It appears that a recall effort directed at Oregon State Senator Chuck Thomsen (R-Hood River) will not gather the required 9,025 signatures to put a recall of the Senator on the ballot. The required signatures are due June 2 and the Chief Petitioner, Lara Dunn is saying that she will be unable to gather that many signatures by the deadline, despite having raised more that $130,000.

A vast majority of the cash and in-kind contributions to the campaign -- over $110,000 -- came from Our Oregon, the political arm of Oregon's public employee unions, with the American Federation of Teachers contributing a large, but smaller amount.

This recall campaign highlights what many believe is a great deal of fiscal irresponsibility within left-leaning campaign circles, especially Our Oregon. Public employee unions are feeling the sting from the June 2018 US Supreme Court decision Janus v. AFSCME which recognized government employee union members’ right to leave their union and not pay dues.

There are slightly fewer than 120,000 registered voters in Senate District 26. Having raised more than $130,000, it seems that at a dollar a piece, a mail piece containing a signature sheet could have been sent to each registered voter in the district, making the recall a success. Given that they needed only 9,025 signatures, they could have spent more than $14 per signature to get the recall to the ballot.

The spending includes over $98,000 for petition circulators, who certainly were affected by Governor Kate Brown’s shutdown order – which is somewhat ironic, considering that this recall was in the interest of the Governor and her party.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2020-05-29 21:49:26

Last Update: 2020-05-30 14:49:03