Filing Day 2012: The Big Board, Oregon House

Kari Chisholm

Today at the state capitol, there will be a gathering in the House chamber for the last few hours of filing day. Lots of lobbyists, hacks, reporters, and politicians hang out to watch the Big Board of candidate filings.

So, I thought we'd do the same here. This is the Big Board for the House. (Check out Senate races here.)

I'll be updating throughout the day (though if you see an update I don't have, be sure to post it in the comments!)

As of Tuesday 9:22 p.m. (This appears to be the final update.)

Democratic open seats

The two coastal seats - HD-9 and HD-10 - are the two that Democrats are likely most concerned about, as they've been very competitive races in the past. Republicans probably think they have a shot at HD-40, but the district leans Democratic and Brent Barton is a relentless campaigner.

In HD-36, there's a competitive primary featuring Sharon Meieran and Jennifer Williamson (who doesn't appear to have filed yet.) And in HD-47, there are three Democrats vying for Rep. Smith's seat. Update, 4:20 p.m.: Williamson has now filed. Interestingly, she appears to be the only legislative candidate in the state to file via petition, rather than by simply paying a fee.

9	DEM	Caddy McKeown	Incumbent: Rep. Arnie Roblan
9	GOP	Nancy Brouhard
10	GOP	Jerome Grant	Incumbent: Rep. Jean Cowan
10	DEM	David Gomberg
10	GOP	Dann Cutter
12	DEM	John Lively	Incumbent: Rep. E. Terry Beyer
12	DEM	Sandra L. Mann
12	GOP	Jody Scott
12	GOP	Joe Pishioneri
36	DEM	Benjamin Jay Barber	Incumbent: Rep. Mary Nolan
36	DEM	Jennifer Williamson
36	DEM	Sharon Meieran
36	GOP	Bruce Neal
40	DEM	Brent Barton	Incumbent: Rep. Dave Hunt
40	GOP	Steve Newgard
47	DEM	Andrew Haynes	Incumbent: Rep. Jefferson Smith
47	DEM	Jessica Vega Pederson
47	DEM	Thuy Tran
47	GOP	Maggie Nelson

Republican open seats

As might be expected in this heavily Republican district, there are no Democrats seeking HD-56.

56	GOP	Gail Whitsett	Incumbent: Rep. Bill Garrard
56	GOP	Tracey Liskey

Democrats with Republican challengers

The Republicans seem to have decided that the thing to do is line up no-hope challengers to a bunch of safe Democratic incumbents - particularly in Washington and Lane counties.

Rep. Betty Komp, of course, almost always has a tough race in HD-22. Her opponent hasn't started raising money yet, and I'm not yet clear on how her district shifted in the new map, so we'll be watching that one. Update, 4:20 p.m.: Komp has now drawn a second GOP opponent - Kathy LeCompte, owner of Brooks Tree Fram and the past chair of the Nursery PAC (a group that has fought tooth and nail against minimum wage laws.) Looks like a serious challenge. Once again, it's all hands on deck for Betty Komp.

Update, 8:45 p.m.: Rep. Debbie Boone (D-Cannon Beach) has now drawn an opponent. Jim Welsh is the owner of Manzanita Fresh Foods and a Nehalem City Council member. Also, Rep. Brian Clem (D-Salem) has drawn an opponent. Dan Farrington owns a business that provides some sort of operational assistance to medical office. While Boone seems to always face a tough race, Clem seems to have consolidated support in his previously tough swing district.

5	DEM	Rep. Peter Buckley
5	GOP	Sandra A. Abercrombie
8	DEM	Rep. Paul R Holvey
8	GOP	Aaron Baker
11	DEM	Rep. Phil Barnhart
11	GOP	Jacob Daniels
11	GOP	Kelly Lovelace
13	DEM	Rep. Nancy Nathanson
13	GOP	Mark Callahan
14	DEM	Rep. Val Hoyle
14	GOP	Dwight Coon
16	DEM	Rep. Sara A. Gelser
16	GOP	Andrew Decker
21	DEM	Rep. Brian Clem
21	GOP	Dan Farrington
22	DEM	Rep. Betty Komp
22	GOP	Kathy LeCompte
22	GOP	Tom M Chereck Jr
27	DEM	Rep. Tobias Read
27	GOP	Burton Keeble
28	DEM	Rep. Jeff Barker
28	GOP	Manuel Castaneda
31	DEM	Rep. Brad Witt
31	GOP	Lew Barnes
32	DEM	Rep. Deborah Boone
32	GOP	Jim Welsh
33	DEM	Rep. Mitch Greenlick
33	GOP	Stevan Kirkpatrick
34	DEM	Rep. Chris Harker
34	GOP	Dan Mason
35	DEM	Rep. Margaret Doherty
35	GOP	John Goodhouse
38	DEM	Rep. Chris Garrett
38	GOP	Gary Corgan
38	GOP	Tom Maginnis
41	DEM	Rep. Carolyn Tomei
41	GOP	Sam Cantrell
41	GOP	Timothy E McMenamin
44	DEM	Rep. Tina Kotek
44	GOP	Daniel Ticknor
44	GOP	Michael Harrington
45	DEM	Rep. Michael Dembrow
45	GOP	Anne Marie Gurney
50	DEM	Rep. Greg Matthews
50	GOP	Logan Boettcher

Republicans with Democratic challengers

By contrast, the Democrats appear to have recruited a bunch of top challengers to Republicans.

In particular, we'll be closely watching the primary race in HD-29 between Ben Unger and Katie Riley for the right to face off against Rep. Katie Eyre.

Metro Councilor Carl Hosticka will be a formidable challenger to Rep. Julie Parrish in HD-37. Shemia Fagan, a David Douglas School Board member, has put together a very tough challenge to Rep. Patrick Sheehan in HD-51 (and I'm told that the district shifted substantially toward the Democrats in in the new map.)

And I'm hearing great things about two others: In HD-49, Chris Gorsek - a former Portland Police officer and criminal justice instructor at MHCC - recently announced his challenge to Rep. Matt Wand. And in HD-30, Adriana Cañas - a Hillsboro School Board member - is taking on Rep. Shawn Lindsay. Expect to hear a lot more about Gorsek and Cañas in the weeks to come.

Update, 4:20 p.m.: Speaker Bruce Hanna now has two Democratic challengers. Hard to imagine either would make a race of it, but here's holding out hope.

1	GOP	Rep. Wayne Krieger
1	DEM	Jim Klahr
7	DEM	Fergus Mclean
7	DEM	Susan Applegate
7	GOP	Rep. Bruce Hanna
15	GOP	Rep. Andy Olson
15	DEM	John-Paul Cernak
17	DEM	Richard Harisay
17	GOP	Rep. Sherrie Sprenger
19	GOP	Rep. Kevin Cameron
19	DEM	Claudia Kyle
20	GOP	Rep. Vicki Berger
20	DEM	Kathy T Graham
23	DEM	Ross Swartzendruber
23	GOP	Rep. Jim Thompson
24	GOP	Rep. Jim Weidner
24	DEM	Kathy Campbell
25	GOP	Rep. Kim Thatcher
25	DEM	Sharon Freeman
26	GOP	Rep. Matt Wingard
26	DEM	Wynne Wakkila
29	GOP	Rep. Katie Eyre
29	DEM	Ben Unger
29	DEM	Katie Riley
30	GOP	Rep. Shawn Lindsay
30	DEM	Adriana H Cañas
37	GOP	Rep. Julie Parrish
37	DEM	Carl Hosticka
39	GOP	Rep. Bill Kennemer
39	DEM	Christopher Cameron Bangs
49	GOP	Rep. Matthew Wand
49	DEM	Christopher Gorsek
51	GOP	Rep. Patrick Sheehan
51	DEM	Shemia Fagan
52	GOP	Rep. Mark Johnson
52	DEM	Marv Hollingsworth
52	DEM	Peter Nordbye
54	GOP	Rep. Jason Conger
54	DEM	Nathan R. Hovekamp
55	GOP	Rep. Mike McLane
55	DEM	John Huddle
59	GOP	Rep. John E Huffman
59	DEM	Gary L Ollerenshaw

Democrats with primary challengers

This is absurd. John Sweeney is a perennial candidate. Not sure why he's causing trouble for Rep. Jules Bailey, one of the best legislators in the building. Update, 9:22 p.m.: Sweeney is no longer running against Bailey, shifting over instead to run against Congressman Greg Walden. Yeah, that's a better choice!

Also, by the close of filing day, I expect HD-48 to move here - with a primary challenger or two for Rep. Mike Schaufler. That's been long-awaited and will be a much bigger story. Update, 10:15 a.m.: It's official - Jeff Reardon is taking on Rep. Schaufler. Update, 9:22 p.m.: And, of note, former Labor Commissioner Mary Wendy Roberts is not.

48	DEM	Rep. Mike Schaufler
48	DEM	Jeff Reardon
48	GOP	George (Sonny) Yellott

Republicans with primary challengers

Rep. Bob Jenson has picked up three primary challengers and a Democratic opponent. I haven't been watching this one until now - so stay tuned.

Update, 4:26 p.m.: A Republican named Jack Swift has filed for HD-3, currently held by Rep. Wally Hicks. For now, I've got it here - but Hicks is expected to jump into the Senate race vacated by Sen. Jason Atkinson. Update, 11:27 p.m.: Forgot to note this here -- Hicks didn't budge. No word on whether Swift drops out, or whether this is a legit primary challenge.

3	GOP	Jack Swift
3	GOP	Rep. Wally Hicks
58	GOP	Rep. Bob Jenson
58	DEM	Heidi Van Schoonhoven
58	GOP	Brent H Smith
58	GOP	Eli Stephens
58	GOP	Jack L Esp

Incumbents without challengers

There's not a lot that's surprising here, except HD-32, where Rep. Debbie Boone had just 52% in 2010. Update, 8:45 p.m. Boone now has a challenger. See above.

42	DEM	Rep. Jules Bailey
43	DEM	Rep. Lew Frederick
46	DEM	Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer
2	GOP	Rep. Tim Freeman
4	GOP	Rep. Dennis Richardson
6	GOP	Rep. Sal C Esquivel
18	GOP	Rep. Vic Gilliam
53	GOP	Rep. Gene Whisnant
57	GOP	Rep. Greg Smith
60	GOP	Rep. Cliff Bentz

All in all, it seems to me that the upside is mostly on the Democratic side.

Anything I've missed? Let's hear it in the comments.

By Kari Chisholm March 06, 2012