For decades, Oregon was one of the few states that didn’t limit campaign contributions. A recently signed law will change that. Many hope the limits will encourage more people to run for office – especially at the local level.
When Emily Semple first ran for Eugene City Council in 2016, she said fundraising was an afterthought.
“I had no idea,” she said. “I was really a babe in the woods.”
The five-candidate race to represent the downtown Eugene area quickly attracted donations from businesses, PACs, unions and others looking to make an impact on the race.
“The total came to $126,000,” she said. “This was the first time that kind of money had been spent for a ward race in which you get paid about $18,000.”
Semple is one of a handful of candidates in Eugene who have attempted to reduce the impact of money in politics by taking Eugene’s voluntary campaign finance pledge. It’s a seldom used 25-year-old program where candidates in Eugene pledge to not spend over $7,500 on a city council campaign, or $30,000 on a campaign for mayor. They’re also only allowed to spend $500 on their own campaign.
Semple had to drop out of the program during the pandemic because she wasn’t able to canvas – the most cost-effective way to run a campaign.
She said she hopes that Oregon’s efforts to reign in election spending will allow candidates to focus on the people they hope to represent.
“I think this is a beginning,” she said. “I really hope we can get the huge amounts of money out of politics.”
Oregon’s new campaign finance law – which goes into effect in 2027 – was introduced in the wake of a $70 million governor’s race.
House Speaker Julie Fahey, the Eugene Democrat who helped champion the bill, said those limits won’t just apply to people running for the state’s most powerful positions. Everyone ranging from school board candidates to city council, will only be able to accept donations from individuals of up to $3,300.
"I know that our current system likely keeps folks who should be running for office, it makes them hesitant to do so.” she said. ‘“I don't know if I can raise this much money, I don't know people who can give me $10,000.’ So my hope is that this helps bring new voices into politics in Oregon."
Impact on local races
If that law was in effect today, this year's Eugene’s mayoral race might look different.
Mayoral candidate Kaarin Knudson has raised over $164,000 alone. That includes more than $60,000 of in-kind contributions from the Eugene Realtors PAC to create digital advertising and conduct surveys and polls on her behalf.
When the law goes into effect, candidates will only be allowed to accept about $13,000 from membership organizations in a single year. Most in-kind support will have similar limits as cash contributions.
Kate Titus is executive director of Common Cause Oregon, a good government group that supported the changes to the state’s campaign finance regulations. She said Oregon’s lack of restrictions has changed every aspect of campaigning.
"Big money has a lot of influence and is really shaping the direction of who gets to run, who can afford to run, who thinks they can run,” she said. “(Candidates) know money is going to be a dominant factor, what they do once they're running and how much time they spend with the wealthiest members of our community, versus everyday constituents."
Titus said Portland’s campaign finance system provides matching funds for small, individual donations and limits how much a single person can donate.
She said under the new law, Portland will be able to keep its system and any city in Oregon could enact a program like it.
“So much matters at the local level,” she said. “That is where people start out. That is where people feel like they can begin to move into public service, and where we can actually field the candidates who then move into our state offices, our federal offices. But even at the less expensive local level, money plays a big factor, unless we make sure that it doesn't.”
The details of how Oregon will roll out its campaign finance limits will be determined by the Secretary of State’s office over the next three years.
