National Democratic group spotlights three Oregon legislative races

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee highlighted Senate candidate Anthony Broadman and House candidates Lesly Munoz and Virginia Stapleton. (Campaign photos)

A national group focused on helping Democrats win control of statehouses is targeting three Oregon legislative races as Democrats try to expand their majorities in the state House and Senate. 

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee on Monday named one Senate candidate and two House challengers to its “Spotlight” list of high-priority races to win, a development first shared with the Capital Chronicle. That designation means that Anthony Broadman, who is seeking a Senate seat, and Virginia Stapleton and Lesly Munoz, who are vying for the House, will receive access to campaign strategy and resources through the national organization and be highlighted for donors and volunteers across the country. 

“Democratic power in Oregon has protected fundamental freedoms for communities across the state, and victory for these candidates in November would mean the Democratic majorities can continue improving Oregonians’ lives,” Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams said in a statement. “2024 is the year of the states, and winning these Spotlight races will help Oregon be a shining example of the important work that state Democrats can achieve.”

The national committee historically hasn’t spent much on Oregon races, focusing its resources on other states. But that changed last year, when an influx of Republican spending in an attempt to flip the state Legislature caused the DLCC to give $350,000 to Senate Democrats’ campaign arm and $525,000 to House Democrats’ campaign committee. Democrats held the House and Senate, though Republicans picked up a seat in the Senate and three in the House. 

The Senate doesn’t appear to be in play in 2024, as Democrats running for reelection are in safe seats and Republicans are on the defensive in the Bend-based 27th District and coastal 5th District. But the House, where several Democratic freshmen won by slim margins in 2022, could be a battleground. Democrats can’t lose more than four of the 35 seats they now hold to keep their majority. 

Broadman, a Bend city councilor, is running to represent the Bend area in the 27th Senate District now represented by Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend. Knopp, the former Senate Republican leader, is one of 10 Republican senators barred from running for reelection for participating in a six-week quorum-denying walkout in 2023. Broadman will face Redmond school board member Michael Summers in November.

There are about 10,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in the district. Neither Broadman nor Summers had a primary opponent, but almost 6,000 more registered Democrats voted for Broadman in the closed Democratic primary than registered Republicans voted for Summers. 

Stapleton, a Salem city councilor, is challenging state Rep. Kevin Mannix, R-Salem, in the 21st House District that includes north Salem and Keizer. Former moderate Democratic Rep. Brian Clem long represented the district, which previously  included more of Salem, but the addition of the more conservative city of Keizer, Mannix’s long history in Salem and Oregon Republican politics and a Democratic candidate’s legal troubles cleared the way for Mannix to flip the district in 2022. 

There are about 1,600 more Democrats than Republicans in the district, and Stapleton is well known as a city councilor. But she’s also seen as the architect of a failed payroll tax, and she’ll have to convince Salem voters who recently ousted their payroll-tax-supporting mayor to give her their vote in November. 

Munoz, a labor organizer, will try to wrest control of the 22nd House District in northern Marion County from freshman Rep. Tracy Cramer, R-Gervais. Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 2,500 registered voters but the district was plagued by unusually low turnout in 2022, when it was the only House district in the state where fewer than half of voters returned their ballots.  

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