Statewide candidates can now officially file for the 2024 May primary. Plenty have announced plans to seek higher office (or reelection):
Oregon Secretary of State Candidates
State Sen. James Manning (D-Eugene) and Treasurer Tobias Read are running for Oregon secretary of state, a job that includes overseeing state elections and audits. Gov. Tina Kotek appointed the current secretary of state, former Portland Auditor LaVonne Griffin-Valade, after fellow Democrat Shemia Fagan resigned in May. [Oregonian]
Oregon’s First Woman Treasurer?
Oregon has now had back-to-back woman governors, and multiple woman secretaries of state, but no woman has held the job of treasurer. State Sen. Elizabeth Steiner (D-Beaverton), a key budget writer and medical doctor, seeks to change that. The current treasurer, Tobias Reed, can’t run again because of term limits restrictions. [KGW]
Absent-Prone Republicans File for Reelection Anyway
Three senators who accumulated at least 10 unexcused absences have so far filed to run again. That’s despite the prohibition in Measure 113, passed by voters last year, which outlawed reelection bids from legislators with that many unexcused absences. They’ll challenge the measure in court. One has announced plans to retire. And the other two whose terms expire next year have yet to decide. [OPB]
