Who is BlueOregon?

We are a rowdy and progressive bunch of writers, activists, and hacks. Our goal: to start a statewide conversation about life in Oregon - and what that means to each of us.

Whether you're officially a contributor or not, if you're part of the conversation, then you're part of BlueOregon. Post a comment, think out loud, get into the rough and tumble. You are BlueOregon.

Our Founders & Editors

Kari Chisholm

BlueOregon is the brainchild of Kari Chisholm, who says he helped launch it because, "well, it seemed like something I wanted to read." Once a political campaign hack, Chisholm now runs Mandate Media, a consulting firm that does "internet strategy for people changing the world." His personal blog covers Politics & Technology. In 1999-2001, Chisholm was the volunteer board chair of X-PAC, a nonpartisan group that sought to build a new generation of political leaders and community activists in Oregon.

Jeff Alworth

Jeff Alworth's mother fled her ancestral clan in eastern Oregon for the lights of the big city - Boise - robbing Jeff of his Oregon birthright. He addresses this inadequacy with prodigious displays of flannel and beer drinking. Jeff hosted Notes on the Atrocities and the Oregon Blog since January 2003 - which he retired to work on Blue Oregon. Jeff is a freelance writer and a researcher at Portland State University in the Graduate School of Social Work. An entirely different constituency knows him for his enthusiasm about beer.

Charlie Burr

Charlie has worked to elect Democrats on both sides of the Cascades and at all levels of Oregon government. Last election cycle, Burr managed the successful No on Constitutional Amendment 35 campaign (Med Mal). Despite being outspent by nearly $3 million dollars, the coalition achieved a narrow upset making Oregon the only Presidential battleground state to defeat "tort reform" in 2004. In 2002, Burr managed Charlie Ringo's winning race against Christian Coalition founder Bill Witt, making Oregon one of only two states in which Democrats regained control of a Legislative chamber that year. In 2005, Charlie worked in the Republican stronghold of Nassau County, New York, managing what the New York Times called the "Democrats first serious attempt at the Town's top job." Charlie has been active with the League of Conservation Voters, NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon, Community Alliance of Tenants, Oregon Bus Project and many other progressive groups. He lives in northeast Portland with his wife Libby Upham and chocolate lab Eads.

The BlueOregon Fellow

The BlueOregon Fellowship is a paid internship in progressive blogging. The Fellow has the primary responsibility for posting the "Voice of BlueOregon" posts about the day's news, blogs, and other discussions.

Nick Wirth

Our first fellow, Nick Wirth, is a junior at Lewis & Clark College - and a native of the Twin Cities region of Minnesota. In 2006, he helped organize a statewide youth organizing campaign for the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. He's also the president of the latest incarnation of the Lewis & Clark College Democrats.

Our Contributors

Marc Abrams

Marc Abrams is a former Chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon who was paroled from the Portland School Board after eight years, with no time off for good behavior. When he left the PPS Board, he swore he would take a year off from politics. He lasted five weeks. He can be heard every Sunday morning from 9 to 11 on Newsradio 750 KXL, agonizing Lars Larson's listeners, where he co- hosts "Kremer and Abrams." Marc, a card-carrying union and ACLU member, earns his living as a Senior Assistant Attorney General for the State of Oregon and is currently vice president of AFSCME Local 1085. He got his law degree from the University of Michigan, a powerhouse football team attached to a diploma mill. Not smart enough to be born in Oregon, he stumbled in in 1981 and stayed. In a time in which we can no longer tell whether the person mumbling to themselves on the street is a schizophrenic or is wearing a Bluetooth earphone, Marc, who is one or the other (possibly both), can be found on the streets of Portland, still muttering with happy disbelief about the 2006 election results.

Les AuCoin

Les AuCoin is a retired, nine-term U.S. congressman, the first Democrat in Oregon history to win in Oregon’s First District (1974). At the time Les left the Congress, he was 85th in overall seniority, dean of the Oregon delegation, a Democratic whip at large, and a senior member of the House appropriations committee and its defense and interior subcommittees. He served two terms in the Oregon legislature, the second, at age 32 (a record), as House majority leader. He is a Pacific Northwest newspaper columnist and former public radio commentator and professor of political science at Southern Oregon University in Ashland.

Deborah Barnes

Deborah has taught the Media Communications class at the Sabin-Schellenberg Center in the North Clackamas School District for the past 14 years. Prior to becoming a CTE Instructor, Deborah was a broadcast news reporter in Oregon and served as President of the Oregon Association of Associated Press Broadcasters and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Union in Portland. In addition to her teaching duties, she is on the Milwaukie City Council. She is also on the executive board of the OACTE. She holds a Masters Degree in Education Administration from PSU.

T.A. Barnhart

T.A. Barnhart is a native Oregonian and life-long resident of the West. He is a veteran, but very glad he got to serve during the Carter Peace Epoch. He has been involved in politics sporadically, from the nuclear freeze movement in the 80s to volunteering on various campaigns in the 90s. As a student at PSU & UO, he was involved in campus politics, working on child care and family housing issues. In 2003, he helped form Linn-Benton for Dean; he remains a hardcore deanista. He worked extensively on the Benton County Kerry campaign, organizing and leading the canvas, running the website, and doing enough to take that loss very much to heart. His kids are now grown, but he's still working to ensure they have a good, happy future. He loves music, literature, the American West, salmon, Italian cheese, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Jeannie Berg

Jeannie Berg has worked in Oregon politics since 1995. That work has included the 1996 minimum wage ballot measure, working as a political organizer for SEIU, founding and directing the Voter Education Project in 2002, research into the signature gathering of anti-tax initiative proponent Bill Sizemore, creating a precinct-level political profiling system that includes candidate votes, issue votes and census data and advising campaigns in several states on creative techniques to oppose initiatives during signature gathering. Of course, her first love is finding the chinks in the armor of right-wing politicians.

Jo Ann Bowman

Jo Ann Bowman serves as Executive Director of Oregon Action, a non-profit dedicated to building new leaders from underrepresented community members. Bowman serves on several local & national boards including: Portland Community Media, US Action, NW Constitutional Rights Center and Coalition for a Livable Future. Bowman also co-chair's the City of Portland Racial Profiling Committee; a joint community & police partnership to eliminate the practice of racial profiling from the practices of Portland Police. Bowman is a former State Representative from NE Portland from 1995-2001.

Paulie Brading

Paulie Brading is a retired school administrator and teacher. She's been a teaching fellow at Harvard University, an adjunct professor at Lewis & Clark College, and the president of Northwest Women in Education. An active Democrat, she's presently the Chair of the Jackson County Democrats.

Lauren Brooks

Lauren Brooks traded one rainy capitol city for another when she moved from her hometown of Juneau, Alaska to Salem, Oregon in order to attend Willamette University. She is currently the Opinions Editor of the school paper and will be graduating in May of 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. She has narrowed down her career choices to journalism, law, teaching, non-profit or politics; but is mostly pretty clueless about what the next step in her adult life is supposed to be. Lauren plans to take the next year or two off to travel and figure things out.

Chris Bouneff

Chris Bouneff is a native east-sider of Portland. He started his professional life as a newspaper reporter in California covering the U.S. Navy and its advanced aircraft weapons systems. He worked in Idaho covering public policy and enterprise stories before making the shift into media relations. After 12 years living in exile, he returned to Portland and resettled on the east side, where he continues his lifelong suspicion of anything west of the Willamette River.

Steve Bucknum

Steve Bucknum is a Central Oregonian from Prineville. After a 20 year career in social services involved with adolescent residential treatment, alcohol & drug treatment, homeless shelters, and related non-profit programs; Steve retired from all that in 1994 and went into real estate appraising. He is now a Certified Residential Appraiser covering all of Crook and Wheeler Counties, the northern part of Deschutes County, and much of Jefferson County - about a 7,000 square mile area. Steve has served on the Crook County Democratic Central Committee for several years now, holding various offices. He was involved with the founding of the Oregon Democratic Party's Rural Caucus. Six generations of his family have lived in 18 of Oregon's 36 Counties.

Leslie Carlson

Leslie Carlson is an Oregon native who fled the state in 1989 because it seemed "too small; a state where everyone seemed to know one another or were related by birth or marriage." She came back for precisely the same reason: she valued the deep personal connections that one could forge in Oregon with neighbors, colleagues, politicians and other citizens. "It sounds trite, but I believe that Oregon is a place where ordinary citizens can and do make a difference."

Karol Collymore

My parents are originally from Panama and it is the place of my birth. At about 2 years old, my family moved to Albuquerque, NM where I spent all of my formative years. I went to the University of New Mexico and received my degree in Political Science. I was raised in New Mexico politics and have great affinity for Governor Bill Richardson. I moved to Portland, Oregon in 2003 and was development director at NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon.

Jesse Cornett

Jesse Cornett currently works in Government Affairs. Until August 2006 he served as the Senior Policy Advisor and Legislative Liaison to Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury. In May 2006, Jesse ran a last-minute campaign for the Oregon State Senate, losing the primary election by 167 votes. Jesse has worked for the Kerry/Edwards campaign, among others and for several elected officials, including Congressman Earl Blumenauer.

Chris Corbell

I came to Oregon in 1993 from New Orleans. I'm a software engineer, a father, a Democrat, and a politically unambitious citizen blogger. I also write, record and sometimes perform music, and I actively study mathematics and economics. I have been a registered Democrat or left-leaning independent for over 20 years. A believer in small activist government and open, ethical, and progressive capitalism, I write a blog called Pan Metron and occasionally contribute to The Democratic Daily.

Lenny Dee

Oregon has been home for Onward Oregon co-founder Lenny Dee since he first sighted Mt. Hood in 1970. Ever since, Lenny has been active in building community. In 1971 he led Portland's first campaign against urban redevelopment. Lenny started the Clinton St Theater and Clinton St Quarterly. The Quarterly won over 100 awards from the National Society of Journalists while publishing editions in Portland, Seattle, and Minneapolis-St Paul. These days his passion besides family, friends, and basketball is to build Onward Oregon as an online community to champion the public interest.

Brendan Deiz

Brendan Deiz is a student at Pomona College in Southern California. He spent the summer of 2006 doing the Politicorps program with the Oregon Bus Project and has worked with various other political/social groups in Oregon.

John Doty

Prior to 2004, the few Oregonians who knew John Doty were fans of 3A girls' soccer. He's the coach of the Phoenix Pirates, serves as a forum host for OregonLive, and facilitates the statewide Coaches' Poll. The bulk of his days are spent in an alternative high school for high-risk youth, teaching the social science required classes, as well as elective offerings in film, theater, and speech. With an eclectic background and wide range of interests and skills, John brings an authentic, down-to-earth persona to the southern Oregon political scene, having lurked for a brief while before emerging as a Dean for America MeetUp host for Medford in spring of '03, and filing candidacy for the Oregon House in December. Though his candidacy is a thing of the past, his voice remains here and at his own blogs - life and politics via his main site at johndoty.us and soccer at webpages.charter.net/jd4/soccer.

John Dunagan

John is a lifelong progressive Democrat who grew up in Silverton, graduating from Western Oregon in 1990, and having lived in Oregon until 2004. He now lives in the wild, among Republicans and sprawl in Naples, Florida with his wife and two cats. His Congresscritter is currently one of Mario Diaz-Balart (R) or Sasquatch (Green): he's seen either an equal number of times.

Kristin Flickinger

After losing her election for 8th Grade Treasurer to “Donald Duck,” Kristin redoubled her efforts to be a political force. Raised in Idaho, she came to Oregon for college and never really left. She received a business degree from Lewis and Clark and a law degree from Willamette, preparing her to work on legal opinions for state and county government; fight to keep discrimination out of Oregon’s Constitution, legislature, and local governments; battle against the double majority to bring adequate funding to schools; and ask strangers for money.

Paul Gronke

Paul Gronke is a professor of political science at Reed College. Paul attended Oregon City High School and PSU before leaving Oregon for points east (Chicago, Ann Arbor, and Durham NC), and returning to Oregon in 2001. Gronke specializes in American politics, statistical methodology, and survey research; his recent research focuses on non-precinct place voting. His self-described political leanings are a "DLC Democrat," earning him a few brickbats from the peanut gallery. A more apt description might be gadfly and skeptic--too many years and too much data have led Paul to rely on empirical data and outcome as much as good intentions to help him guide his political beliefs.

Jenson Hagen

Jenson spent the greater part of his 20's as an active Young Democrat. He feels that political participation must be encouraged at an early stage in life. Now in his 30's, he's turned his attention to supporting the progressive community as well as expanding a career in financial research and taxation. His recurring Financial Friday posts aim to provide different insights into the economic issues at hand, and include elements of his everyday work.

Cody Hoesly

No matter where Cody goes, he's always glad to come back home to Oregon. Cody lives in Portland and has an identical twin brother.

Jon Isaacs

Jon Isaacs is the vice president of the Compass Media Group. From 2004 to 2006, he led the Oregon House Democrats from a 25-35 minority to a 31-29 majority. In 2003 and early 2004, he was the Midwest finance director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. During the 2002 cycle, Isaacs served as the finance director for Bev Stein for Governor and Bill Bradbury for US Senate. Prior to working on Democratic campaigns, Jon was a national leader in getting young voters engaged in politics and government – as national program director for Youth Vote 2000 and the national organizing and training director for the United States Student Association. He was student body president at Oregon State University in 1995-96.

Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant

Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant is an award-winning humor writer, stand-up comic, motivational speaker, and host of the radio program "Women Under the Influence of Laughter," on Eugene's KOPT 600 AM (Oregon's Progressive Talk.) Her website is AccidentalComic.com and her blog, laughwithme.typepad.com. She believes laughter is important in progressive politics because it diffuses anger and tension and gives us the energy to work on the issues. Besides, its fun!

Kevin Kamberg

Kevin Kamberg co-founded the Preemptive Karma blog in early 2004 after having dabbled in online politics for several years with his The Independent Voter website. A recovering conservative Republican, he has been a registered Independent/NAV since 1990. Growing steadily more and more progressive with every passing year, while at the same time fighting it tooth and nail, he finally peeked out of the closet and embraced his progressivism in 2007. Outside of politics Kevin is the creator and craftsman behind Oregon Rain Sticks. He also serves on the Historic Landmarks Board for the City of Forest Grove, Oregon.

Albert Kaufman

Albert is the president of the Beaumont Wilshire Neighborhood Assocation. By day he tests software. With a BA in political science, an MA in international relations and years of living abroad, Albert brings a fresh perspective to northwest issues. After living and fighting the power in Seattle for seven years, Albert moved to Portland five years ago and was quick to get involved in spear-heading a campaign to turn Mt. Hood into a national park. Other interesting work he's done since arriving in Portland: starting up the largest Freecycle group in the world, Freecycle Portland which led to the Freecycle movement gaining traction and growing to over a 2.5 million members worldwide. Albert also played a large part as a volunteer coordinator for media tracking for the Kerry for President campaign in Oregon. If you have a project and need someone for outreach, Albert is for hire. More at AlbertKaufman.com.

Randy Leonard

Born and raised in Portland, Randy Leonard was a firefighter for 25 years, a state legislator for 10 years, and has served on the Portland City Council since 2002. Says Randy, "I believe government works best when it is proactive in protecting the rights and opportunities for those who have traditionally not been invited to the table where decisions are made. I believe government is at its best when it defends the rights of those whose color, views, or sexual orientation may not be supported by the majority. I believe the greatest equalizer in Oregon is a good education." Learn more about Randy Leonard.

Caelan MacTavish

Caelan MacTavish is a classics scholar and fiction writer with no patience for the angry and ignorant. He prefers the angry and clever to bat wits with, which is why he finds comfort in BlueOregon.com.

Mari Margil

Mari Margil works with Corporate Ethics International, working with environmental, labor, human rights, community, shareholders, and other NGOs to fundamentally change the role of corporations in our society. She previously headed up the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club and worked for the Oregon Nurses Association, in addition to helping Congressman David Wu and Washington County Commissioner Dick Schouten win their re-election bids. In her spare time, Mari enjoys serving on the sports beat here at BlueOregon.

Anne Martens

Anne Martens is a recovered attorney and former press person for Secretary of State Bill Bradbury. She landed in Oregon in 2001 after extensive legislative and issue advocacy work (on whatever topic happened to be available) in both blue and red states, as well as in that District that seems to have turned a dirty brown. She's thrilled to promote color clarity (despite a personal affection for purple) and insists that she loves Oregon but hasn't figured out why. Anne recently moved up to Washington to work for Governor Gregoire, and is shamelessly hoping that the rest of the talented Oregonians will join her up north. Just skimming the cream right off the top.

Jake Oken-Berg

Jake Oken-Berg is lead singer and pianist for the Portland, OR pop/rock quintet The Retrofits. He is a native Oregonian and graduated from Lincoln High School where he was editor of the Cardinal Times and one of Oregon's top track runners. In 2000 at age 19, Jake ran for Mayor of Portland, finishing 2nd out of 17 candidates with 27% of the vote and nearly forcing the incumbent mayor into a runoff. Jake graduated with a degree in Politics from Pomona College in Claremont, CA where he was elected Student Body President his senior year. A C-SPAN viewer since age 8, Jake enjoys tormenting his bandmates with his observations on national and world politics. Jake is currently on tour in support of The Retrofits' debut album "Away From Here" which has received mention in SPIN Magazine and The Oregonian. Until February 2007, he served as Special Assistant to U.S. Senator Ron Wyden.

Jon Perr

Jon Perr is a technology marketing consultant based in Portland, Oregon. Jon has long been active in Democratic politics and public policy as an organizer and advisor in California and Massachusetts. His past roles include field staffer for Gary Hart for President (1984), organizer of Silicon Valley tech executives backing President Clinton's call for national education standards (1997), recruiter of tech executives for Al Gore's and John Kerry's presidential campaigns, and co-coordinator of MassTech for Robert Reich (2002). A member of the New Democrat Network, Jon also blogs at perrspectives.com.

Dan Petegorsky

Dan has lived in Oregon since 1996, when he moved from Seattle to take over as Executive Director of Western States Center. He's been active in the social change movement since the late '60s, when he was first recruited at a United Farm Workers house meeting (it really does work!). Dan helped found the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center and the Institute on Money in State Politics, and also serves on the board of Public Campaign. He shares his twisted sense of humor with his twin brother.

Jonathan Poisner

Jonathan Poisner has served as Executive Director of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters since 1997. Prior to that, Jonathan worked on the northwest regional staff of the Sierra Club, as a writer, an adjunct law professor, a legal research fellow, and a lawyer. A native of Prairie Village, Kansas, Jonathan became an Oregonian by choice in 1993 after living in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. When he's not hiking, traveling, or working, he's writing a novel and a screen play that should be finished in 2020.

Wendy Radmacher-Willis

Wendy Radmacher-Willis is a native Oregonian who was raised in Springfield. Although she is now happily ensconced in the new urbanist haven of inner Southeast Portland, she still acutely feels her downstate roots and the effects of the urban-rural divide. She currently is in recovery from ten years of practicing law and spends her days (and many of her nights) thinking about how to engage Oregonians of all political stripes in active citizenship as the executive director of the Portland City Club.

Pat Ryan

Once a registered Libertarian, Pat Ryan decided to join the Democrats after the 2000 election meltdown. Though he "disagrees with party dogma on a broad range of issues, my wife Christine and I are now spending every free moment trying to get Dems elected." His hobbies? "Riding motorcycles, blowing up appliances with a 12 gauge shotgun, critical thinking and fact based reasoning." Pat Ryan lives southeast of Sandy, Oregon in the shadow of Mount Hood. A native Oregonian, he has traveled widely and spent four years in Paraguay and a year and a half in Iran in 1977-78.

Russell Sadler

For more than 30 years, Russell Sadler's daily radio and television commentaries were heard on broadcast stations in Oregon, Southwest Washington and Northern California. His weekly newspaper column appears regularly in many newspapers throughout the region. Today, he lives aboard a 30-foot trawler and travels regularly to Salem, Eugene, and Ashland. Sadler is a registered Independent. Sadler is a contributing writer for BlueOregon.com and other publications around the West, including High Country News' Writers on the Range.

Chuck Sheketoff

Chuck Sheketoff is the Executive Director and a founder of the Oregon Center for Public Policy, a non-profit, non-partisan research institute that uses research and analysis to advance policies and practices that improve the economic and social opportunities of low- and moderate-income Oregonians, the majority of Oregonians. Prior to starting the OCPP in 1997, Chuck lobbied the Oregon Legislature on behalf of the low-income clients of legal aid programs (1993, 1995) and the Oregon Law Center (1997). Chuck participates in BlueOregon to inform debates among Oregon progressives with an eye toward getting Oregon back on track.

Chip Shields

Chip Shields has been an Oregon State Representative for District 43 since 2005. District 43 includes inner N/NE Portland, Irvington and the Lloyd Center District. Prior to running for office, Shields founded Better People, a N/NE Portland living-wage employment and counseling program for adult probationers and parolees. Currently, he is employed by Oregon Tradeswomen Inc., a N/NE Portland organization that helps women succeed in the building trades.

Andrew Simon

Andrew Simon graduated from Sunset High School in Beaverton and now attends Bard College in New York. He got his start in politics at age 6, going door-to-door with his parents for Elizabeth Furse's 1994 campaign and has worked, in some capacity, on over 20 campaigns in Oregon, Washington, New York and Iowa. Also, he worked at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Oregon 150. He plans on being a lifelong Oregonian.

Kelly Steele

Kelly Steele is a veteran of statewide Democratic campaigns in Oregon, having worked for US Senate candidate Bill Bradbury in 2002 and the Democratic campaign for John Kerry in 2004. In 2005, he served as Communications Director for the Democratic Party of Oregon. In 2006, he worked as Communications Director for the Democratic coordinated campaign that overwhelmingly re-elected Senator Maria Cantwell in Washington State. Known for his sharp tongue, Kelly is now retired from campaign politics and currently resides in Seattle.

The One True b!X

The One True b!X, a.k.a. Christopher Frankonis, is the godfather of blogging in Oregon. His original blog, Portland Communique, has been called a "must read in City Hall." His blog regularly covers obscure but important government meetings ignored by the well-funded print media, and his commentary often skewers the rich, powerful, and well-connected.

Kristin Teigen

Kristin Teigen left Oregon almost two decades ago to be a political activist in San Francisco and Washington DC, and worked for, among others, CISPES, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Organization for Women. She returned with the hubby about ten years ago, both ready for a garden, a family and a bit of fresh air. She worked in Oregon for few noble causes before chucking the nonprofit grind to become a grad student at PSU. She's finishing up degrees in History and Education, but really, her main job is taking care of two adorable boys as a stay-at-home mom. She just might be one of those radical feminist, enviro moms the Radical Right loves to hate.

Rachael Vorberg-Rugh

Rachael Vorberg-Rugh is a near-native Oregonian and longtime Portland resident, currently living in the UK. While in Portland, she earned an MA in history at PSU and worked in various non-profits, planning educational programs for the Lewis and Clark Expedition's bicentennial, working on historical journals, writing grants, and coordinating volunteer and internship programs at the Oregon Historical Society. As part of her early mid-life crisis, in 2004 Rachael pulled up stakes and headed to Oxford to pursue a doctorate in modern British history. Her research focuses on the development of the co-operative movement, working-class politics, and gender in the period between 1880 and 1918. Currently, she spends most of her days in the library and nights in the pub. Come July '07, she'll be back in Oregon to write her dissertation and enjoy the delights of the Pacific Northwest.