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Oregon Democrats were bounced from the secretary of states office in 2016. The states dominant political party has no intention of making it ahabit.

The question, now, is who they put forward for thegig.

On May 19, Democrats will choose between state Sen. Mark Hass, state Sen. Shemia Fagan, and former Congressional candidate Jamie McLeod-Skinner as the partys standard-bearer in a run to reclaim the states second-highest executiveoffice.

The candidates are vying for a role that wields major power. Not only does Oregons secretary of state oversee elections, auditing, and business registry, it is first in line to assume the governorship if the elected governor leaves office or is incapacitated. Chances are whoever wins the seat will also oversee implementation and enforcement of campaign finance contributions inOregon.

McLeod-Skinner, Hass and Fagan largely share a vision of how the secretary of state should operate in increasingly partisan times. They all vow to make it easier to register to vote and to ease rules on when voters must mail their ballots. Each has ideas for prioritizing election security and pushing back against disinformation. They bring similar views about the importance of state audits, which the secretaryoversees.

On the Republican side, current Secretary of State Bev Clarno appointed to the position after the death of former Secretary Dennis Richardson is not running for election. State Sen. Kim Thatcher of Keizer announced her candidacy in early February, making clear at the time shed have preferred another Republican stepup.

The owner of a construction contracting firm and 15-year veteran of the statehouse, Thatcher bills herself as an experienced leader in times of crisis. Shes also the only Republican in the race with an established campaign infrastructure. Her opponent, David Stauffer, has run for governor twice first as a Democrat, then a Republican each time receiving less than 3% of the primary vote. Asin earlierraces, a big part of Stauffers campaign for Secretary of State is a series of inventions, including his idea for a system of commuter water slides that could ferry workers between Portland and Vancouver, Wash., viaskiff.

Given that field, the Democratic primary is Mays more compelling race. Heres a rundown of the candidates, and where they stand on keyissues.

Jamie McLeodSkinner.

EmilyCureton/OPB

A Race Car Driver And AMechanic

An unknown until two years ago, McLeod-Skinner made waves in 2018 by running an energetic race against U.S. Rep. Greg Walden in the states massive, heavily Republican 2nd CongressionalDistrict.

By mounting a challenge, McLeod-Skinner was basically launching herself against a brick wall. She lost by 17 points, which, though not close, was still Waldens most competitive race since he first won the seat in1998.

McLeod-Skinner argues today that her candidacy distracted Walden, not allowing him to spend his sizable campaign war chest supporting congressional Republicans throughout the country and helping Democrats reclaim the House. (Federal records show Walden still had a hand in distributing tens of thousands of dollars for Republican campaigns.) And, she says, it created a road map for energizing Eastern OregonDemocrats.

An attorney and consultant, McLeod-Skinner did relief work in Kosovo and Bosnia before spending a decade working as a city planner and environmental planner in the Bay Area. She also spent eight years as an elected city councilmember in Santa Clara, California. In 2016, she was hired as the city manager of the southern Oregon city of Phoenix but was fired after four months amid circumstances that aredisputed.

She is currently an elected board member of the Jefferson County Education ServicesDistrict.

McLeod-Skinner, 52, says her years working within government, alongside serving an elected role, have given her a broader perspective than other candidates in therace.

Its a race car driver versus a mechanic, and if you want a car or a vehicle to work, both those roles are important, she said. Ive actually done both, but were talking about two [other candidates] who have just been race car drivers and not also been amechanic.

On the campaign trail, McLeod-Skinner revels in wonkery. She cites obscure leadership frameworks by name, and calls auditssexy.

Its fun finding a way to make government work effectively, she said, nodding to criticisms leveled against Richardson, who some Democrats believed launched overly political audits. Its not about being abully.

If elected, McLeod-Skinner plans to conduct audits to make sure Oregonians are being treated fairly by state agencies. She also pledges to look into organizations that are recipients of state contracts and vows to set strict performance metrics for herself, such as requiring voter participation to increase particularly among underserved populations. Cybersecurity will be a major focus of her elections work, shesays.

Perhaps more than policy or technical expertise, though, McLeod-Skinner is hoping to sell Democrats on a fresh perspective. As a resident of small-town Central Oregon, she believes she can act as a salve to the misunderstandings between rural and urban Oregonians that she says plague discourse in the state. And as the only candidate voluntarily limiting campaign contributions and eschewing corporate donations altogether McCleod-Skinner says shes uniquely qualified to represent the interests of everydayOregonians.

There are a lot of voices around our state who are not feeling heard, she says. Not just rural Democrats, but especially communities of color in urban areas are really frustrated with the status quo. Those are the organizations and individuals that are supporting me and myrace.

Among those supporters is the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, which notes McLeod-Skinners history helping resettle refugees in Silicon Valley and supporting immigrant rights in Oregon in its reasons for endorsingher.

Jamies fresh perspective pushes for a multi-narrative approach to the accessibility and preservation of Oregons history, APANO political director Robin Ye said in an email. APANO is excited to support Jamie as she helps expand election security and voter access, audit for accountability, and ensure that Oregon supports allOregonians.

Also among McLeod-Skinners supporters: former Secretary of State Jeanne Atkinson, state Rep. Alisa Keny-Guyer, D-Portland, and state Sen. Jeff Golden,D-Ashland.

State Sen. MarkHass.

Bradley W.Parks/OPB

A Record Of BigThings

Hass has spent nearly two decades serving as a legislator he was elected three times as a state representative for a Washington County district before moving to the Senate in 2007 but his experience in the Capitol predates even that. He spent more than 15 years as a reporter for KATU, covering statehouse issues in theprocess.

That wealth of experience is a key tothe sales pitch Hass, 63, has made since September. In appearances and campaign ads, Hass toutslessons he learned whileserving as a lawmaker through pastrecessions.

If anything, these times put an exclamation point behind the fact that we need someone who is experienced and steady in state government, Hass told OPB recently Ive been through some crises inOregon.

As chair of the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee, Hass has an influence on state tax policy and command of revenue issues. Lately, he has touted his own influence in coaxing lawmakers to build up historic reserves in recent years, money that will be needed as state taxes tank in the COVID-19pandemic.

Of all of the revenue issues that Im most proud of adopting and implementing and funding these reserve funds are probably the most significant, hesaid.

Thats something of a pivot for Hass. Early on in the campaign before the realities of a massive recession were playing out throughout Oregon he more prominently toutedhis role as an architect of a new tax on business sales. Prior to the economic collapse, that tax, known as the Student Success Act, had been expected to deliver roughly $1 billion a year to the states underfunded K-12 schools. Its impact is nowunclear.

Hass, who says he ran for office to improve things for students, also lists among his accomplishments the Oregon Promise, a grant program that offers free community college to Oregon high school graduates, and his central role pushing full-day kindergarten in Oregon publicschools.

Im the person in this race who has a record of big things, Hass often says in his campaignpitch.

Hasss priorities include creating an office of cybersecurity within the Secretary of States office, pressing for statewide ranked-choice voting, conducting audits through a climate change lens, auditing his own Student Success Act, and pushing for same-day voterregistration.

(Most candidates in the Democratic race agree on those issues, but Hass has often been the first to introduce items as policyplanks.)

Well-regarded in the statehouse, Hass has been passed over in the primary by many of the groups that often help power Oregon Democrats to statewide victory. One reason: Hass voted yes in 2019 on a bill that trimmed pension benefits for public employees a move that infuriated public-sector unions, but ensured a smoother path for the Student SuccessAct.

Businesses have stepped in with help. Hass has seen support in the race from Nike, Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle and Oregon Business & Industry. Hes also got the backing of the states 23,000Teamsters.

He has a long history in Oregon politics. He knows everyone, said Mark McPherson, of the Joint Council of Teamsters No. 37. We felt he had the best opportunity in these really polarized political times were living in to reach across the aisle and try to work with everyone and getconsensus.

Hass also has support from two former secretaries of state, Bill Bradbury and Phil Kiesling, along with an array of state and local electedofficials.

Oregon state Sen.ShemiaFagan.

Bradley W.Parks/OPB

Progressing And Advancing The Ball

The Democratic race was upended on Feb. 11, when Jennifer Williamson dropped out of the race.

A charismatic former House majority leader, Williamson was considered a leading candidate for the nomination. She quit, she said, because of a forthcoming story from Willamette Week that questioned her use of campaign funds expenses that Williamson and the newspaper alike concluded werelegal.

Williamson had based her race on being the most progressive choice, and her departure created a hole in the field and unique opportunity for one of her closest allies in the Capitol. A little more than two weeks after Williamson departed, state Sen. Shemia Fagan entered the race.

Fagan, 38, is an employment attorney and former two-term state representative from Clackamas. She took two years off from the Legislature before launching a successful insurgent campaign against incumbent Democratic Sen. Rod Monroe in2018.

While her quick-draw candidacy might be seen as opportunistic, Fagan can credibly claim a long-term interest in issues that relate to the office. That includes work to build an automatic voter registration system in the state and to finally force a Senate vote on joining an interstate compact that could render the Electoral Collegemoot.

In 2019, Fagan also unsuccessfully pressed for a vote to lower Oregons voting age to 16 a policy she still touts. As a lawmaker, she has been more active than most about trying to demystify the legislative process for constituents, producing videos and podcasts explaining how the Capitolworks.

I have obviously for a long time thought I would love to run for secretary of state, shesaid.

She contends her legislative accomplishments including helping to shepherd statewide rent control through the Senate Housing Committee she chairs are as impressive as Hasss. Fagan also points to her upbringing in Dufur and The Dalles as evidence she can bring a rural viewpoint similar toMcLeod-Skinners.

I think I bring the best of what youre all highlighting, but I bring it all in one candidate, Fagan says she told one of her rivals upon entering the race (she refused to saywhich).

Policy-wise, Fagans stances dont differ much from her opponents. She supports ranked-choice voting, same-day voter registration, increasing election turnout, bolstering election security and increasing voterengagement.

Like Williamson before her, Fagan is running on a history of progressive votes that she says indicate the philosophy shell bring to the job. Sheoften talks about taking principled stands against the Democratic establishment both in taking on Monroe over his refusal to support rent control and in criticizing Senate Democrats habit of voting on legislation in private meetings, a practice that can seal a bills fate outside of the publiceye.

More striking, Fagan says she plans to be far more active than recent secretaries of state in using her platform to push lawmakers into agreeing with her on policymatters.

In any executive position, your job is to use the power of the bully pulpit to use the ability to go statewide with a message, she says. So if the problem is a senator in some area, you can literally go to their district and make the case to theirvoters.

Because the secretary of state oversees elections and audits, some feel the position should be made nonpartisan, similar to Oregons labor commissioner. Fagandisagrees.

When you look at other states right now, theres a ton of activist secretaries of state, she said. Theyre just a lot of Republican activists who are trying to shut down polling places and restrict voting. We can also have a secretary of state here in Oregon who sees their role as actually progressing and advancing the ball in all of theseareas.

Fagan jumped into the Secretary of State race just in time. While some organizations had already finalized their endorsements, she was able to quickly pitch herself to labor groups, pro-choice organizations, and conservation advocates, securing a bevy of highly sought supporters in short order. Her entrance into the race, in fact, was actively encouraged by unions, some of whom werent thrilled by the existing slate ofcandidates.

She has been endorsed byunions representinga wide swath of public employees, NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon, and the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, among othergroups.

We just see in Shemia someone whos a real leader in this state and hopefully for a long time in a very powerful way, said OLCV executive director Doug Moore. Shes intelligent, shes dynamic, she knows what she doesntknow.

Fagan also has the endorsement of former governor and secretary of state BarbaraRoberts.

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Election 2020: These 3 Oregon Democrats Say They're Most Qualified For Secretary Of State - OPB News