Rival Attacks Betsy Johnson, Unaffiliated Candidate for Governor, Over Her Attempt to Evade Lawsuit

“No one should be above accountability or above the law, especially those in power.”

Oregon State Capitol (Edmund Garman)
By Rachel Monahan

Republican gubernatorial nominee Christine Drazan today attacked her rival Betsy Johnson, an unaffiliated candidate for governor, for trying to dodge legal responsibility for a 2013 car crash.

“Oregonians are tired of self-serving politicians,” she wrote on Twitter, sharing the WW story that revealed Johnson’s attempt to fight off a lawsuit by claiming legislative immunity. “We deserve leaders who follow the law and tell the truth.”

Legislative immunity is in the Oregon Constitution: State lawmakers “shall not be subject to any civil process during the session of the Legislative Assembly, nor during the fifteen days next before the commencement thereof.”

But legislators who have invoked the privilege in the past, infamously Rep. Greg Smith in an attempt to fight a speeding ticket, have suffered public embarrassment. Johnson’s use of the rule might have passed legal muster, but could nonetheless prove a problem for a candidate who has championed accountability and responsibility.

Read the story: Betsy Johnson Crashed Into Another Motorist. Then She Tried to Claim Legislative Immunity.

Johnson rear-ended another car while driving to Salem for a legislative session in 2013. Her attorneys fought the subsequent lawsuit by arguing she was immune to being served with the lawsuit while the Legislature was in session. Further, they argued, if anyone should have to pay the medical expenses of the other driver, it should be the state of Oregon, because Johnson was on her way to Salem. The case was ultimately settled out of court; the state says it did not pay anything.

“This is a clear abuse of legislative immunity,” Drazan says. “No one should be above accountability or above the law, especially those in power.”

Johnson and her campaign declined to comment on Drazan’s remarks.

Johnson told WW in a statement July 5 that she handed the lawsuit over to her insurance company and attorneys to handle and that she was distracted by thoughts of a bill she was going to introduce that day. Her campaign said July 6 that she does not recall which bill.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.