With the Oregon House of Representatives one seat shy of a Democratic super-majority, state Republicans are working to gain control of the Democrat-controlled seats they see as vulnerable.
One of those is House District 20, where Republicans have taken the uncommon step of financially backing a preferred primary candidate in a contested race, much to the chagrin of the other candidate.
Promote Oregon, the political action committee associated with House Republican leadership, gave $20,000 to candidate Selma Pierce after recruiting her to run for the seat. Pierce is a retired dentist from Salem and wife of former Republican gubernatorial candidate Bud Pierce.
The other District 20 Republican candidate Kevin Chambers, a 27-year-old freelance web developer from Monmouth, called it an “unethical, questionable action from a PAC associated with party leadership."
He also said that Promote Oregon did not respond to several emails and texts requesting voter information, fundraising contacts, or invitations to meet and talk about the race. He needed to turn to local party officials to get that voter information, he said.
This all came after Republican officials told him Promote Oregon needed to maintain neutrality throughout the primary process, he said.
"Writing a check of $20,000 to a candidate while not communicating with me at all is not neutral," Chambers said.
House District 20 — which encompasses Independence, Monmouth, West Salem, and parts of south Salem — is a top priority for Republicans this election cycle. Many state politicos see it as a seat that could flip from Democrat to Republican because of the district's makeup and history.
Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, is in his second term, having won the seat after Republican Vicki Berger declined to run for re-election in 2014. She had held office since 2002.
Evans defeated Republican Kathy Goss by less than 750 votes in his first election, and won his second by 2,000 votes. He is unopposed in this year's Democratic primary.
Preston Mann, executive director of Promote Oregon, said that the PAC's neutrality only extends to proving access to voter lists and similar information to all candidates.
"We’re going to back the Republican that we think has the best chance to win in November," Mann said. "Selma Pierce represents the best opportunity to bring change to that district."
Jim Moore, Oregon political analyst, said this kind of support from Promote Oregon is rare, but not unheard of. He speculated that Republicans are spending money on Pierce now as a way to jump-start a general election campaign against Evans while voters are paying attention in the primary.
"It sounds like Chambers is not someone who is an insider with the Republican party," said Moore, director of the Tom McCall Center for Policy Innovation at Pacific University in Forest Grove.
Chambers said his main campaign issues are education and infrastructure, including building a third bridge across the Willamette River.
But since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and the subsequent calls for more gun control, he said that has become a major issue among voters.
Chambers calls himself a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.
"Owning a gun isn’t committing a crime," Chambers said. "I'm getting tired of the far overreach."
He said he doesn't support banning bump stocks or any other device that allows a semi-automatic firearm to mimic the firing rate of an automatic weapon. He also wouldn't have voted for the bill that passed this legislative session closing the so-called "boyfriend loophole" in domestic violence gun possession, though he said the bill had the right intentions.
It's on guns that Chambers draws the biggest distinction between himself and Pierce.
In response, Pierce said that it's important to balance the messages of both the Second Amendment of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, with its statement of the unalienable rights of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
"I am not interested in keeping guns from law abiding citizens," Pierce said.
What she is interested in, she said, are many issues that Chambers isn't talking about, including adding more affordable housing in the district.
Pierce said that the state needs to stop subsidizing affordable housing, because it can never be subsidized enough. Instead, complexes need to be built more cheaply and on cheaper land.
If it costs less to build housing, it will cost less to rent it, she said.
Another of her main issues is education, particularly making vocational training more available to high school students. Those courses are more applicable for some students, she said, and have a ripple effect — geometry suddenly seems more important if a student needs to use those skills in a cabinet-making class.
"What I would like is to be there for these people, for our District," Pierce said.
Pierce also has extensive volunteer experience in the area, including serving on the Oregon Community Foundation Leadership Council, Salem Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Chemeketa Community College Foundation Board and volunteering her time as a dentist for clinics.
"I try to do what’s best for the constituents, and that’s my primary purpose," Pierce said
Profile: Bud Pierce, doctor indomitable
Chambers' political action committee has received $545 in campaign contributions and several loans, and has spent $883, according to Secretary of State records.
Pierce, meanwhile, has raised $70,558 and spent $52,181, as of Tuesday morning.
The majority of her campaign's expenditures — nearly 87 percent — have gone to New Media Northwest, a public relations firm that also managed Bud Pierce's 2016 campaign for governor. Pierce lost to Gov. Kate Brown by 7.8 percentage points.
New Media Northwest president Chuck Adams said she wasn't considering a run for office until after state Republicans came to her. He said that party officials also looked into Bud Pierce's interest in the seat.
"This was not something that was on her radar," Adams said.
Adams said that there's no comparison between Chambers and Pierce when it comes to experience or depth of integration each candidate has within District 20.
Contact the reporter at cradnovich@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6864, or follow him on Twitter at @CDRadnovich
