The Democratic Party of Oregon Files Election Complaint Against Republican Lou Ogden, Alleging He is Misleading Voters in the Race for Labor Commissioner

The complaint comes in what has thus far been a contentious and partisan race for a nonpartisan state-wide office.

Lou Ogden
By Katie Shepherd

The Democratic Party of Oregon today filed an official election complaint against Lou Ogden, a Republican running for state labor commissioner, alleging that he misrepresented himself as an incumbent in campaign materials.

That's a problem, the DPO says, because Ogden has never been labor commissioner and is running against a Democrat for an open seat.

The complaint says Ogden misleads voters in campaign ads by saying  "As the Labor Commissioner, it's my responsibility to make sure…" It also objects to lawn signs and a logo that say "Lou Ogden, Commissioner, Bureau of Labor & Industries," but do not mention voting or the election in any explicit way.

The complaint comes in what has thus far been an unusually contentious and partisan race for a nonpartisan state-wide office.

Supporters of Ogden's Democratic opponent, Val Hoyle, created a Facebook page questioning the Tualatin mayor's judgement after he allowed a tenant to stay in his home for 18 months after sheriff's deputies seized the renter's laptop in a child pornography investigation. The social media attack ad led to a surprisingly volatile back-and-forth between the candidates at a WW endorsement interview last week.

Ogden disputes the DPO's claims. He said in a written statement that he is following the law:

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