It started with the surprise death in August of Sen. Alan Bates, D-Medford, but it quickly turned into the most tightly fought contest in Oregon. More than $1 million has been raised to decide the future of a state Senate seat in Jackson County, and by extension, the balance of power in Salem.
Tonia Moro, the Democrat, has practiced law in Medford for 26 years and says that she would be one of only two active attorneys in the state’s top lawmaking body if she gets elected, bringing the skills of brokering common ground and anticipating counterarguments.
She said she was inspired to run by her work as chairwoman of the Rogue Valley Transportation District, where she successfully campaigned for a property tax levy that restored Saturday service and added new bus routes connecting schools -- after a nearly identical measure fell by a wide margin just 18 months before.
Alan DeBoer, the Republican, brings business acumen to the table, having operated a number of car dealerships. He served on the Ashland school board in the 1990s and then four years as mayor in the early ‘00s.
He said he got used to working in the minority as a Republican in the small liberal city, working cooperatively with Democrats to oversee a new fire station and the reconstruction of Highway 99 through the middle of the town. “I know how to do customer satisfaction as a car dealer,” DeBoer said.
The winner will serve just two years, filling out Bates’ term, before appearing before voters again in 2018.
Measure 97
The two of them are most deeply divided on the issue of Measure 97, the union-backed corporate tax measure, with DeBoer staunchly opposing and Moro strongly supportive.
The state faces a serious budget deficit, as commitments to the public pensions increase, the Medicaid expansion comes due and caseloads at the Department of Human Services continue to rise. Public education in Oregon currently comes with large class sizes and low graduation rates. Child welfare and other social services contracted through the state are grossly underfunded, causing a crisis.
“The biggest corporations need to pay their fair share,” she said, arguing that companies like Kroger, which owns Fred Meyer, can sustain the increased tax because they’re successful in other states which make them pay more. “Investing in [education, healthcare and seniors] is really good for our economy.”
DeBoer conceded that Measure 97 was a response to the Legislature’s failure to solve the revenue problem, but said the tax hike was so big it would backfire and cause businesses to flee Oregon, while driving up the cost of food.
He’s asking for a seat on the Legislature’s budget committee, and is open to compromise. He thinks the state can raise revenues closing unnamed tax loopholes, and he supports fellow Southern Oregon Republican Dennis Richardson for Secretary of State, believing state agencies could be audited to find waste of up to 10 percent.
“I’ve gone into similar situations, and I have turned them around,” DeBoer said, noting a reversal to the low graduation rate in Ashland schools.
Democratic Supermajority at Stake
But the most important issue that’s led to the $1.1 million spent on this race could simply be the partisan makeup of the Oregon Legislature, where Democrats have a fragile 18-12 supermajority in the Senate and are one seat away from a supermajority in the House.
A victory by Moro would ensure that the Senate supermajority holds and the seat left open by the death of Sen. Alan Bates stays in the fallen statesman’s party. A DeBoer victory would put a check on Democratic power and stop the party from passing revenue measures without the consent of the minority Republicans.
The district has a slight Democratic voting edge and in the last two presidential elections, voter turnout has favored the Democratic Party. But this year’s election may affect down-ballot races differently, with Hillary Clinton lagging well behind Barack Obama in popularity and Donald Trump, spurred by his strength among the state’s large number of white voters without a college degree, is showing the strongest numbers of a Republican in Oregon since George W. Bush.
The election forecasters at fivethirtyeight.com project Clinton to barely get half the vote in Oregon -- winning 51 percent to Trump’s 43 percent. By contrast, Obama dispatched John McCain 57-40 in 2008.
The healthcare industry, which heavily backed Bates, has shifted to the Republican to replace him, donating almost $20,000 to DeBoer’s campaign since August.
The Regence BlueCross BlueShield PAC leads the industry with $5,000, and the Oregon Hospital Association PAC donated $2,500. Three PACs affiliated with coordinated care organizations -- the Coalition for a Healthy Oregon, Douglas County Physicians and Doctors for Healthy Communities -- also donated $3,000. He also received $2,500 from Eli Lilly and $500 from the PhRMA trade group.
DeBoer has reported a total of $594,000 in campaign finance donations, led by $122,000 from the Senate Republican campaign committee, $50,000 from Nike tycoon Phil Knight and $32,500 from Associated Oregon Industries, a conservative business group.
Democrat Tonia Moro has raised nearly the same amount -- $526,000. Her biggest financier is also her party’s caucus, which has put $155,000 into the race. A campaign arm of the public employees union SEIU has contributed $83,000 of in-kind contributions, and the Democratic Party of Oregon has transferred $56,000 to her campaign account. The Oregon AFSCME Council has donated $50,000 followed by the state teacher’s union, the Oregon Education Association, with $40,000.
From the healthcare community, the Oregon Nurses Association is backing Moro with $11,000.
Healthcare Involvement
The healthcare industry’s backing of DeBoer may stem to his work on the board of the Ashland Community Hospital, which he said was struggling until its sale to Asante -- which he helped orchestrate -- and is now thriving.
He was sympathetic to the Oregon Hospital Association’s argument that while their charity care has dried up, hospitals should be able to count low payments from Medicare and Medicaid to continue their tax-exempt status for their otherwise profitable businesses.
Moro also has been involved in the healthcare community, serving on the board of On Track, an alcohol and drug addictions treatment provider. “I want to continue Dr. Bates’ goals of integrating mental health fully into healthcare.”
Both are supportive of the coordinated care approach that gives providers adequate money to care for a patient’s health rather than the traditional piecemeal approach that pays based on individual services rendered.
“I will serve through the lens that promotes interests and needs of small businesses and working families,” Moro said. “We don’t need to be sending someone to Salem who represents the biggest corporations and wealthiest individuals.”
“Employers in Oregon, be they big ones or little one, all want the state to thrive,” DeBoer said. “I like to take on big challenges, this may be the ultimate one.”
Chris can be reached at [email protected].
