[April 30th, 2008]

Kevin Mannix

Tattoo he’d get: A devout Catholic, Mannix would get a tattoo of a cross and a Star of David.

To say Kevin Mannix has had a mixed record of success is a understatement, sort of like suggesting Lindsay Lohan knows how to party.

The 58-year-old lawyer has fathered initiatives, including one that radically altered the state’s political landscape. As a lawmaker during the ’80s he was among the Legislature’s most prolific members, passing more than a hundred laws on a broad range of subjects. But Mannix also had a remarkable string of failures. He has run and lost for statewide office four times. And, as chief of the state Republican party, he presided over what has become a moribund organization, one that today cannot even field a candidate to run for attorney general.

Even his successes have earned him detractors, most notably his authorship of Measure 11, the 1994 tough-on-crime initiative passed by voters that set minimum sentences for a host of crimes. (Mannix has qualified another ballot initiative this November that would stiffen the punishment for drug and property crimes.) Supporters suggest no one deserves more credit for this state’s lowered crime rate than Mannix. Critics say no one deserves more blame for this state’s prison-building spree in the past decade and the limiting of judicial discretion. Both may be right.

Still, WW readily endorses Mannix in the Republican primary for the seat, held by a Democrat who is retiring, Rep. Darlene Hooley. Mannix understands the legislative process, has an admirable work ethic and has shown an independent streak that would serve his district well. As a lawmaker, he was known as both a procedural wizard and also as a creative, flexible deal-maker who worked both sides of the aisle to pass legislation.

Those skills distinguish him from his competitor, Lake Oswego businessman Mike Erickson. An entrepreneur who operates a supply-chain management company, Erickson ran two years ago in the general election against Hooley. He has been successful enough to spend well over $1 million on his first campaign. And he has put $340,000 into this one so far. Based on his short-on-specifics cookie-cutter platform (“we don’t have a revenue problem in Washington, we have a spending problem”), it’s not clear, however, that he brings anything else to the race.