New GOP PAC prepares for fight over Senate re-election bans

By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau

Republicans are building a financial war chest for senators who could be barred from re-election over a walkout to block votes on abortion, transgender health care and gun legislation.

The walkout hit 12 days on Wednesday. Three Republican senators and one Independent ally have racked-up 10 unexcused absences, triggering a new state law that bars them from seeking re-election.

Another six would surpass the mark on Thursday, making a third of the Senate ineligible to keep their seats beyond their current term. At that point, 10 senators — a third of the 30-member Senate — would be barred from another term.

Democratic leaders on Wednesday said they were still banking on Republicans changing their minds about the walkout.

Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, pointed to Wednesday’s new state revenue forecast that gives the legislature more room to fund programs and a larger “kicker” tax rebate favored by Republicans.

“It is critical all 30 state senators are here to have a say and vote on how we invest this money to the maximum benefit of Oregonians,” Wagner said. “Senate Republicans must return so we can seize this momentous opportunity.”

Gov. Tina Kotek said the walkout at this point is not a crisis and she won’t get actively involved for now.

“If we listen to each other and really think about what our communities need, we can get back at the table and solve this problem,” Kotek said at a Wednesday press conference.

Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend, is one of the six who could surpass the absence limit on Thursday.

“Senate Democrats must come to the table in good faith, abandon their uncompromising, unlawful, unconstitutional agenda, and allow us to participate in floor sessions,” Knopp said in a statement.

Knopp is also gearing up Republicans and their supporters for a longer, more bitter fight.

On May 10, Knopp filed paperwork with the Secretary of State to create “Oregon’s 13 Constitutional Defense Fund.” The political action committee listed the PAC’s purpose on the state filing: “Support Oregon’s Senate Republicans who fight for and support constitutional rights.”

As of Wednesday, the PAC showed $229 in contributions, all from small donors. It had $8.04 in spending. PACs currently have up to 30 days to report contributions and expenditures. A website for the effort, oregons13.com, says it was “paid for by Oregon’s 13 Constitutional Defense Fund. PAC ID#22999.”

The PAC’s key players are all from Central Oregon. It is listed as a “candidate controlled committee” affiliated with Knopp.

Veteran political consultant Bryan Iverson of Prineville is the director. He also runs a PAC for the conservative Crook County School Board candidates who swept incumbents in three races on Tuesday. He was the consultant on the 2022 Republican legislative races. He’s married to House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, who prior to her August 2019 appointment to the House worked as a campaign strategist with her husband.

The Oregon’s 13 treasurer is Alayna Weimer, with Ignite Positive Changes LLC,  based in Bend. She handles finances for Oregon Senate Republicans’ The Leadership Fund and Oregon House Republicans’ Evergreen Oregon PAC.

Walkout wars

Oregon’s constitution, written in 1874, was closely modeled on Indiana’s, which set legislative quorums at two-thirds. In Oregon, the minimum would be 20 in the Senate and 40 in the House. Oregon, Indiana, Texas and Tennessee remain the only states requiring more than a majority for legislators to meet.

Throughout much of its history, Oregon was a very Republican state, with the GOP holding majorities as large as 59-1 in the House. When Democrats were in the minority, they called one-day walkouts in 1971 and 1995, according to the Salem Statesman-Journal. In 2001, House Democrats walked out for five days to protest redistricting maps they said unduly favored Republicans. Senate Democrats did not walk out, but their leader, future Gov. Kate Brown, approved of the move, according to press reports. The delay was enough to send the redistricting to the Secretary of State.

Democrats have controlled the Senate since 2004 and the House since 2012. Now in the minority, Senate Republicans held walkouts in 2019, 2020, and 2021 over a business tax to fund education initiatives, a carbon pollution cap, guns and the governor’s COVID-19 emergency powers.

Former Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, advocated for the Legislature to send a referral to voters asking them to approve a change in the quorum to a majority.

The SEIU union qualified a different solution to the ballot: 10 unexcused absences would bar a lawmaker from re-election. It won 68% of the vote of Oregonians in November 2022. A majority of voters in all 30 Senate districts approved of the measure.

The 2023 walkout is the first under the new law. When it began May 3, some senators had excused absences. Wagner said he would not issue any more excused absences until a quorum was reached. 

On May 15, no Republicans appeared for the Senate roll call. Republican Sen. Daniel Bonham of The Dalles and Sen. Dennis Linthicum of Klamath Falls, along with Independent Sen. Brian Boquist of Dallas passed the 10-absence mark. Sen. Cedric Hayden, R-Roseburg, had his 10th unexcused absence on Tuesday, when the quorum call failed again. 

If there is no quorum at the Thursday 10:30 a.m. roll call, six GOP senators will have 10 unexcused absences: Knopp, Sens. Bill Hansell of Athena, Lynn Findley of Vale, Suzanne Weber of Tillamook, Kim Thatcher of Keizer and Art Robinson of Cave Junction.

There is no Senate floor session scheduled for Friday and the schedule for next week has not been posted.

PAC backers

Opponents of Measure 113 had argued it gave too much power to the Senate President and House Speaker, who determine whether an absence is excused or unexcused.

That will be a major message of the Oregon’s 13 PAC. It wants to change the public perception of the law and continue supporting legal challenges. The only ruling so far, in Marion County Circuit Court, dismissed a petition to block voting in the Senate on House Bill 2002 because it violated a 1979 law on clarity of language in legislative analysis given to lawmakers and the public.

“In order to push extreme bills onto Oregonians, the majority party has been willing to trample our own laws and our Constitution,” the PAC’s website says at the top.

Many of the “persons associated with the committee” listed on the Secretary of State website are the same as The Leadership Fund, the Senate Republicans fundraising arm.

In addition to the 2022 Republican legislative races, Iverson is director of the Crook County for Better Education PAC, which backed a slate of conservative challengers who won all three seats on the ballot from incumbents on Tuesday. He’s also the director of Ag First PAC, which promoted Republican-backed positions on farming and ranching legislation. The PAC is affiliated with six GOP House members who are farmers, ranchers or in agriculture businesses. The group includes Breese-Iverson, Bobby Levy of Echo, Mark Owens of Burns, Jami Cate of Lebanon, Shelly Boshart Davis of Albany, and Anna Scharf of Dallas.

Weimer operates Ignite Positive Changes LLC, a Bend-based finance, bookkeeping and human resources firm whose clients include businesses as well as political campaigns. She also co-owns Herringbone Books in Redmond, which her husband, Brandon, manages. Many political clients who hired Weimer also have Iverson as their campaign director, according to secretary of state records. Weimer handles finances for Oregon Senate Republicans’ The Leadership Fund and Oregon House Republicans’ Evergreen Oregon PAC.

In Tuesday’s election, Weimer was treasurer for Bend-La Pine school board candidate Nicole Fitch, Crook County for Better Education PAC, and individual candidate funds for Crook County school board candidates Cheyenne Edgerly, Jennifer Knight and Jessica Brumble.

Other candidates include 2018 GOP governor nominee Knute Buehler, Deschutes County Commissioners Patti Adair and Tony DeBone, and former Oregon House members Cheri Helt of Bend and Jack Zika of Redmond. In 2022, she was treasurer for both Republican Michael Sipe’s bid for House District 53 and his son, Sean Sipe’s, campaign for Bend City Council.

The Oregon 13 PAC also lists Maddie Viens of Bend as “alternate transaction filer.” Viens’ LinkedIn account lists her as “bookkeeper/payroll specialist/campaign. She also is a realtor. Viens works with Ignite Positive Changes on campaign work.