dredd scenario.
OREGON MEASURE 88 Provides Oregon resident "driver card" without requiring proof of legal presence in the United States
[X]	Yes VOTEYESON88.COM	WILLAMETTE WEEK | PORTLAND MERCURY | ACLU | ECUMENICAL MINISTRIES OF OREGON | LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS | THE OREGONIAN | PORTLAND TRIBUNE | THE SKANNER | GOV JOHN KITZHABER | FMR GOV TED KULONGOSKI & | BARBARA ROBERTS | US REP EARL BLUMENEAUR | BASIC RIGHTS OREGON | CITY CLUB OF PORTLAND | DEMOCRATIC PARTY | WORKING FAMILIES | PRIDE FOUNDATION | Q CENTER | NARAL PRO-CHOICE | PLANNED PARENTHOOD | BUS PROJECT | SIERRA CLUB | ECUMENICAL MINISTRIES OF OR | AINSWORTH UCC | BRIDGEPORT UCC
[_]	No PROTECTOREGONDL.ORG
A drivers license is about driving -- not enforcing unrelated policies. While I understand the sentiment that undocumented migrant workers should not be 'rewarded' with official state documents -- to my knowledge -- convicted felons, registered sex offenders, and delinquent taxpayers can still obtain drivers licenses. Ultimately immigration policy is a federal issue.
OREGON MEASURE 89 Amends Constitution: State/political subdivision shall not deny or abridge equality of rights on account of sex
[X]	Yes VOTEERA.ORG	WILLAMETTE WEEK | PORTLAND MERCURY | LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS | ECUMENICAL MINISTRIES OF OREGON | PLANNED PARENTHOOD | THE SKANNER | DEMOCRATIC PARTY | GOV JOHN KITZHABER | US SEN RON WYDEN & JEFF MERKLEY | US REP EARL BLUMENAUER, SUZANNE BONAMICI, PETER DeFAZIO, KURT SCHRADER & DARLENE HOOLEY
[_]	No	RIGHT TO LIFE | ACLU | THE OREGONIAN | CITY CLUB OF PORTLAND
Besides Oregon Right To Life's obvious bias against women, the argument against this amendment is that it's not needed. While there probably are some murky case laws that make this constitutional amendment unnecessary, citizens should be able to point to a clear constitutional principle that the government should treat genders equally.
OREGON MEASURE 90 Changes general election nomination processes: provides for single primary ballot listing candidates; top two advance
[X]	Yes 90FOROREGON.ORG	WILLAMETTE WEEK | THE OREGONIAN | PORTLAND TRIBUNE | THE SKANNER | WORKING FAMILIES | GOV JOHN KITZHABER | FMR GOV VIC ATIYEH | PTLD MAYOR CHARLIE HALES
[_]	No NOONMEASURE90.ORG	PORTLAND MERCURY | RIGHT TO LIFE | THE SKANNER | DEMOCRATIC PARTY | REPUBLICAN PARTY | CONSTITUTION PARTY | LIBERTARIAN NAT'L CMTE | PROGRESSIVE PARTY | FMR GOV BARBARA ROBERTS | OUR OREGON | BUS PROJECT | OR LEA. OF CONSERVATION VOTERS | PORTLAND BUSINESS ALLIANCE | PLANNED PARENTHOOD
It's been TWELVE YEARS since a non-Democrat won statewide (partisan) office. While I love that Oregon is a blue state, I am concerned that elected leaders are being decided in little-watched Spring primaries. General elections should be between the two most viable candidates -- not a list of fringe candidates. The factions that oppose top-two are basically groups that have learned to dominate the current party system and want to keep the status quo. That said, my only tweak to this law would be that party primaries should remain for legislative candidates since party control is more important in congresses.
OREGON MEASURE 91 Allows possession, manufacture, sale of marijuana by/to adults, subject to state licensing, regulation, taxation
[X]	Yes VOTEYESON91.COM	WILLAMETTE WEEK | PORTLAND MERCURY | THE OREGONIAN | THE NEW YORK TIMES | THE SKANNER | ACLU | CITY CLUB OF PORTLAND | DEMOCRATIC PARTY | WORKING FAMILIES
[_]	No VOTENO91.COM	REPUBLICAN PARTY | AMERICAN MED ASSOC
OREGON MEASURE 92 Requires food manufacturers, retailers to label "genetically engineered" foods as such; state, citizens may enforce
[_]	Yes OREGONRIGHTTOKNOW.ORG	ECUMENICAL MINISTRIES OF OREGON | CITY CLUB OF PORTLAND | THE SKANNER | DEMOCRATIC PARTY | PACIFIC GREEN PARTY | US REP EARL BLUMENAUER | US REP PETER DeFAZIO | BEN & JERRY'S
[X]	No VOTENOON92.COM	WILLAMETTE WEEK | PORTLAND MERCURY | THE OREGONIAN
CITY OF PORTLAND MEASURE 26-159 Bonds to fix playgrounds, trails; improve park facilities, safety, accessibility.
[X]	Yes FIXOURPARKS.ORG	WILLAMETTE WEEK | PORTLAND MERCURY | THE OREGONIAN | THE SKANNER | LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS | PORTLAND BUSINESS ALLIANCE
[_]	No
METRO MEASURE 26-160 Retain prohibition on Metro-required single-family neighborhood density increases
[_]	Yes PORTLAND MERCURY | STOPTHEDEMOLITION.ORG	WILLAMETTE WEEK | THE SKANNER | PORTLAND TRIBUNE*
[X]	No
Maybe I'm just dumb, but I read this three times to figure out what was going on. The Tribune's editorial endorsement only further confused me. From what I gather though this measure basically renews a 12-year-old ban that prohibits Metro (AKA the metro area's urban sprawl prevention czar) from requiring "single-family" neighborhoods to become more dense. HOWEVER, this measure apparently doesn't prevent cities from increasing density on their own nor does it prevent Metro from increasing density in other ways. My concern is that this law only benefits "single family neighborhoods" (e.g. wealthy suburban neighborhoods) while putting the burden of density on urban neighborhoods. Ultimately, all neighborhoods will have to increase density in order to protect rural lands. It seems unfair to place the burden on some neighborhoods but not on others.
PORTLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT #1JT MEASURE 26-161 Portland Public Schools levy renewal for schools and educational programs.
[X]	Yes YESFORTEACHERSYESFORKIDS.ORG	WILLAMETTE WEEK | PORTLAND MERCURY | THE SKANNER | PORTLAND BUSINESS ALLIANCE
[_]	No	THE OREGONIAN