Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in Oregon Politics: Medical Marijuana Users, Tobias Read, Sara Ryan
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Friday, April 17, 2015
Douglas Fasching, GoLocalPDX Contributor
Every Friday, GoLocalPDX breaks down who's rising and who's falling in the world of Oregon politics. Check out who made the lists this week.
HOT:
Tobias Read
Let me be the be the first to congratulate State Representative Tobias Read for his new post as State Treasurer. Due to term limits, Ted Wheeler will not be seeking re-election, plus, he'll be busy running for Mayor of Portland. The state GOP nominee will likely be a candidate who has previously run for numerous state-wide offices and has as much chance of winning as I do headlining Coachella next year. It is safe to assume that if Rep. Read wants the job, it's his.
Sara Ryan
As the Executive Director of the Oregon Labor Candidate School, Sara Ryan has been on a tear of late teaching political tyros the ins and outs of the campaign trail and turning them into credible candidates for public office. Graduates include State Representative Rob Nosse, Hillsboro City Councilor, Kyle Allen and Parkrose School Board Member Erick Flores. Well done, Ms. Ryan, well done.
Julie Esparza
Portland School Board Candidate Julie Esparza Brown appears to be the clear cut favorite in the race to replace Ruth Adkins. Lining up an impressive list of endorsements including Ms. Adkins herself, this Portland State professor If elected, will be the first Latina to serve on the Board.
NOT:
Liani Reeves
It has been a rough couple of months for Liani Reeves. As reported in Willamette Week, Ms. Reeves, as General Counsel to Ex-Governor John Kitzhaber, was put in the unenviable position of reconciling Cylvia Hayes' questionable activities with state ethics laws. She got her legal analysis second guessed by Ms. Hayes to boot. All this before being shown the door with the rest of the staff. Some very bad luck for a pretty good lawyer. I'm not worried though. Like a cat, she will undoubtedly land on her feet.
Portland School Board Member Bobbie Regan
Running for her 4th term, she has attracted several opponents. The only incumbent to do so. The leader of these challengers is Amy Kohnstamm. Armed with endorsements by Stand For Children, the Communities of Color for a Just Oregon, Congressman Earl Blumenhaur and many others, Mrs. Kohnstamm is a fresh face with designs for the seat. Will this formidable opponent prevail? We will know May 19th.
Oregonians with medical marijuana cards
Being discussed right now in Salem is allowing recreational marijuana users to score their weed at licensed medicinal dispensaries. The surge in demand coupled with shop owners dedicating a larger proportion of their supply to the more lucrative recreational market will likely lead to a supply shortage. The 56,000 card-carrying Oregonians who rely on the herb to manage their pain are going to be the losers in this scenario. That's enough to harsh anyone's mellow.
Related Slideshow: The Eight Political Types
What political type are you? The Pew Research Center says most Americans fall into eight groups. Can you find your match?
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Steadfast Conservatives
Republicans who regularly attend religious services (55 percent attend at least weekly) and are very politically engaged. Steadfast Conservatives are mostly male (59 percent), non-Hispanic white (87 percent), and hold very negative thoughts towards immigrants/immigration.
Learn more
Photo Credit: Denise Cross Photography,Day 36/366.....I Voted, Feb 5 036/366, Live look
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Business Conservatives
If you are an individualist who invests in the stock market and believes the government is doing a bad job, then you might be a Business Conservative. Unlike Steadfast Conservatives, Business Conservatives believe that immigrants strengthen the country. Most Business Conservatives live in suburbs with 45 percent earning $75,000 a year or more.
Learn more
Photo Credit: "Photos NewYork1 032". Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - Live look (image cropped)
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Solid Liberals
Educated liberals who are optimistic about the nation’s future and who continually support President Obama (with 84 percent approving his job performance) and, you guessed it, faithfully vote Democrat. Unlike Business Conservatives who prefer the suburbs, 45 percent of Solid Liberals prefer to live in a city.
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Photo Credit: "President Barack Obama, 2012 portrait crop" by Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
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Young Outsiders
Are you a person that dislikes both Republicans and Democrats? Young Outsiders may lean towards the Republican Party, but heavily support the environment and liberal social policies, unlike their conservative counterparts. Also they are one of the youngest typology groups, with 30 percent under the age of 30. Young Outsiders are 73 percent non-Hispanic whites who think "poor people today have it easy because they can get government benefits without doing anything in return."
Learn more
Photo Credit: Tucker Carlson, Tucker Carlson's Twitter Profile
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Hard-Pressed Skeptics
Like Young Outsiders, Hard-Pressed Skeptics doubt Democrats and Republicans, but lean towards the Democratic Party view, although fewer than half approve of Obama’s job performance. Difficult financial circumstances have left Hard-Pressed Skeptics to believe that “the poor have hard lives because government benefits don’t go far enough to help them live decently.”
Learn More
Photo Credit: By Dorothea Lange, Farm Security Administration / Office of War Information / Office of Emergency Management / Resettlement Administration [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons (image cropped)
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Next Generation Left
You might just be a Next Generation Left if you're liberal on social issues: abortion, same-sex marriage and affirmative action. However, Next Generation Leftists deny the belief that racial discrimination is a barrier to success for racial minorities.
Learn more
Photo Credit: Jfruh at the English language Wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 Live look (image cropped)
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Faith and Family Left
This group is highly diverse with 30 percent African-American and 18 percent foreign born. Faith and Family Left want a greater government role in programs such as aid for the poor. However, they are conservative when it comes to social issues, like opposing same sex marriage and legalizing marijuana, probably because the majority put religion and family first.
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Photo Credit: Vinoth Chandar "play of light in santhome church" Live look (image cropped)
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Bystanders
If you keep saying “I don’t get it, I don’t see myself as any of the types,” you might just be a Bystander, which means you're the person on the sidelines. You're more interested in celebrities like Jay-Z and Beyonce (are they really getting a divorce?) than government and politics. Noteworthy that Bystanders don't registered to vote, but do love the outdoors. Some 66 percent of bystanders consider themselves an “outdoor person.”
Learn more
Photo Credit: By idrewuk (originally posted to Flickr as Hello hubbie!) [CC-BY-2.0 Live look, via Wikimedia Commons
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