Rep. Debbie Boone slams right-wing critics of Rep. Bob Jenson

Kari Chisholm FacebookTwitterWebsite

"I was shocked to hear of the efforts of the Republican Party to eat one of its own members, the respected and well-loved Rep. Bob Jenson." - Rep. Debbie Boone

Out in Pendleton, in House District 58, there's a tough Republican primary between Rep. Bob Jenson and Michael Mathisen. Conservatives have been flooding in from the Willamette Valley campaigning for Mathisen - or more accurately, against Jenson. They're mad at Jenson because he supported the tax measures that ultimately became Measures 66 and 67.

Note: Originally, I had Colleen MacLeod listed as Jenson's opponent. She's actually running against Rep. Greg Smith. Same story, different district.

Rep. Debbie Boone (D-Cannon Beach) had some choice words in a letter to the editor at the Oregonian:

I find it ironic that the very same people who complained loudly when the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh imported busloads of people from Portland into central Oregon to try to influence local government decisions in their favor have now sent busloads of people from Portland to Pendleton to try to influence the voters in Jenson's district.

I guess they think that the independent-minded people who have supported Jenson as he has represented them in Salem for 14 years will listen to a group of disgruntled people from the urban center of the state who want to take control of who represents the citizens of Pendleton. And all this because they didn't like one vote he cast. Jenson has cast many thousands of votes during his 14 years in the Legislature, and now his own party is trying to take him out over that one vote.

I imagine Jenson's constituents are not only insulted, but outraged, as are many other Oregonians.

Discuss.

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    Dear Debbie, Its a big state, often deserving of the two Oregons title. Sometimes the facts get changed in the telling of the tale. FYI, I am not running against Bob Jenson. Colleen MacLeod

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    OT: Kari, the site still shows the wrong comment count (one more than is actually made) in numerous posts. Just an FYI that the issue is still present.

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    The Oregon Republican party is fanning the flames in order to punish two of it's own party members who actually thought through their votes instead of mindlessly checking the box as directed by party leaders. The national GOP has been doing this for a long time to keep their members in lockstep.

    The zombies who get on the bus to Pendleton are being used to rachet up the rhetoric.

    Will they bring signs with pictures of Jenson and Smith showing a bone through their nose or accuse them of being born in Kenya? And don't forget the "Don't Tread on Me' flags!

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    I agree the ORP is wrong to bus in loads of people outside the district to influence the local electorate. But isn't this also what the Bus Project does in the general election?

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