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MERKLEY ADDRESSES 2026 PLANS: U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) is up for reelection in 2026 for the seat the East Portland resident and former Oregon House speaker first won in 2008. Merkley, a member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee and a progressive in the mode of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), has never enjoyed campaigning or retail politics. He will turn 70 just before the 2026 general election. Speculation about whether Merkley will run again has heated up in recent days, and some hopefuls have begun eyeing congressional seats should one of Oregon’s five Democratic members of the U.S. House seek to succeed him. Merkley’s campaign gave an equivocal response to that speculation. “Jeff is 100% focused on defeating Trump’s agenda,” said campaign spokeswoman Maggie Sunstrum. “As usual, Jeff and [his wife], Mary [Sorteberg], will make a formal campaign announcement regarding 2026 sometime this quarter.”
LEGACY ON FIRM GROUND, RATINGS AGENCY SAYS: Legacy Health drew attention April 14 to the fact that S&P Global Ratings, a company that rates the quality of corporate bonds, had affirmed the hospital system’s A rating with a “stable” outlook. The investment-grade rating, S&P’s third highest, “confirms our continued progress toward financial sustainability,” Legacy said on its website. S&P’s opinion on Legacy’s creditworthiness undermines a key reason given by Oregon Health & Science University for its proposed purchase of Legacy. “Simply put, Legacy Health must find a strategic partner to achieve financial sustainability,” OHSU said in a regulatory filing in September. Legacy isn’t required to disclose bond ratings, according to a person familiar with the matter. Legacy’s press office didn’t return an email seeking comment on why it chose to publicize this one. S&P last rated Legacy in November 2023. Since then, salaries and other costs have risen “substantially,” Legacy said. “Despite that economic challenge, Legacy is seeing sustained, improved performance thanks to comprehensive efforts across our organization,” Legacy said. Legacy has a “strong enterprise profile, underlined by the system’s sizable primary service area, sound economic fundamentals, and a relatively stable business position,” S&P said in its report. The vote of confidence follows a similar one from Moody’s, another ratings agency, Legacy said. Together, the opinions show “our continued progress toward financial sustainability,” Legacy said. OHSU declined to comment.
STATEWIDE AFSCME DIRECTOR FACES CHALLENGER: After two years in a top job at one of Oregon’s most powerful labor unions, Joe Baessler faces a fellow union member who would like his job. The Oregon chapter of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees is holding its first-ever election for the position of executive director May 3, during its convention. Up to now, the union’s board had hired for the position. All others in the union are elected. Baessler has been with Oregon AFSCME for 19 years in a variety of positions. Before that, he worked for Gov. Ted Kulongoski, U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, and Multnomah County Commissioner Lisa Naito. Opposing Baessler is Rob Martineau, president of AFSCME Local 189, which represents workers at the city of Portland, where he is a water operations mechanic. Martineau went to work for the city in 1999 as a seasonal worker in the parks bureau equipment shop. He was first elected as president of Local 189 in 2017. Baessler says he welcomes the contest. “The people I’ve devoted my political life to could fire me in a month,” he says in an interview. Baessler and Martineau are aligned on one big issue the union faces: whether Oregon Health & Science University should close the Oregon National Primate Research Center, where 5,600 monkeys are bred and used in experiments. The facility employs 170 AFSCME members. Earlier this month, Baessler told WW the union was “surprised and not ecstatic” after Gov. Tina Kotek, a beneficiary of AFSCME campaign contributions, said OHSU should wrap up research and close the primate center. “I’m definitely on the side of union members and of science,” Martineau says. “I look forward to the opportunity to lead Oregon AFSCME as a member-driven organization.”
LAWMAKERS PRESS BOLI ON PREVAILING WAGE DECISIONS: State Sen. Dick Anderson (R-Lincoln City) and Rep. Vikki Breese Iverson (R-Prineville) wrote to Oregon Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson on April 8 following an Oregon Journalism Project story about the impact of Stephenson’s prevailing wage determinations on the development of affordable housing (“A Little Off the Top,” WW, April 2). The lawmakers urged Stephenson to use her discretion to exempt more projects from prevailing wage, saying her agency’s actions were “potentially reducing the number of units built, delaying project timelines, or shutting down construction entirely.” In an April 15 response, Stephenson said her agency, the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries, has not changed its interpretation of prevailing wage laws, nor has the Oregon Court of Appeals, the final arbiter of BOLI decisions, ever overturned the agency’s rulings. Stephenson acknowledged the trade-off between paying prevailing—i.e., union—wages and maximizing the production of state-subsidized housing. “Allocation of scarce taxpayer dollars is one of the Legislature’s most consequential roles,” she wrote. “I welcome the opportunity to engage in dialogue about how the Legislature might consider these important questions.”
REPUBLICAN CHAIR RESIGNS: Less than 24 hours after the Oregon Journalism Project reported on past allegations of sexual misconduct and current financial problems faced by newly elected Oregon GOP chairman Gerald “Jerry” Cummings (“Elephant in the Room,” WW, April 9), he abruptly resigned. Party vice chair Connie Whelchel called the allegations against Cummings “deeply troubling,” adding: “These revelations were not known to the executive committee or party leadership prior to their publication, and they are in no way reflective of the values or standards we hold.” Whelchel replaced Cummings as party chair.