A Veteran Trade Union Lobbyist Throws in With Kristof

Joe Esmonde represented electrical workers in Salem for decades, but he’s not supporting the union candidate.

Nicholas Kristof on his farm in Yamhill, Oregon, September 11, 2021. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Center for Creative Photography/University of Arizona) (David Hume Kennerly)
By Nigel Jaquiss

HOW MUCH?

$100

WHO GOT IT?

Nicholas Kristof, Democratic candidate for governor

WHO GAVE IT?

Joe Esmonde

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Esmonde is the former longtime lobbyist for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48, one of the most active and well-funded trade unions in state politics.

His donation is paltry compared to the six-figure checks Kristof, a former New York Times columnist, reels in regularly (he’s raised $1.7 million compared with $661,000 for State Treasurer Tobias Read and $512,000 for House Speaker Tina Kotek). But Esmonde’s contribution adds to questions about private-sector union support for Kotek, the most pro-labor candidate in the primary. Esmonde’s contribution is far less significant than the endorsement Kristof recently got from United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, but it could mark a trend.

His check helps Kristof in another way: Most of Kristof’s money comes from out of state, so getting the support of a recognized Oregon political player adds legitimacy.

Esmonde says he’s supported Kotek and Read before, so committing to give Kristof $100 a month for a year was a difficult decision. “I want a change and he brings a fresh set of eyes and a fresh voice,” Esmonde says. “He’s got some good things to say and I think people want to hear it.” Esmonde says he’s speaking only for himself, but he thinks Kristof’s combination of having grown up on a farm and worked as a globe-trotting journalist gives him a perspective that will be useful for Oregonians.

“He wants to give back and help fix things,” Esmonde says. “The temperature has gone way up in the state and that isn’t good for anybody.”

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