The Republican Party has just been dealt a crushing blow in Oregon.
The state Supreme Court has ruled that 10 GOP Senators who staged a walkout can be removed from the upcoming election ballot.
Talking Points…
- The walkout
- Banned from the election
- Analysis
Last year, 10 state senators in Oregon decided to stage a prolonged walkout to stymie legislation from passing through the state legislature. The walkout lasted about six weeks, with legislation for abortion access for minors and transition procedures for transgenders being stalled.
The senators took the stance that the legislation was too extreme and violated parental rights. The walkout stalled hundreds of pieces of legislation, but the state had already had measures in place to deal with a walkout, with walkouts in 2019, 2020, and 2021 serving a similar purpose. Measure 113 was introduced and passed by voters to deal with this specific issue.
The state legislature in Oregon is dominated by Democrats, so it was no surprise that they wanted to have a measure in place to penalize any walkouts, and Measure 113 was enacted here. Both sides of the aisle requested that the claim against the senators be litigated to its conclusion before the upcoming election to clarify whether these state senators could be on the ballot.
Unfortunately for those Republicans, the Democrat-dominated state Supreme Court decided the measure was valid, and they could not be on the ballot.
Senate Republican Leader Knopp is among those who were banned from the election. He was obviously not happy with the decision, stating:
"We obviously disagree with the Supreme Court's ruling. But more importantly, we are deeply disturbed by the chilling impact this decision will have to crush dissent."
Senator Daniel Bonham, another of the banned, also commented, stating:
"Every legal mind I've heard from, regardless of political leanings, has affirmed that when there is only one interpretation for the plain language of the law, that is final.
"The language incorporated into the Oregon Constitution was clear and yet the Supreme Court ruled that voter intent, which cannot be determined by any metric, supersedes the Constitution. There is no justice in a political court."
I understand that the measure was passed, but if the state Constitution covers this specific issue, then the measure that was passed is unconstitutional in and of itself. There was also a question regarding the actual wording of the measure, with the senators arguing that they were entitled to serve an additional term since the measure specifically states they cannot run for another election after their current term expires.
They argued that since the election is in November and their terms end in January, they should have been able to run for this election, then would have been barred from the following election. Again, the court did not agree, but I would expect them to try to take this to the Supreme Court, if possible, for further clarification.
Either way, this is a crushing blow to Republicans in the state, who will now have to fill 10 seats without an incumbent… more than likely resulting in some of those seats being lost to Democrats.
