ALBANY – Democratic candidates for Linn County Commissioner and State Representative will be the featured speakers during the Thursday, April 5, meeting of the Linn County Democrats in the Albany Public Library Meeting Room, 2450 14th Ave. S.E. The Candidates Forum, which will start about 6:40 p.m., will be live streamed on the Linn County Democrats' Facebook page.
A social time, with light refreshments, begins at 6 p.m. The meeting starts at 6:30. The candidates forum, starting about 6:40 p.m., will be live streamed on the Linn County Democrats-Facebook page.
The following candidates have been invited to speak and answer questions:

• Larry Johnson and Stephanie Newton, Linn County Commissioner candidates. The winner of the Democratic primary election on May 15 will face Republican incumbent John Lindsey and Independent candidate Gary Sullivan in the Nov. 6 general election.
• Kimberly Koops and Marty Wilde, House District 11 State Representative candidates. The primary winner will run against the Republican primary winner, Mark Herbert or Joshua Powell, in the general election. Democratic incumbent Phil Barnhart is not seeking re-election.
• Jerred Taylor, House District 15 State Representative candidate, is unopposed in the primary, and will face Republican Shelly Boshart-Davis in the general election. Republican incumbent Andy Olson is not seeking re-election.
• Renee Windsor-White, House District 17 State Representative candidate, also unopposed in the primary, will run against Republican incumbent Sherrie Sprenger in the Nov. 6 election.

For more information about the meeting and the Linn County Democrats, contact Linn Dems Co-Chair Graham Kislingbury, 541-974-2075 or g.kislingbury@comcast.net.

 The news breaking in recent days about Cambridge Analytica is astounding and infuriating. The dishonest data firm founded by Robert Mercer and Steve Bannon has been using social media accounts to harvest data from millions of Americans to influence elections.
 Mercer's goal: elect politicians to support his extreme political agenda and work to increase corporate profits. In 2010, Mercer spent over half a million dollars backing my opponent Art Robinson, giving me the honor of becoming the first Member of Congress to be attacked by a Wall Street backed super PAC. After Robert Mercer founded Cambridge Analytica, 
   Art Robinson became the data firm's first federal political client in the United States. Even back then, it was clear that they were up to no good but I knew that we were only seeing a small part of the picture. 
  Four years later, we're seeing a clearer picture and know that they:
  • Illegally harvested data from 50 million Facebook users.
  • Interfered with elections around the world.
  • Offered to entrap and blackmail their clients' opponents. 
  Dishonest. Anti-democratic. Corrupt. Unethical.
  It's pretty scary what we're up against but I know that Oregon's 4th Congressional District won't be manipulated by Robert Mercer and Art Robinson because you won't allow it.

  – Peter DeFazio
​

Hello Oregon Democrats,
  As many of you know, last weekend we held our biennial Platform Convention.   Over 500 Oregonians from  31 counties participated -- that's record breaking turnout for the DPO! 
 I wanted to update you on the next steps to finalizing our platform:  We are currently in the editing process and delegates are voting for the final list of legislative priorities.  While we await those results on a specific legislative agenda, I want to communicate what I learned this weekend.
  Since I became Chair a year ago, again and again I have gotten the question:  What do Oregon Democrats stand for? 
  Well, after months of input and collaboration, I can now confidently say -- 
Oregon Democrats support:

• Labor unions and the right to organize 
• A strong response to the threat of climate change
• Comprehensive and humane immigration policies
• Gun safety measures
• Public education and the revenue reform Oregon needs to pay for it
• Access to the Future:  training for the jobs of the future, access to the internet for all, and protection for Social Security and pension funds
• Clean air and water
• Enforcement of our obligations towards tribes
• Campaign finance reform 
• Health Care for all
• Civil rights for all -- from voting rights to strong protections for those living with disabilities 
• Criminal Justice reform

  And finally

• We believe that science should guide our policy decisions
• That people count more than corporations
• And that the whole of Oregon must be included as we work for a more prosperous state.

  I deeply appreciate the staff team and the officers that ran this weekend's Convention. It started on time, ended on time, and respectful discussion triumphed over dissonance.
 We are just 55 days away from the 2018 Primary Election, after which you will see the Party’s campaign efforts kick into even higher gear.  Democrats will be active in every county, promoting the Democratic ballot from top to bottom, and getting voters to commit and to vote this November. 
 
Let’s get going!
 
Jeanne Atkins
State Party Chair
Democratic Party of Oregon

 Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden will hold two town hall forums Saturday, March 17, the second starting at 2 p.m. in the Linn-Benton Community College Gymnasium, 6500 Pacific Blvd. S.W.
 Among the senator's guests will be Berkely Ringler, a 13-year-old Lebanon activist who raised more than $900 to make a trip to Washington, D.C. for the "March for Our Lives" on March 24.  
 The Hamilton Creek eighth-grader, who is interested in a pursing a career in politics, was featured Thursday in the Albany Democratic-Herald: Lebanon girl to join national march. Wyden has also arranged for Berkley and her mother to visit his office and get a tour of Washington, D.C.
  Sen. Wyden's first town hall on Saturday will start at 10 a.m. in the Taft High School Commons, 3780 SE Spy Glass Ridge Drive in Lincoln City.

It was supposed to be a slam dunk for Rep. Rick Saccone in the heavily Republican 18th Congressional District of Pennsylvania, where Donald Trump won by a huge margin in 2016. But Democrat Conor Lamb appears to have pulled off a narrow victory, continuing a string of Democratic victories around the country in recent months. What another great night for Dems! Let's keep this momentum going through our May 15 Oregon Primary and the Nov. 8 General Election. Go Dems!