Candidates for Secretary of State, 6th Congressional District Square Off in Debate
A packed house gathered Oct. 14 at the Salem Convention Center for a pair of debates between candidates running in two key races in the Nov. 5 general election.
In the first debate, Democrat Tobias Read squared off with Republican Dennis Linthicum vying for Oregon Secretary of State. They were followed by Democratic U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas, who is being challenged by Republican Mike Erickson in a rematch to represent Oregon’s 6th Congressional District.
The debates were presented by the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, Salem Business Journal, and League of Minority Voters as part of the Chamber’s Forum Speaker Series.
Read vs. Linthicum
Read has served as Oregon State Treasurer since 2017 and is a former state legislator. He touted his experience holding a statewide office and pledged to bring much-needed stability to the Secretary of State’s Office.
“We’ve had four secretaries of state during the time that I’ve been treasurer,” Read said. “I recognize that I am not the flashiest candidate you may have ever seen up here, but I would also humbly suggest that we may have seen enough drama in the Secretary of State’s Office for a while.”
Linthicum is a state senator representing District 28, which covers all or part of Jackson, Klamath, Lake, Deschutes, and Crook counties. He was disqualified from seeking a third term in that seat for exceeding 10 unexcused absences while participating in a Republican-led walkout during the 2023 legislative session.
If elected, Linthicum said he would use the Secretary of State’s auditing authority to reign in what he described as government overreach.
“There’s no sense in having a government that breaks the back of the private sector,” Linthicum said. “When you have a private sector that’s flourishing, the government itself will flourish because the government only flourishes based on the tax dollars that citizens can provide.”
Specifically, Linthicum said he believes the Secretary of State’s Office should increase regulatory restraints, “so that we keep the government operating within its boundary.”
Read also acknowledged the need for audits to improve government performance. However, he cautioned against weaponizing that authority.
“It’s essential that this power be taken seriously and administered fairly,” he said.
Another question during the debate centered on election integrity. Read said he was upset by recent news that the state Driver and Motor Vehicles Division had mistakenly added 1,300 people to the voter rolls through Oregon’s Motor Voter law.
The incident, he said, is an opportunity to review not only the policies and procedures around elections, but also the execution of those policies.
“I think people have to have confidence in our system,” Read said.
Linthicum casted doubt on the transparency of Oregon’s voting system, which he said allows people’s imaginations to run wild and breed conspiracy theories. Linthicum has previously questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election, and declined to say whether he believed Joe Biden won the race fairly when asked directly by Read.
“I think that’s a wrong facet of this discussion,” Linthicum said. “The facet of this discussion is, why doesn’t the government have our trust?”
In his response, Read said Linthicum’s answer was “telling.”
“That election was four years ago, and I think the senator should be prepared to answer that Joe Biden won the election in 2020,” Read said.
Salinas vs. Erickson
In 2022, former state Rep. Andrea Salinas defeated Mike Erickson to become the first person elected to represent Oregon’s 6th Congressional District, covering Polk and Yamhill counties along with portions of Marion, Clackamas, and Washington counties.
This year, Salinas and Erickson go head to head again in a race that could have ramifications for control of the narrowly divided U.S. House of Representatives.
Erickson is the founder and president of AFMS LLC, a supply chain and logistics company located in Tigard. He described himself as “completely opposite” from Salinas on how he would vote in Congress.
Specifically, Erickson attacked Salinas for voting in favor of proposed tolls along Interstates 5 and 205 in a state omnibus package in 2021; for voting against reauthorizing the Farm Bill in May; and for voting against the “Fix Our Forests Act” in September that would expedite logging and thinning projects to reduce wildfire risk.
“I’m running for Congress because there’s a lot of problems to be worked on right now,” Erickson said. “We need some common-sense, fiscally conservative people back in Washington, D.C. to bring real solutions.”
Salinas defended her record, saying the Farm Bill reauthorization would have cut benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and left 42,000 Oregonians in need without food. Salinas said she is on the record as opposed to tolling, though the 2021 omnibus bill was needed in order to advance other transportation projects.
Salinas also pointed to her support of the CHIPs and Science Act of 2022, working to make Oregon a leader in semiconductor manufacturing.
“Half the bills I’ve introduced have bipartisan co-leads, and I co-sponsored over 100 bills sponsored by Republicans,” she said. “I try to meet people where they are.”
The two later exchanged views on topics ranging from inflation to abortion. Erickson said he would seek to make the U.S. more energy independent, such as fracking and reopening the Keystone XL pipeline to lower fuel costs.
Salinas challenged Erickson on his anti-abortion platform, and said a bill to restore Roe v. Wade protections in Congress “absolutely will come up at some point.”
As of June 30, Salinas had significantly outraised Erickson along the campaign trail, according to the nonprofit OpenSecrets which tracks campaign finance. The site reports that Salinas’ campaign has raised more than $3.1 million, while Erickson’s has raised $293,834.