Oregon
Oregon’s ‘30 Years War’ over campaign finance reform approaches its final battle – Oregon Capital Chronicle
How did we get to the point in Oregon’s current legislative session that leaders of both parties and representatives of major business and labor groups are uniting in an effort to enact long-overdue limits on big money donations to candidate campaigns?
One reason: Voters clearly want something done. A 2023 poll by the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center found 75% of Oregonians agree that “laws should be passed to regulate unlimited money in political campaigns.”
Another reason: Reformers have used the initiative process to keep this issue in front of voters and the courts for 30 years now.
But the real reason: With voter approval of a constitutional amendment to authorize campaign funding and spending limits in 2020, sponsors of the latest campaign finance reform initiative (Initiative Petition 9) have the political winds at their back as they work to qualify their measure for this year’s general election ballot.
In short, the good government reformers appear to be holding a winning hand, and institutional insiders want to reshuffle the deck. But it has taken too long, with too many election wins overturned in unfriendly courtrooms and promises made but never delivered by cagey lawmakers for the reformers to fold their hand now.
For three decades, Oregon voters have been supporting ballot initiatives to limit the role of big money in candidate elections. In 1994, they approved Measure 9 by 72% in favor and 28% against to limit contributions to candidates and campaign spending. But, just three years later, the Oregon Supreme Court gutted the measure and left candidates free to pursue unlimited contributions from wealthy donors and well-funded political action committees.
I remember sitting in a legislative hearing room on the February morning in 1997 when the Supreme Court released its decision (in Vannatta v. Keisling) invalidating the contribution limits in Measure 9. A staff person whispered the news to the chair of the committee, who immediately recessed the hearing, took a few steps from the dais and, gesturing like a gambler pulling the lever of a slot machine, quipped to those nearby: “Ka-ching, ka-ching.” I thought at the time: That says it all.
But the good government groups behind Measure 9 never gave up. They took a two-pronged approach to the ballot in 2006, with proposals to amend the state constitution to authorize campaign contribution and spending limits (Measure 46) and another to place specific limits in statute (Measure 47). The former failed, but voters approved the contribution limits in the latter, only to have the secretary of state declare them unenforceable and the courts to affirm them as inoperative without a constitutional amendment or a reversal of the Vannatta decision.
Then, in 2020, the reformers got both. The Oregon Supreme Court reversed its decision in the Vannatta case in response to yet another campaign finance measure approved by the voters in Multnomah County. And, later that year, voters statewide approved a constitutional amendment (Measure 107) to allow the enactment of campaign contribution and spending limits at the state and local level. The vote for Measure 107 was 78% in favor, even stronger than the vote for Measure 9 in 1994.
In the wake of these victories, the drafters of IP 9 are well on their way to delivering a viable campaign finance proposal to Oregon voters. According to the summary of IP 9’s provisions approved by the Oregon Supreme Court, the initiative would limit contributions to candidates and political committees, limit the carry forward of unspent campaign funds after elections and require political advertisements to identify their top four funders, among other provisions.
If ever there was a more determined and singularly focused use of the initiative process to advance the will of the voters over the entrenched and dogged resistance of institutional interests, I can’t think of one. And, whatever one thinks of the mind-numbing details of campaign contribution limits and the risk of driving big money into the dark corners of independent expenditure campaigns, the reformers who brought us to this point deserve our respect.
Perhaps it is a kind of respect that they’re now getting from the Legislature. Lawmakers are not only paying attention, they’re trying to enact legislation that will give themselves a first mover advantage on an issue they’ve been resisting for decades.
In these election year legislative sessions, it’s not unusual for the governor and lawmakers to engage with the sponsors of competing ballot measures, broker compromises and enact legislation to avoid what are always called “costly ballot measure fights.” In other instances, they’ve joined those fights, by referring their own alternatives to the ballot.
But what’s happening this time is different. Backers of IP 9 don’t want to negotiate any changes; they’re confident that they’ll have the support of the voters in November. Meanwhile, lawmakers and their major donors aren’t interested in going head-to-head with IP 9 by sending their own measure to the ballot. Instead, by enacting their own proposal, legislators hope to convince voters that there’s nothing to see here anymore and it’s time to move on to other issues.
I’m not taking sides at this point on the merits of the Legislature’s plan (House Bill 4024-3) versus IP 9. But I do think voters deserve to consider any alternative proposal from the Legislature on equal ground with IP 9.
For now, it’s worth recognizing what has created this moment of legislative urgency and business-labor cooperation. As a spokesperson for Oregon Business and Industry, the state’s largest business group, told Oregon Public Broadcasting, “We think the current system, frankly, works just fine. But we’re responding to a reality where campaign finance reform is coming. The days of the current system are over.”
Give credit to the backers of IP 9 for creating that reality. And stay tuned for what’s likely to be the final battle in Oregon’s “30 Years War” over campaign finance reform in which the good government reformers once again take on the institutional insiders.
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CORVALLIS — It was a No One Watches Bowl for the ages.
And, yeah, I think that’s probably what they ought to call this thing. Forget the Pac-2 championship or the Left Behind Bowl. The schools need to lean into that bitter mondegreen of Lee Corso’s actual quote, the one that left folks so intensely riled a year ago. Because the display from Oregon State and Washington State on Saturday, well, that was certainly worth watching.
And for Beavers fans, worth celebrating.
A week after hitting the low point of Trent Bray’s tenure, the Beavers responded with a brilliant new high: A thrilling 41-38 win over the Cougars.
It was secured when Everett Hayes’ sent a 55-yard field goal just inside the right upright with 20 seconds remaining.
If you’re the type to quibble with whether a win over a Washington State team on the periphery of the top 25 truly merited an orange crush of fans storming the field, well, you’re just going to have to let them have this one.
That’s what you do when you beat your rival. Yes, I said rival.
Maybe it’s premature, but with Oregon continuing to distance itself from Oregon State, Beavers fans should let go of the Ducks — at least in football — and embrace this new, developing rivalry that on Saturday delivered a classic.
Will it be the same? Of course not. Nothing is. But unlike with the Ducks of the Big Ten, Washington State gives the Beavers a foil that is part of a shared experience. That has fought similar battles only to end up on the same field at the end of the season.
That’s what made Saturday’s win so sweet for Beavers fans. It was catharsis.
For a long season.
For a long year.
Saturday marked 364 days since Jonathan Smith announced his decision to leave for Michigan State. (How do you plan to observe the anniversary on Monday?) And while not every issue this program has faced can be hung on that moment, it was the beginning of the unraveling.
Assistant coaches followed Smith to Michigan State. Players jumped into the transfer portal. The Beavers were left with a roster, and frankly also a coaching staff, with too many questions and not enough answers.
I’m not alone in buying that the game with Washington State has achieved genuine rivalry status.
“I do and I have, to be honest with you,” said Bray, who grew up in Pullman and played for the Beavers. “It always has been.”
Maybe to some degree. But not a full-fledged rivalry with emotion and pride on the line.
Suddenly, it has all of that.
Especially after everything the Beavers and their fans have been through, off the field and on.
By Saturday, Oregon State was 4-6, riding a five-game losing streak. If this season even had a rock bottom, you hoped it was that inexcusable 28-zilch Coach Bray seat-warmer at Air Force. But you really couldn’t be sure, especially not against a WSU team that had harbored aspirations of crashing the College Football Playoff before crashing out against New Mexico last week.
So what happened?
Starting quarterback Ben Gulbranson got healthy after missing the trip to Air Force with a concussion, offensive coordinator Ryan Gunderson simplified the playbook, and the Beavers did something they had been unable to do in close games against Nevada and San Jose State.
They found a way.
Gulbranson overcame two second-half interceptions to complete a gotta-have-it fourth-down pass over the middle to Trent Walker to set up the go-ahead field goal. Before that, Jaden Robinson got a paw on a fumble to give the Beavers the ball at midfield when it seemed like it would, in fact, be Washington State that would milk the clock and kick a game-winner.
So when the game ended, and fans streamed onto the field, it was more than just a celebration of a single game.
“They’re the best fanbase out there,” Gulbranson said, “and I’m really happy that we could finish this one off for them and finish the season off right, here at Reser (Stadium).”
Does that make up for a season of frustration? Does it render moot the questions of a week ago? Of course not. Bray has serious questions to answer about the state of his team and the roster. He has a long way to go before he has a team that can contend for the CFP. He needs to find a quarterback.
This season has been a whiff at the most important position on the field. But Gulbranson is a tough customer. After he was passed over the job for a third consecutive year, he stayed ready for a third consecutive year, and stepped into the role when called upon for the third consecutive year.
On Saturday, he completed 22 of 34 passes for 294 yards. Just enough to tough out the most meaningful victory of the year.
You have to wonder if the Beavers might not have been able to pick off a few more wins if they had just trusted their Steady Eddie, Reliable Ben from the beginning.
Now, the Beavers are likely a week away from the end of their season. At 5-6, a bowl game is almost certainly out of reach.
They would have to beat No. 12 Boise State on the blue turf next week and that’s a tough ask of any team. Especially with the way Ashton Jeanty slices through defenses and the trouble OSU has had stopping the run.
So Saturday against the Cougars felt like the Beavers’ bowl game.
And maybe that’s the way it should be for two programs caught in this awkward purgatory. They are joined at the hip, not by choice but by necessity. Whether that makes them “buddies” or not, that’s for others to Dickert — I mean, dicker over.
But since when should rivals pretend to be friends? Beavers and Ducks never did.
There’s no replacing what the annual matchup with Oregon has meant to the state, but with that game now a nonconference matchup and not even a sure bet to be played beyond next season, it is, quite sadly, hard to put too much stock into anymore.
But Washington State? The Beavers will play the Cougars twice next season to highlight a schedule held together with duct tape and bubble gum.
And if this new iteration of the Pac-12 that the schools fought so hard for is going to make it and have an identity of its own, OSU and WSU have to be at the center of it.
A good rivalry needs a name.
The Beavers and Cougars can thank Corso for theirs, even if he was misheard, misunderstood and misquoted.
Maybe nobody in the Power Four conferences wanted these two schools.
But if Saturday is an indicator of how this rivalry is going to go, everyone will be watching.
— Bill Oram is the sports columnist at The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Oregon State will look to salvage its disappointing season this weekend in the final home game of the year.
The Beavers (4-6) will return to Reser Stadium as they host Washington State (8-2) at 4 p.m. Saturday in a clash of Pac-12 rivals.
After a promising start to the year, Oregon State has cratered during the final month of the season and is in the midst of a five-game losing streak. Last week, the Beavers suffered one of the worst losses in recent program history during a 28-0 loss at Air Force.
“Last week was obviously very disappointing; we did not play well in any phase of the game,” Oregon State head coach Trent Bray said Monday. “We’ve gotta look at what we’re doing, what we’re asking them to do and what they do well and get that fixed immediately. That was really the first game that was disappointing to watch us play. I think every other game this year we’re in close games, we’re competing, we’re at it. That wasn’t it on Saturday, and that’s disappointing.”
Watch Oregon State football vs. Washington State live on Fubo (free trial)
Watch Oregon State football vs. Washington State live on Sling TV
Oregon State vs Washington State score updates
This section will be updated when the game begins.
Oregon State vs Washington State time today
- Date: Saturday, Nov. 23
- Time: 4 p.m.
- Location: Reser Stadium, Corvallis, Oregon
What channel is Oregon State vs Washington State game on today?
- TV channel: The CW
- Radio: KEJO (1240 AM, 93.7 FM, Corvallis), KKNX (840 AM, 105.1 FM, Eugene), KBZY (1490 AM, Salem), KEX (1190 AM, Portland).
- Streaming: Fubo (free trial), Watch ESPN
Oregon State vs. Washington State will be broadcast nationally on The CW in Week 13 of the 2024 college football season. Ted Robinson and Ryan Lead will call the game from the booth from Reser Stadium, with Nigel Burton reporting from the sidelines. Streaming options for the game include FUBO, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.
Oregon State vs Washington State history
- Series record: Washington State leads, 57-47-3
- Oregon State’s last win: 2022 (24-10, in Corvallis)
- Washington State’s last win: 2023 (38-35, in Pullman, Wash.)
Oregon State vs Washington State betting odds
Game lines and odds from BetMGM as of Friday:
- Spread: Washington State by 11.5
- Over/under: 56.5
- Moneyline: Washington State -450, Oregon State +340
Oregon State vs Washington State weather update
Saturday’s forecast for Corvallis calls for a high of 51 with a temperature of about 48 degrees and a 24% chance of rain at kickoff.
Oregon State football 2024 schedule
- Aug. 31 — Idaho State (W, 38-15)
- Sept. 7 — at San Diego State (W, 21-0)
- Sept. 14 — Oregon (L, 49-14)
- Sept. 21 — Purdue (W, 38-21)
- Oct. 5 — Colorado State (W, 39-21)
- Oct. 12 — at Nevada (L, 42, 37)
- Oct. 19 — UNLV (L, 33-25)
- Oct 26 — at California (L, 44-7)
- Nov. 9 — San Jose State (L, 24-13)
- Nov. 16 — at Air Force (L, 28-0)
- Nov. 23 — Washington State
- Nov. 29 — at Boise State
- Record: 4-6
Washington State football 2024 schedule
- Aug. 31 — Portland State (W, 70-30)
- Sept. 7 — Texas Tech (W, 37-16)
- Sept. 14 — at Washington (W, 24-19)
- Sept. 20 — San Jose State (W, 52-52 2 OT)
- Sept. 28 — at Boise State (L, 45-24)
- Oct. 12 — at Fresno State (W, 25-17)
- Oct. 19 — Hawai’i (W, 42-10)
- Oct. 26 — at San Diego State (W, 29-26)
- Nov. 9 — Utah State (W, 49-28)
- Nov. 16 — at New Mexico (L, 38-35)
- Nov. 23 — at Oregon State
- Nov. 30 — Wyoming
- Record: 8-2
Oregon State football news
Oregon State’s abysmal 2024 football season reaches new low with loss to Air Force
(Men’s basketball) ‘We learned quite a lesson;’ Oregon State shows signs of progress in close loss to Oregon
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Jarrid Denney covers high school sports and Oregon State for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at JDenney@salem.gannett.com or on X @jarrid_denney.
Who: Washington State (8-2) vs Oregon State (4-6)
When: 4 p.m.
Where: Reser Stadium – Corvallis, Ore.
Coaches: Trent Bray (1st season, 4-6) vs Jake Dickert (23-18, 4th year, 3rd full)
Spread: Washington State -11.5
How to watch: The CW
How to listen: CLICK HERE
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Oregon State By The Numbers
3 – Kicks and punts blocked by OSU’s special teams this year, tied for eighth nationally.
5 – Current Beavers who recorded a statistic in last season’s game against Washington State, four of which came on defense. The fifth was punter Josh Green.
14 – Rushing scores for Anthony Hankerson this season, tying him with Jacquizz Rodgers for seventh at OSU.
19 – Players the Beavers will be honoring pre-game as part of Senior Day.33:23 – Oregon State’s time of possession, which ranks fifth nationally. The Beavers dropped almost two minutes after holding the ball just 18:04 at Air Force.
54 – Career starts for Joshua Gray, who was recently invited to the East-West Shrine Game. The 54 starts are an OSU career record.
65 – Catches for Trent Walker this season. He needs five for the 15th 70-yard reception season ever by a Beaver.
111 – Rush yards needed by Anthony Hankerson for the 19th 1,000-yard season effort in Oregon State history.
Against Washington State
– Oregon State and Washington State have played every year dating back to 2003.
– Oregon State snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Cougars with a 24-10 victory in 2022 in Corvallis. Prior to the eight-game losing streak, however, the Beavers had won three straight, six-of-seven and eight-of-10 from 2004 to 2013.
– Deshaun Fenwick had 101 rush yards and three touchdowns in last season’s 38-35 loss. The Cougars took a 35-14 lead into the fourth quarter but OSU scored 21 in the final 15.
– Head Coach Trent Bray attended Pullman High School. His father, Craig, coached in two different stints at Washington State, in 1987, and then again from 1994-99. Bray’s mother, Kaprice, was also the Head Coach for volleyball at Washington State in 1985.
– Sean Mannion’s 493 passing yards in the 2013 game marks the Oregon State single-game record. He followed that up with 419 yards a year later.
– Jake Luton had one of 17 400-yard efforts in OSU history when he passed for 408 in 2019.
Ohio high school football scores for regional finals: Friday, Nov. 22, 2024
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