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March 20, 2023 Political Note #548 Andrea Salinas Oregon 06
2024 General Election
Oregon law allows an election to be overturned if the losing candidate demonstrates “by clear and convincing evidence that [a] false statement reversed the outcome of the election. The circuit court can declare the office open or award money. Mike Erickson, the businessman who lost the 2022 election for Oregon 06 to Andrea Salinas, insists his lawsuit against his opponent is not intended to overturn the election. He wants money.
Andrea Salinas won a close election. She won by 2.5% — 7,210 votes. The race was fought on law and order issues, on Republican claims that a crackdown on criminals would put an end to increases in crime. Despite Mike Erickson’s denial, Andrea Salinas persisted in her statement that the charge of “felony possession of a controlled substance” against him had been dismissed when he agreed to a plea deal.
Erickson’s 2016 attorney explains. Her handwritten note which said that the Deputy District Attorney agreed to dismiss “felony possession” charges was a mistake even though it was included in the court records. The Deputy District Attorney who prosecuted Erickson, now working elsewhere, would not answer questions explaining he did not have an independent recollection of the case. The current District Attorney contributes to the conversation by saying the only charges filed against Erickson were misdemeanor driving under the influence to which Erickson had agreed.
The arresting officer found Erickson’s blood alcohol level was 1.2%, that he stumbled out of a bar to his pick-up, swerved, ran a stop sign, and turned without signaling. Erickson had a 5 milligram oxycodone pill in his wallet which, he explained he was holding for his wife.
Mike Erickson will probably find it difficult to get elected to public office. Has his case against Andrea Salinas done her harm? Right now, her ambition is reelection to Oregon’s 6th Congressional District – a district created as a result of Oregon’s population growth. In 2020, Joe Biden carried the area that became Oregon 06 by a 55-42 margin – a much larger margin than Andrea Salinas carried the district in 2022. Maybe, the lawsuit did her some harm.
Andrea Salinas grew up in California. Her dad came from Mexico with his parents. He remembers picking cotton and tomatoes before he was old enough to go to school. He earned his citizenship after fighting in Vietnam and spent most of his working life as a San Francisco cop.
California offered Andrea Salinas a chance to attend one of the great universities of the world – the University of California at Berkeley. Even with relatively low state university tuition, she found making her way through Cal took a bunch of jobs and a lot of time — seven years.
After interning in California for Senator Feinstein, Andrea Salinas went east — to the District of Columbia. She had finally graduated college and it was the early 1990s. She had $1,000 saved and one suitcase (as she recalls). GHW Bush was president after Ronald Reagan’s two terms and Washington was dominated by Republicans. Andrea Salinas had to scramble for work. Before she got a job as a staff assistant in Harry Reid’s office, she worked as a barista and as a staff assistant for the chemical manufacturers lobby.
Andrea Salinas’s job working for California Rep Pete Stark was the kind of job she was looking for. She became a legislative aide. Pete Stark was a Republican turned Democrat in opposition to the Vietnam War. He was the rare atheist in Congress and a belligerent. He picked more than a few personal fights with his colleagues. Andrea Salinas kept getting promoted, eventually to have responsibilities for tax and trade. She watched and learned and sometimes had to fix the consequences of her boss not thinking before he spoke.
Andrea Salinas’s next job was for a former college athlete, Oregon Congresswoman Darlene Hooley, whose start in politics was as a mom concerned about her son’s playground injury. Hooley had an entirely different repertoire for Andrea Salinas to learn from. Hooley was president of her congressional freshman class and won her sixth term defeating Michael Erickson (You remember him.).
Andrea Salinas moved to Oregon to run Hooley’s district office and stayed there. Over time, she worked for the National Treasury Employees Union, for Causa and immigrant advocacy groups, for the Oregon Environmental Council, as a principal consultant for SHARP Strategies, and as Vice President for Oregon Governmental Affairs for Strategies 360. In 2017, Governor Katherine Brown chose Andrea Salinas to fill the District 38 vacancy in the state House of Representatives. In 2018, Andrea Salinas was elected outright and nearly unanimously. She had an opponent in 2020, who she defeated 72-28.
Andrea Salinas was making a dent while in the Oregon House of Representatives. She was Majority Whip; a member of the leadership. Nevertheless, the creation of the new Oregon 6th Congressional District for the 2022 election was too great an opportunity to pass up. She won the Democratic primary with a 37% plurality, twice the vote of the second-place finisher. Newspapers like Yamhill County’s News-Register, which had initially endorsed Republican State Rep Ron Noble who came in second in the Republican primary, endorsed Andrea Salinas, The newspaper emphasized how her experience and hard work had made her well prepared to take on the job of representing this rural Congressional District. After Andrea Salinas’s election, the narrowness of her victory was attributed to the unpopularity of the outgoing Democratic governor and the effective national Republican campaign about inflation.
Practical as ever, Andrea Salinas has become a member of the Agriculture Committee, just right for her rural district. And just right for the state of Washington, she is also a member of the Science, Space, and Technology committee. She has not joined a lot of caucuses – the Progressive Caucus (she had no interest in hiding her progressive orientation) and the Hispanic Caucus (reflecting her heritage).
No one appears to attribute the close election to Erickson’s claims that Andrea Salinas ran advertisements that were false or misleading. No one appears to attribute the close election to how progressive Andrea Salinas is on issues that range from abortion to the minimum wage. No one appears confident that Andrea Salinas will win easily in 2024 in a district analysts see as having a slight Democrat lean. Help Andrea Salinas get a head start on the 2024 election. She will need that head start to win.
A Quick Summary
Eight Democratic Incumbents who won close races in 2022 for whom early support is important.
- Gabe Vasquez (NM 02) 38 year old environmentalist, community Activist, and former member of the Las Cruces City Council. Elected to his first term by 1,350 votes. Len’s Political Note #536
- Yadira Caraveo (CO 08) 42 year old pediatrician, union organizer, and former member of the Colorado House of Representatives. Elected to her first term by 1,632 votes. Len’s Political Note #537
- Jahana Hayes (CT 05) 50 year old former national teacher of the year. Elected to her third term by 2,004 votes. Len’s Political Note #542
- Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA 03) 34 year old owner of an auto repair shop and Democratic activist. Elected to her first term by 2,633 votes. Len’s Political Note #543
- Pat Ryan (NY 18) 40 year old County Executive, former military intelligence officer, and former tech-oriented businessman. Elected to his first term by 3,592 votes. Len’s Political Note #545
- Susan Wild (PA 07) 65 year old attorney, Democratic activist, and former city solicitor. Elected to her fourth term by 5,837 votes. Len’s Political Note #546
- Matt Cartwright (PA 08) 61 year old attorney, Democratic activist, and former local television figure. Elected to his fifth term by 7,026 votes. Len’s Political Note #547
- Andrea Salinas (OR 06) 53 year old former member of the Oregon House of Representatives, former Congressional staffer, and former public interest lobbyist. Elected to her first term by 7,210 votes. Len’s Political Note #548
A Democratic challenger who lost the closest race of 2022 and is returning to win in 2024
- Adam Frisch, former Aspen City Councilor and former New York currency trader runs again against Lauren Boebert (CO 03). Lost in 2022 by 546 votes. Len’s Political Note #532
Wisconsin
April 4 is coming. Donate to achieve important Democratic wins.
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Liberal-leaning County Judge Janet Protasiewicz was the highest vote getter on February 21 in the non-partisan primary for a seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. She received 46% of the vote. Criticized for indicating how she was likely to vote on issues like women’s reproductive rights and redistricting, the voters appeared to be glad to have the information. Former Supreme Court member Daniel Kelly, who lost his seat in the 2020 election, was the second highest vote getter with 24% of the vote. A conservative activist, Kelly leaves no doubt about where he would vote on controversial social and cultural issues.
Currently, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court has 3 members whose lean can be identified as progressive, 2 members whose lean can be identified as conservative, and one member who usually votes with the conservatives. A victory for Janet Protasiewicz on April 4 would likely transform the Wisconsin political landscape – affecting decisions on abortion, on redistricting the state legislature which is overwhelmingly Republican despite the state’s even divide. People who spend more money on elections than most of the readers of this newsletter will spend a lot of money on this campaign. Smaller donors count. Support Janet Protasiewicz. For more information, see Len’s Political Note #528.
Wisconsin State Senate District 08
Environmental attorney Jodi Habush Sinykin was the only serious Democratic candidate in the February 21 primary. The Republicans had a choice of three. They chose State Rep Dan Knodl. In the primary, he defeated a Trump acolyte so extreme and so problematic for House Speaker Robin Vos that Wisconsin Republicans banned her from their caucus. Knodl emphasizes reducing spending, cutting taxes, and public safety. He would be a reliable conservative vote against abortion and on other cultural issues. Wisconsin Republicans are talking about their ability, with a two-thirds supermajority in each body of the legislature, to impeach and remove any state official. The Republicans in the state House of Representatives are two seats away from gaining a two-thirds supermajority. Jodi Habush Sinykin’s election would flip a Republican seat and prevent the State Senate from having a two-thirds supermajority. See Len’s Political Note #529 for more information about Jodi Habush Sinykin.
