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Two Oregon Senate Republicans whose terms end in January 2025 want acting Secretary of State Cheryl Myers to weigh in on whether they can run for reelection in 2024.
The two are Senate Majority Leader Tim Knopp (R-Bend) and Sen. Brian Boquist (I-Dallas), who are among the GOP senators who walked out earlier this month to block the passage of legislation they dislike, including reproductive rights and gun bills.
An attorney representing the Senate Republicans and a political action committee called Oregon’s 13 Constitutional Defense Fund sent Myers a letter today asking her for clarity. (There are 13 senators who are not Democrats. Boquist and Sen. Art Robinson [I-Cave Junction] are listed on the legislative home page as Independents, but Robinson lists his party affiliation as Republican and both usually vote with the GOP.)
“As the state’s chief election official, you are required by ORS 245.165 to withhold a candidate’s name from the ballot if it appears the candidate is not qualified,” wrote the attorney, John DiLorenzo. “Senators Knopp and Boquist intend to appear on the May 2024 Primary and November 2024 General election ballots. You must therefore determine whether they will be disqualified from serving by virtue of his having accumulated 10 or more unexcused absences as a result of Measure 113.”
The issue, as WW first reported, is that although proponents of Measure 113 intended to punish lawmakers who walk off the job, the language actually placed in the Oregon Constitution after the 2022 measure passed is ambiguous.
Article IV, Section 15 of the Oregon Constitution now reads:
“Failure to attend, without permission or excuse, ten or more legislative floor sessions called to transact business during a regular or special legislative session shall be deemed disorderly behavior and shall disqualify the member from holding office as a Senator or Representative for the term following the election after the member’s current term is completed.” [emphasis added]
DiLorenzo, a Portland lawyer whose practice often includes political matters, argues that Knopp and Boquist should be allowed to run for reelection next year—which is, of course, contrary to what the framers of Measure 113 had planned.
“Their current terms will not expire until January 14, 2025. The ‘election after the member’s current term is completed’ will not be held until November of 2028,” DiLorenzo writes. “So, it appears from the unambiguous text, that if they are to be disqualified from holding the office of senator, it would be for the term that begins in January of 2029.”
Progressive groups vehemently disagree. Kelly Simon, legal director of the ACLU of Oregon, told WW last week that the goal of Measure 113 was to create consequences for 10 or more unexcused absences.
“The voters’ intent was crystal clear in the Measure 113 ballot title, ballot summary, and the Voters’ Pamphlet: If a legislator neglects their job in their current term, then they don’t get to keep their job in the next one,” Simon said.
Secretary Myers, who got her job when former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan abruptly resigned after WW’s disclosure that she was moonlighting for a troubled cannabis company, is already trying to wade into the question of who can lawfully appear on next year’s ballot.
On May 26, Myers’ spokesman, Ben Morris, told WW that Myers had asked the Oregon Department of Justice for help.
“We are seeking a legal opinion from the DOJ to clarify in which election the qualification issue should be enforced. We’ll follow their advice in our role as the filing officer for statewide elections,” Morris said then.
DiLorenzo today asked Myers for clarity on the disputed language.
“[We] request that you issue a declaratory ruling to the effect that Senators Knopp and Boquist are not barred from seeking reelection to their positions at the primary and general elections to be held in 2024 nor are they disqualified from serving as state senators for the term commencing in January of 2025 by virtue of Art. IV, Section 15 of the constitution.”
The secretary of state’s office did not immediately respond to WW’s request for comment on the letter.