OTLA Sidebar May/June 2020

6 • SIDEBAR • May–June 2020 endorsement of Dexter said, “In nor- mal times, Stephenson would earn our nod, but these aren’t normal times.” Evidently the voters agreed. We are quite concerned that these physicians, both of whom took contri- butions from hospitals and the insur- ance and nursing home industries, will be problematic on access to justice issues. We were also disappointed that OTLA member and Guardian Max Whittington lost his long-shot bid in HD 3 in Grants Pass. Whittington got into the race just as the pandemic broke, and ended 3rd in a 4-way race in which each of the other candi- dates had establishment Republican support. In the win column, OTLA played key roles in electing four first-time candidates to the Oregon House. Wlnsvey Campos in Beaverton, Khanh Pham in SE Portland, Ricki Ruiz in Gresham, and Dacia Grayber in Tigard are all passionate supporters of civil justice. They all won hotly contested primaries and are launching bright legislative careers. All four are sure winners in No- vember. Campos is a housing rights advocate. Pham works on climate justice issues, and Ruiz is a community organizer and school board member in Rockwood. Grayber is an elementary school teacher turned firefighter. Generational change is taking place in the House. These four candi- dates are on average 34 years younger than the incumbents they replace. Dr. Dexter is 38 years younger than her predecessor, the late Mitch Greenlick, a staunch ally who passed away in May at age 85. OTLA PAC was also an early sup- porter of long-time ally Rep. Rob Nosse. He turned back a primary challenger and will run unopposed for his SE Portland seat in November. We were also thrilled to help Til- lamook Mayor Suzanne Weber defeat Vineeta Lower in her primary in HD 32 on the north coast. Mayor Weber was one of the most passionate sup- porters of civil justice issues we inter- viewed this cycle. She has personal PRIMARIES continued from page 5 experience with the civil justice system and a dear friend’s life was forever changed by medical negligence. Mayor Webber understands that her friend deserved and needed “every nickel” of the significant settlement to put her life back together. Finally, we also supported Repub- lican Scott Sword in his primary in eastern Linn and Marion counties. He finished a strong second in a six-way Republican primary, only 36 votes behind the victor Jami Cate at press time. OTLA PAC only contributes to state legislative races but we do want to recognize OTLA member Shemia Fagan , who won the Democratic primary for Secretary of State. She will face Republican State Senator Kim Thatcher in November. Sena- tor thatcher is no friend to access to justice for our clients. As a member of the senate Judiciary Committee, she time and time again votes against our clients and access to justice for Oregonians.