GOP Hoping To Capitalize On Brown Election Decision

Capitol Currents:

Oregon Republicans don't want people to forget about Secretary of State Kate Brown's decision to move the election for Labor Commissioner from May to November. A Marion County judge yesterday threw out a lawsuit from candidate Bruce Starr aimed at reversing Brown's decision. For Brown, it was a vindication of her interpretation of a relatively obscure clause buried deep in a measure passed overwhelmingly by Oregon lawmakers nearly 3 years ago. It's hard to imagine that most Oregon voters could have told you when the election usually happens (much less what the Labor Commissioner even does in the first place). Still, the GOP is using the episode to drum up opposition to Brown, who is the only Democrat in statewide office to face Republican opposition this year. (The office of Labor Commissioner is technically non-partisan, though incumbent Brad Avakian is a former Democratic lawmaker and challenger Starr is a current Republican lawmaker).Republicans, including state party chair Allen Alley, have taken to using the hashtag #KorruptKate on Twitter. The GOP is also circulating an online survey about the issue which also doubles as a way to harvest contact information from potential supporters. And the Republican who is challenging Brown, Knute Buehler, issued a series of statements blasting Brown for what he called "Chicago-style machine politics" and called her decision "either partisan manipulation...incompetence, or both."Kate Brown's campaign website makes no mention of the controversy, but on her official Secretary of State blog, Brown writes that "the allegations about my character are outrageous and unfounded."

Read the full article here. Discuss below.