Emerge Oregon Wins Big – AGAIN!

That alone is a success. Win or lose, each contributed toward our goals of gender parity and elected bodies that reflect our diverse communities!

To Andrea Valderrama, Julia DeGraw, Athena Goldberg, Kimberly Koops-Wrabek and Kimberly Culbertson:

We are so honored to know you and to support you. We can’t wait to see what you do next in your communities – and when you run again!

To all supporters of Emerge, look what we achieved together last night:

• Jamie McLeod-Skinner, our first-ever congressional candidate, ran against six other Democrats to win the primary in Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District! She’ll now take on Republican Greg Walden in November.
• Val Hoyle won a three-way primary in the race for Oregon’s next Labor Commissioner. This win makes Commissioner-elect Hoyle the first Emerge alumnae in the country to be elected to a statewide position!
• Shemia Fagan faced two opponents in the race to unseat Rod Monroe in Senate District 24. Nonstop on the doorstep, she won with more than 61% of the vote! She is a force and we are excited to see her in the state Senate!
• Susheela Jayapal won outright in the four-way race for Multnomah County Commission District 2. She is the third Emerge Oregon alumnae to win a seat on this commission.
• Five Emerge women won top spots for November run-offs:
  • Jennifer McGuirk, the top vote-getter in the race for Multnomah County Auditor, and our first-ever candidate for auditor.
  • Pamela White, our first-ever candidate for clerk, will take on the incumbent for Clackamas County Clerk.
  • Kathryn Harrington was the top vote-getter in the race for Washington County Chair. Her and her team knocked on 25,000 doors – a record for a county commission race as far as we know! 
  • Heather Buch was in a five-way primary for the east seat on the Lane County Commission. She was the top vote-getter, at 31%, including inching out the incumbent, who she will face on the November ballot.
  • Christine Lewis, a long-term board member of Emerge is one of two candidates to advance for the District 2 spot on Metro Council.
• We are proud to announce our first Salem city councilor – Jackie Leung. She is in our current class of women and she beat an incumbent for the Ward 8 seat on the council.
• Sonya Fischer, on the ballot for the first-time, won her election to the Clackamas County Commission.
• Shirley Craddick won re-election to Metro Council.
• Lacey Beaty won re-election to the Beaverton City Council.
• Ten alumnae won their primary races for state legislative seats, three of whom are first-time candidates for seats in Salem:
  • Jennifer Williamson, Alissa Keny-Guyer, Teresa Alonso Leon, Karin Power, Julie Fahey, Sheri Malstrom, Rachel Prusak, Andrea Salinas and Darcy Long-Curtiss. 

Join me in thanking and congratulating all 28 of our women for running and running hard – and to those who will soon be sworn in as newly elected officials!