Members of Oregon’s largest teachers union will not endorse any of the current candidates for governor, including incumbent Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek.
On Saturday, 75% of the members of the Oregon Education Association Political Action Committee, the political activities arm of the union, voted not to endorse any of the candidates currently running for governor. That’s according to social media, two people who attended the meeting but could not speak publicly and a photo of results shared with the Capital Chronicle.
Given the leftwing nature of the Oregon Education Association (and National Education Association and teachers’ unions generally), this is a stunning result.
Declining to endorse Kotek was a surprising development from the group, which backed her last campaign with more than $389,000 in donations.
That’s a lot of union dues, but it’s a fairly low amount in terms of the Oregon governor’s race. Guessing that what the OEA really brings is organizational knowledge and muscle.
Kotek in her first year in office, and after Portland Public Schools teachers went on one of the longest strikes in district history, passed record state school funding at the time: $10.2 billion for the 2023-25 school years. Last year, she oversaw the passage of another record $11.36 billion in funding for state schools during the next two years, as well as new investments in literacy training for teachers and curriculum and tutors for kids, and the first ever promise from the state Legislature to consistently send $35 million a year to schools for summer programs.
She also presided over Oregon becoming worst in the nation in several important student proficiency metrics.
Angela Bonilla, president of the Portland Association of Teachers, said in an email that she would wait to say more until the statewide union releases a statement.
“I can tell you anecdotally that I have not talked to a single educator who plans to vote for Kotek due to her poor record on education,” she added.
I’m happy to share that, though not an educator, I don’t plan to vote for her either.