Portland voters to weigh gas tax hike in May primary
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It's election season again, with ballots for the May primary headed to Portland mailboxes within the next few days.
Why it matters: Voters will decide a Republican nominee for governor, weigh a transportation funding measure and consider several local proposals.
Catch up quick: Arguably the highest-profile item on the ballot is Measure 120, which would hike the state's gas tax from $0.40 to $0.46 and raise registration fees for most vehicles to fund Oregon's transportation budget.
- Democratic lawmakers in Salem needed a special session to pass a fix for the transportation budget deficit and finally passed a bill last fall.
- In Oregon, voters can reject bills passed in the Legislature through a referendum.
- Republican opponents of the bill needed 78,000 signatures to put the question to voters — and gathered roughly 200,000.
Yes, but: Neither side has spent much money trying to convince voters of their arguments, per the Oregonian.
State of play: Republican voters will also decide which of more than a dozen candidates they'll run against Gov. Tina Kotek, who isn't facing any significant Democratic challengers in her bid for reelection.
- State Sen. Christine Drazan, who lost to Kotek by just 3.5 percentage points in a crowded three-way race last time around, had a sizable lead over the field in the most recent polling.
- Ex-Blazer and businessman Chris Dudley, with the backing of Nike billionaire Phil Knight, State Rep. Ed Diehl and Marion County commissioner Danielle Bethell round out the top four candidates.
- In campaign ads and on the debate stage, all of the Republican candidates have focused more on criticizing Kotek than each other.
Zoom out: Two Portland-area Democratic legislators — seen as business-friendly moderates — are facing challenges from the left.
- State Sen. Janeen Sollman of Hillsboro is facing a challenge from Myrna Muñoz of Forest Grove in Senate District 15 and Rep. Daniel Nguyen is running against John Wasielewski, both from Lake Oswego, in House District 38.
- The incumbents have previously signaled openness to providing tax incentives to spur business growth, while the challengers are running on raising taxes on corporations to fund public services, per the Oregonian.
Plus: Portlanders will also weigh whether to renew a levy — a property tax of $0.05 on every $1,000 of assessed value — to support several historical societies around the metro area.
What's next: Ballots must be turned in or postmarked by May 19.