Over the weekend, the Oregonian ran what they surely believed was a hard-hitting expose on union spending on political campaigns. What the story boiled down to was this: Labor unions spend money on political campaigns, just like other groups, and in Oregon they win elections because they’re more in touch with what a majority of Oregonians want.
But buried in the story, almost as an aside, is this little nugget: “Without the union support, the Democrats would have had a hard time staying financially competitive with Republicans, who slightly outraised them thanks to strong support from business interests.”
Catch that? Republicans outspent Democrats, and they did it thanks to big campaign contributions from the corporate lobby. And yet, they still lost seats in the legislature, giving Democrats a strong majority.
So where’s the big front page story about campaign spending by business interests? Why isn’t the headline, “Despite outspending everyone else, Oregon’s business lobby rebuffed by voters”?
The bottom line is that the progressive movement in Oregon is strong because it reflects the values and priorities of a majority of Oregonians. The corporate lobby and their preferred political party continue to lose for one simple reason: Their agenda and the Oregonian’s editorial positions (tax cuts for big corporations and the rich, cutting environmental regulations, budget cuts that lead to big class sizes, etc.) are completely at odds with voters.
Oregon’s progressive community—including labor unions, educators, environmentalists, women’s health advocates, the GLBT community, small businesses, and many others—is strong because we work together toward a common goal: Protecting the priorities that make Oregon great. That’s the real story.
“Colleagues, I want to take this opportunity to tell you a little bit more about a success story called Oregon Connections Academy, or ORCA,” Wingard began. He spent the next few minutes extolling the virtues of the Scio-based online school, charting its growth from just a couple hundred students in 2005 to more than 2,600 four years later. 
After spending hours going through video footage and other public records from the Clackamas County Elections office, Our Oregon has found a number of troubling facts that continue to call into question the ability of Clerk Sherry Hall’s office to administer elections.
Rep. Dennis Richardson (R-Central Point) created a national outcry when he sent an email to school superintendents saying that the tragedy was “another heart breaking failure of school personnel to ensure the protection of innocent children and adults.” 
Reining in these out-of-control tax breaks—particularly for large corporations and the wealthy—could provide hundreds of millions of dollars to fund Oregon’s basic priorities: Our schools, senior care, and the basic services that keep our communities safe and healthy.