Rick Metsger comes in second

The Independent Party of Oregon, the state's third largest political party, has endorsed State Senator Vicki Walker in the Democratic Primary race for Secretary of State.

The endorsement was based on their records and the May 3 debate among the 3 Democratic candidates, hosted by the Democracy Action Group of the First Unitarian Church and the Alliance for Democracy, where the candidates answered detailed questions posed by Oregon activists very involved in election issues.

"Senator Walker's answers were most consistent with the principles of the Independent Party, particularly her support for a constitutional amendment to ensure activation and protection of the campaign finance limits passed by Oregon voters in 2006," said party founder Linda Williams.

Vicki Walker was the chief co-sponsor (along with Senator Rick Metsger) of SB 408 (2005), which stopped the private utilities from charging Oregon ratepayers for "income taxes" that the utilities actually never paid. These charges had amounted to over $1 billion since 1997. She also played a pivotal role in stopping the 2003-05 efforts of Neil Goldschmidt and the Texas Pacific Group (leveraged buyout artists) from taking over Portland General Electric Co. (PGE) and then probably dismantling it--which Texas Pacific Group later did to utilities it bought in Texas--with profits in the billions of dollars.

These actions caused the big money interests make her 2006 race for the State Senate the most expensive in Oregon history. Her opponent's campaign spent over $734,000 (about $31 per vote), nearly all coming from corporate-funded PACs. To overcome the paid media barrage, she was compelled to raise huge sums, so she knows exactly the effects of Oregon's current "system" of having no limits whatsoever on political contributions.

Vicki Walker has a history of standing up to powerful interests, including those within her own party. "We would like the Secretary of State be even-handed and nonpartisan in the role of the state's chief election officer," said Williams. Vicki Walker is also open to innovative approaches to better reflect the will of voters, including Instant Runoff Voting, fusion voting, and consistent reporting of campaign contributions by both sides in ballot measure contests.

Her website, http://www.vickiwalker.com, includes a detailed discussion of her ideas to level the political playing field, such as prohibiting pass-through political contributions (also banned by our Measure 47) and requiring that the Voters Pamphlet list the top five contributors for each measure.

The Independent Party also gave very serious consideration to endorsing Senator Rick Metsger. Of the 3 candidates, he was the only one to vote against HB 2614 (2005), which made it far more difficult for independent candidates to qualify for the Oregon ballot. The enactment of bill, with overwhelming support from both Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature, was a major factor in the formation of the Independent Party in 2006.

"Senator Metsger has been a champion for issues that matter to our members. In 2005, he joined Senator Walker as a co-sponsor on SB 408 to stop the private utilities from charging ratepayers for income taxes they never paid. He certainly fits the profile of the kind of candidate we can support, and we look forward to working with him in the future," said party Secretary, Sal Peralta.