Congressional races are part of the overall campaign
of union members as they pound the pavement in Oregon encouraging
colleagues, allies and working families to get their ballots in before
8 p.m. on Nov. 7.
Republicans now control the U.S. House by a 230-201 edge over the
Democrats, with one independent and three vacancies.
Only one congressional race in Oregon is actually being targeted by
the AFL-CIO — that of Democrat Darlene Hooley in the Fifth District.
She is facing a challenge from a wealthy businessman with no prior
political experience. Republican Mike Erickson has been spending a
lot of his own money to run a negative campaign against Hooley. He
is also getting help from the California Republican Party and the
Economic Freedom Fund, which have spent more than $165,000 on TV ads
slamming Hooley. The primary funder of the Freedom Fund is the same
person who paid for the Swift Boat ads that attacked Sen. John Kerry
when he ran for president.
Unions are supporting Hooley because of her stellar
voting record on legislation supporting workers. According to
the national AFL-CIO, the five-term congresswoman has a lifetime
Committee on Political Education (COPE) voting record of 93 percent.
In the 109th Congress, the AFL-CIO’s interim COPE scorecard
tracked 24 bills and/or amendments to bills that were voted on before
Congress recessed on Aug. 4. There, she cast just one “wrong”
vote.
Speaking at the 52nd annual International Foundation Employee Benefits
Conference in Las Vegas on Oct. 8, Dr. Larry Sabato, founder and director
of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. predicted
Democrats would win control of the U.S. House. He didn’t see
any political upsets in Oregon.
Likely to return to the U.S. House are AFL-CIO-endorsed Democrats
David Wu in the First District, Earl Blumenauer in the Third District;
Peter DeFazio in the Fourth District and Hooley.
Republican Greg Walden is also favored to win re-election in the Second
District. He has support from the Oregon State Building Trades Council
and Teamsters Joint Council 37.
But the Oregon AFL-CIO and other union locals and councils have endorsed
his Democratic opponent, Carol Voisin. According the national AFL-CIO,
Walden votes with President Bush about 90 percent of the time.
Voisin points to Walden’s support of “cuts to rural health
care, education, college loans, veterans benefits. Votes against extra
pay for our soldiers, against improving fuel standards on cars, and
against investigations of wasteful spending” as reasons why
he should be replaced.
David Wu’s Republican challenger Derrick Kitts was admonished
by Oregon Council 75 of the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees for listing the council as a supporter on his
congressional campaign Web site.
Kitts, a two-term state representative from Hillsboro, was endorsed
by AFSCME during his re-election bid to the Legislature. However,
AFSCME is backing Wu for Congress.
When told of the endorsement listing, Mary Botkin, a senior lobbyist
for AFSCME Council 75, fired off an e-mail to the Kitts campaign,
stating in part: “We were just informed that you list our organization
as one of your supporters. Were you seeking re-election to the position
you currently hold that may have been true. However, you are running
for CD 1 against Congressman David Wu and Congressman Wu has the support
of Council 75. Please remove our name from your Web site.”
