DemocraticIn a stunning comeback, Lesly Mu Oz has secured Democratic control of both legislative houses by winning the Oregon House seat for the Woodburn district.
On election night, Republican Rep. Tracy Cramer, who had served her first term in office, appeared set to retain her seat in the district, holding a lead of over 6 percentage points at one point. She was likely to keep her seat, according to a number of analysts and news sources, including The Oregonian/OregonLive. However, as Marion County began to tally the thousands of ballots that were still available, the results became more precise in the weeks that followed.
The findings that were made public on Tuesday night made Mu Oz’s win evident. Almost every ballot had been counted, and she was ahead of Cramer by 161 votes.
In a statement announcing her victory on Wednesday, Mu Oz said, “I want to thank everyone who participated in our democratic process by voting in this important election.” Additionally, I would want to express my gratitude to the Marion County election staff for their tireless efforts in making sure that every vote is counted and that people’ opinions are heard.
A request for comment on Wednesday was not immediately answered by Cramer.
At that time, more than 600 ballots in the House District 22 campaign were still pending signature verification, despite Mu Oz holding a lead of more than 100 votes last week. Volunteers were mobilized by state parties and campaigns to persuade voters to fix their signature problems so that the ballots could be counted.
Between 35 and 50 percent of contested voter signatures were fixed in recent elections, according to Marion County Clerk Bill Burgess. He expressed optimism that the number could be even higher in the race for House District 22 as volunteers called voters or knocked on their doors to assist them in the curing process. Republican House leader Christine Drazan, who was just reelected, indicated Friday she will assist in that endeavor.
We will continue to labor until the end of time. Drazan stated last week that we would keep fighting until the deadline was reached to ensure that every legitimate vote in our district was counted. We won’t give up and declare that the results don’t meet our expectations.
The deadline for voters to resolve those signatures was Tuesday at 5 p.m. According to Burgess, at least one-third of the rejected ballots were corrected in the past week, resulting in 221 votes.
Mu Oz, a labor activist and mother of four who ran on a platform of reducing household expenses for working families, ultimately gained more support thanks to those fixed ballots.
Her win gives Democrats a three-fifths majority in the House, which might enable them to enact new taxes or raise current ones without the backing of Republicans. In order to establish a Democrat-dominated Legislature, the party also won control of the state Senate by flipping seats in that body.
That’s not the healthiest way to rule, according to Republican House Speaker Drazan.
“We need more voices that can influence the results of our legislative process and less extreme control,” she remarked. When the arithmetic itself enables individuals to interact in a genuine manner on behalf of the incredibly different populations throughout our state, we obtain better laws and greater results.
Democrats will demonstrate that this state is for everyone, according to a news release issued on Wednesday by House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, D-Tigard.
According to a written statement from Bowman, “We take this responsibility seriously.” During the 2025 session, we will prioritize affordability, government efficiency, and public safety to enhance the quality of life for all Oregonians.
With Mu Oz’s victory, Democrats will hold 36 House seats when the 2025 session begins in January.
According to a written statement from House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, “Our work in Salem over the past two years has been focused on governing our state with a steady hand and making progress on the issues that are most important to Oregonians—housing, homelessness, cost of living, and public safety.” Now that election season is over, we are prepared to carry out these important tasks in Salem.
Sami Edge writes for The Oregonian on politics and higher education. She may be contacted at (503) 260-3430 or [email protected].
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