Accountability for Lawmakers in Oregon, Those With 10+ Unexcused Absences Will Not Be Able To Run for Reelection in 2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, Aug. 8, Oregon’s Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade (D) directed the state’s elections agency to implement an administrative rule in relation to Measure 113, which disqualifies lawmakers with 10 or more unexcused absences during the 2023 legislative session from running for seats in 2024.
With 68% of voters turning out in support of the constitutional amendment, Oregonians Measure 113 in 2022 hoping to hold legislators accountable for their repeated walkouts. The Republican minority in Oregon has used walkouts to thwart Democratic proposals in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023. At six weeks long, this year’s walkout was especially pointed given that it came after voters approved Measure 113. It was also the longest in state history and the second-longest in the history of the United States. The 2023 walkout also held up the state’s two-year budget, gun control legislation and measures on abortion access and gender-affirming care.
In her directive this week, Griffin-Valade reasserted the intent behind last year’s successful ballot measure, “It is clear voters intended Measure 113 to disqualify legislators from running for reelection if they had 10 or more unexcused absences in a legislative session. My decision honors the voters’ intent by enforcing the measure the way it was commonly understood when Oregonians added it to our state constitution.”
Six of the 10 Republican lawmakers who are disqualified from running for office are up for reelection next year and have promised to challenge the interpretation in court.