State Representative and former McMinnville Police Chief Ron Noble (R-McMinnville) has announced that he is running for the Republican nomination for the newly carved out 6th Congressional district. He joins a crowded field for the seat which, of course as a new district, has no incumbent.

In a tweet which at the same time could be seen as both an expression of frustration of serving in the super-minority in Oregon's House, while at the same time, hoping to serve in what many experts see as a real possibility of a Republican majority in Congress, Noble said, "I am officially running for Congress in #OR06. I look forward to earning the trust of Oregonians to represent their interests and actually get results in Congress."

The crowded field includes Republicans Angela Plowhead, David Russ and returning 5th Congressional District nominee, Amy Ryan Courser. The 6th district contains much of what was in the 5th in the previous decade. As a moderate, Noble could watch a handful of conservative with less name recognition than he split the conservative vote and make his nomination possible.

As Chair of the House Special Committee On State Legislative Redistricting, State Representative Andrea Salinas (D-Lake Oswego) drew herself into the vacant district, then filed to run for the district. Many experts see this as a clear case of the kind of self-dealing that gives politics a bad name.

Prior to serving in the Oregon Legislature, Salinas was a lobbyist for the government employee union SEIU 503 and presumably will expect support from them.

Also announced on the Democratic side, is Loretta Smith (D-Portland) who served as a Multnomah County commissioner from 2011 to 2018. She ran unsuccessful campaigns for Portland City Council in 2018 and 2020.

Oregon's newly created 6th Congressional District is the counties of Yamhill, Polk and the western part of Marion County, as well as the southwestern portion of Clackamas County.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-12-08 14:12:18

Last Update: 2021-12-08 15:18:39