SALEM, Ore. -- As Oregon's May 17 primary election approaches, top Republican governor candidates are employing different campaign finance strategies.
But the campaigns are getting off the ground with a stutter-step.
It's likely Oregon's conservative electorate need some introductions to candidates Bud Pierce and Allen Alley, said Jim Moore, professor and director of the Tom McCall Center for Policy Innovation at Pacific University.
Ballots will be mailed to voters April 27. But it's only now that Pierce and Alley are pushing hard to reach voters, Moore said, adding that past primaries felt more urgent.
To reach voters, Alley and Pierce need campaign money to buy mass media advertising. They're getting funds in two different ways.
Pierce, a Salem oncologist, is spending his own money on the race, framing his self-funded campaign as independent of special interests. He's spent more than $1 million so far.
By contrast, Alley, a Hillsboro businessman, is collecting contributions from traditional sources: wealthy donors.
Moore said Pierce's self-funded campaign shows his outsider status with Oregon's conservative donor base.
Alley's ability to raise money suggests donors are betting on him to win the primary, Moore said.
Alley's is a familiar name to Oregon's conservative donors.
Alley ran unsuccessfully for treasurer and governor and worked for a year in the office of Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat. (Voter pamphlets for the upcoming primary just say Alley worked in the governor's office, foregoing mention of Kulongoski or the Democratic Party.)
Pierce has not sought public office before running for governor.
The candidates' rhetoric on fundraising also reflects political narratives sweeping the nation.
By touting his financial independence, Pierce touches on the populist wave that's captivated conservatives nationwide, Moore said.
Being an outsider is now in.
Moore said Pierce's statements hearken back to the approaches of one-time presidential candidate Ross Perot and West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller. They both self-financed their campaigns and were vocal about it.
Self-financing wasn't always en vogue.
"It used to be that if you were rich and spent money on your campaign people would say, 'You are trying to buy the election,' " Moore said. "I think the truth behind it is yes, you’re not beholden to the special interests. But it shows that you’re also not getting strong support from the normal Republican sources."
For his part, Alley has said his fundraising abilities show that people are looking to him as a potential leader.
Earlier, Pierce said Alley is running an "establishment" campaign because of his donors, though Alley, too, has never held elected office.
In an interview earlier this month, Alley said there is "no direct tie at all in any way, shape or form" between his donors and who might be able to bend his ear on policy, should he become governor.
Despite Pierce providing the overwhelming majority of his campaign funds, he has also accepted several large contributions:
$50,000 from the Doctors for a Healthy Community political action committee
$50,000 from Larry Tokarski, president of Mountain West Investment Corporation
$10,000 from Mountain West Investment Corporation
$10,000 from Bonaventure Senior Living
$10,000 from Richard Withnell of Withnell Motor Company
$10,000 from the political action committee of former Republican Rep. Vicki Berger
Yet because of the "quiet" nature of the campaign so far, Moore said Republican voters will likely choose their primary candidate based on name recognition and information in voter's pamphlets.
To get their names out there, Alley and Pierce will continue to spend as the election inches closer.
"They have to introduce themselves to the mass of Republicans," Moore said. "You just can’t reach that many people with what they have been doing."
The Alley campaign just this past week spent up to $16,250 for newspaper inserts resembling a full-size paper.
gfriedman2@statesmanjournal.com, 503-399-6653. Follow on Twitter @GordonRFriedman
Republican candidates for governor, as listed in the state voter's pamphlet:
For more, see OregonVotes.gov.
