Anticipating the 2008 elections, OFIR recently sent questionnaires to all Oregon candidates, to elicit information on their positions on key immigration issues. .
Many responses to the questionnaires have now been received, and, along with public records of incumbents’ past legislative actions, we have a basis for recommending particular candidates in the May primary.
The recommendations are based only on immigration issues. Citizens can take various factors into account in deciding how to vote; the information given here is for those specifically concerned about immigration.
The upcoming election being a Primary, in some cases we endorse the Democratic and the Republican candidates for the same seat, as they are not running against each other in the Primary.
Americans for Better Immigration (http://www.betterimmigration.com) grades Congressional legislators on their immigration voting records. NumbersUSA provides detailed lists of legislators’ votes on specific immigration measures (http://profiles.numbersusa.com/)
Oregon will elect one U.S. Senator and five U.S. Representatives. The incumbent Senator is Gordon Smith, R, who is currently rated C+ on immigration issues by ABI. In OFIR’s Congressional questionnaire, the question asked was whether the candidate would support the SAVE Act.
Republican primary candidate Gordon Leitch said Yes. While we have not had a reply from Senator Smith, he did support OFIR’s position against the Amnesty bill (so-called Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill) in 2007. ABI grades his recent record on reducing illegal immigration through interior enforcement, C+; on reducing illegal immigration by border control, B-; by other rewards, A. Candidate Leitch, a retired ophthalmologist, is concerned with monetary policy and lacks background on immigration issues. We endorse Gordon Smith in the Republican primary for Senator.
Among Democratic party candidates for U.S. Senator, Cindy Neville and Roger Obrist were the only ones who responded to the OFIR questionnaire. Neville said that she does not support the SAVE Act; Obrist said that he does support it. We endorse Roger Obrist in the Democratic primary.
Two candidates responded among the candidates for U.S. House of Representatives. Both are running in District 3: John Sweeney, D, and Delia Lopez, R. Both said that they would support the SAVE Act. The incumbent Representative in District 3 is Earl Blumenauer, D, whose voting record on immigration is scored D- by ABI. We endorse John Sweeney and Delia Lopez.
Grades of the other incumbent U.S. Representatives who are running for reelection are: Peter DeFazio, D, Dist. 4, B; Greg Walden, R, Dist. 2, B+; David Wu, D, Dist. 1, F.
We endorse Greg Walden and Peter DeFazio for re-election. As the campaigns proceed, if a candidate in Dist. 1 commits to working seriously against illegal immigration, OFIR could make an endorsement for the general election. A replacement for David Wu is much needed; he has a long, very bad record on immigration issues.
Rep. Darlene Hooley, presently serving in Dist.5, is retiring. No candidates in that District responded to the OFIR questionnaire. Two well-qualified candidates are running in the Republican primary: Mike Erickson and Kevin Mannix. Mannix is the volunteer author of OFIR Initiative 112, Respect for Law Act.
OFIR’s questionnaire to candidates
for the Oregon Legislature covered 4 topics: 1. Making E-Verify mandatory.
2. Repealing ORS 181.850. 3. Proof of citizenship for voting. 4.
Transferring foreign criminals to jails in home country. On the basis of
their answers, we endorse the following candidates. Additional candidates are
recommended on the basis of their support in previous legislative sessions;
these are noted with an asterisk (*).
Candidates without an asterisk
were endorsed because they returned OFIR’s questionnaire and gave affirmative
replies to the questions. In most cases, all 4 questions were answered in the
affirmative; in a few cases, 3 out of the 4 were answered affirmatively.
If OFIR members know of
candidates not listed who they believe should be recommended, please remind
the candidate to fill out the OFIR questionnaire and return it. If another
copy of the questionnaire is needed, contact OFIR at
o4ir@excite.com,
and a copy will be e-mailed.
Please note that
endorsements are for the Primary Election only.
Oregon House
Dist. 1 Wayne
Krieger, R
Dist. 3 Ron
Maurer, R
Dist. 4 The
incumbent, Dennis Richardson, R*, who has been supportive of OFIR issues in
the Legislature, did not return a questionnaire. Richardson has been very
solid on our side in respect to immigration reform legislation. Ronald
Schutz, R, returned the OFIR questionnaire saying Yes to all 4 points in the
questionnaire.
Dist. 6 Sal
Esquivel, R*
Dist. 7 Bruce
Hanna, R
Dist. 9 Al Pearn,
R
Dist.14 Chris
Edwards, D*
Dist.17 Dan
Thackaberry, D
Dist.17 Marc Lucca,
R
Dist.22 Tom M
Chereck Jr., R
Dist.23 Wesley
West, D
Dist.23 ` Jim
Thompson, R
Dist.24 Edward
(Ed) Glad, R
Dist.25 Kim
Thatcher, R*
Dist.27
Russell McAlmond, R
Dist.28 Jeff
Barker, D
Dist.29 Chuck
Riley, D*
Dist.30 Andy
Meyer, R
Dist.30 David
Edwards, D*
Dist.35 Tony
Marino, R
Dist.37 Scott
Bruun, R
Dist.48 Mike
Schaufler, D
Dist.50 John
Lim, R*
Dist.51 Linda
Flores, R
Dist.53 Gene
Whisnant, R*
Dist.54 Chuck
Burley, R*
Dist.56 Bill
Garrard, R*
Dist.60 Tim K.
Smith, R
Oregon Senate
Dist. 1 Jeff Kruse, R*
Dist. 2 Jason A.
Atkinson, R*
Dist. 9 Fred Girod,
R*
Dist. 12 Brian Boquist, R*
Dist. 14 Lisa Michaels, R
Dist. 15 Bruce Starr, R*
Dist. 18 John Wight, R
Dist. 27 John P. Robbins,
R
Dist. 28 Doug Whitsett, R*