Commentary

An election sign.

Oregon voter registration is up but not for the major parties

BY: - October 26, 2023

The midway point between the midterm election of 2022 and the presidential election of 2024 makes for a useful benchmark for examining the hardest political numbers, outside of actual elections, Oregon has to offer: Its voter registration statistics.  They tell a story of rise and fall, but not between Democrats and Republicans: Rather, between those […]

Transition to clean energy in Oregon homes will prevail, despite fossil fuel industry’s tactics

BY: and - October 24, 2023

Four years ago, local governments began taking on climate battles that state and federal leaders refused to touch, and to everyone’s surprise, they started winning. In just a few years, more than 100 cities across the nation overcame fierce gas industry opposition to pass local policies that ensure new homes are built to run on clean energy. […]

A residential natural gas hookup.

Two sides in battle over natural gas geared up for fight in Eugene, then issue crumbled 

BY: - October 18, 2023

Eugene was all set to host, just about now, one of Oregon’s top culture war battles of the year … and then it evaporated. Is this an indicator that culture warriors on the left are a little less eager now than they once were, even in places like Eugene, to push at the edges of […]

Oregon Capital Chronicle is 2 years old and stronger than ever

BY: - October 11, 2023

It’s official: We’re now 2 years old and striding into our third year covering Oregon politics and policymaking and watchdogging state spending of your hard-earned dollars. When we launched the Capital Chronicle in October 2021, the pandemic was still raging and Oregon faced a heap of problems. The biggest still fester today, and some are […]

health insurance marketplace

A state-based health insurance exchange in Oregon would protect access to coverage 

BY: - October 10, 2023

Gov. Tina Kotek recently signed Senate Bill 972, which will enable Oregon to transition from the federal health insurance marketplace to a state-based exchange, a move that could lead to wider health insurance coverage and contain premium growth.   A state-based exchange is the lynchpin that could bring together Oregon’s broad spectrum of health care […]

Nominee for Oregon’s judicial opening draws Republican scrutiny

BY: - October 6, 2023

Oregon will get a new district judge, and probably soon. But how soon and who it might be depends on when and whether Democrats recapture a voting majority in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.  When California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who was a member of that committee, died last month, that vacancy left Democrats and […]

Capitol renovations continue in Salem.

State legislators lay groundwork for hot topics for the 2024 session

BY: - October 5, 2023

Oregon legislators have been burrowing into newsy topics like housing, road tolling, crime, Measure 110 and PAC-12 changes, but that’s not all.  Legislative days in Salem last week, when lawmakers spent much of their time at informational meetings, laid the groundwork for hot topics likely to return in upcoming regular sessions.  Here are five topics […]

Oregon’s 5th and 6th districts lean Democratic but still diverge politically

BY: - September 29, 2023

Oregon’s neighboring 5th and 6th Congressional districts are, politically, a lot more different than they may have seemed last November.  In the days following the November 2022 election, they were in a similar position: Both featured races so close that days would pass before the winner became clear.  The final result showed the 5th District […]

One-time use

Anti-LGBTQ laws in the US are getting struck down for limiting free speech

BY: - September 26, 2023

Nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures in the U.S. in 2023. Many of those bills seek to reduce or eliminate gender-affirming care for transgender minors or to ban drag performances in places where minors could view them. Most of those bills have not become law. But many of those that have […]

National officials should spark prescribed burns on federal lands to mitigate extreme fire seasons

BY: - September 21, 2023

When I was a former wildland firefighter between 2008 and 2011, peak fire season would migrate north in late summer, to our district in eastern Oregon, but the critical practice of prescribed burning was infrequently used in our region. Twelve years later, the fire seasons still migrate north, and millions of acres continue to be […]

Portland’s new system of representation might create some civic happiness

BY: - September 19, 2023

An upcoming government change could make Portlanders feel more connected to City Hall. A Portland commission just adopted a map specifying council wards, something new for the city where council members in the past have been elected at large. The new system tracks the change in role for council members, since they will no longer […]

Democracy Day: Election workers in Oregon, elsewhere face growing toll

BY: - September 15, 2023

One lesson we have learned about the American experiment over the past decade is the crucial role played by public servants who are in charge of safeguarding our vote.  Their efforts have delivered safe, secure and efficient elections. Yet we tend to take this system for granted – and often fail to properly invest in […]