Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade has determined that Republicans who have repeatedly boycotted legislative sessions will not be allowed to run for re-election, reportedThe Oregonian on Tuesday.
"Griffin-Valade wrote that she views voter-approved Measure 113 as disqualifying Oregon lawmakers who received 10 or more unexcused absences during the 2023 legislative session from running for reelection in 2024," reported Jamie Goldberg. "That was clearly what voters intended ... Ballot language and media coverage all communicated to voters that the punishment for absences would impact lawmakers in their next term, not a later one."
Although Democrats control majorities in the state legislature, Oregon has special rules that require a supermajority of lawmakers be present for a quorum to conduct business. As a consequence, the Republican minority has power to block consideration of bills on everything from abortion to climate action by simply walking out of the Capitol and not attending the voting sessions, and they have done so repeatedly.
Tensions have flared up over this practice; in 2019, then-Gov. Kate Brown threatened to have state police round up and retrieve absent Republican lawmakers, prompting state Sen. Brian Boquist to threaten to shoot troopers who tried to do so.
After years of these stalemates, voters approved Measure 113 in 2022, which states that any lawmaker who has 10 or more unexcused absences will be prohibited from running for re-election. Even after the law was approved, Republicans continued to boycott meetings.
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The absent lawmakers have threatened to sue over Measure 113 if it is enforced, and recruited an attorney who has argued that the exact wording of the measure, saying it bars a re-election campaign "following the election after the member’s current term is completed," technically means they can still run, because re-election takes place during a member's "current" term, not after. Griffin-Valade, however, rejected this argument, saying that it runs contrary to the clear intent of the law.
According to the report, nine total Republican lawmakers would be barred from running under Measure 113, including state Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp, as well as Boquist, who changed his party affiliation to independent in 2021. Six of those lawmakers, including Knopp and Boquist, have only one year left in their term.