Rayfield, Read and Steiner get nod for top state offices

In an unusual twist, three major statewide offices feature open races this year — attorney general, secretary of state and state treasurer. Typically, at least one features an incumbent cruising to re-election, if not two or even all three.

That should give Oregon’s minority party a rare opportunity. But Republicans have had a hard time fielding viable candidates for top state offices in recent years, and an even harder time prevailing in November.

Oregon Public Broadcasting described the problem this way in a commentary piece: “The party has struggled in the past to identify and coalesce behind candidates who are moderate enough to appeal to a statewide audience — yet somehow also manage to not alienate the more right-wing base.”

As a result, the GOP last won the governor’s office with Vic Atiyeh in 1982, attorney general’s office with Dave Frohnmayer in 1984, treasurer’s office with Tony Meeker in 1988 and labor commissioner’s office with Jack Roberts in 1998. Its only breakthrough so far this century came in 2016, when Dennis Richardson was elected secretary of state.

Attorney General

The headliner is the attorney general’s race.

It appears most competitive for Republicans, with former prosecutor and human rights crusader Will Lathrop. However, Democrats have risen to the challenge with former House Speaker Dan Rayfield, a rising star in the party at just 44.

Rayfield is a graduate of Tigard High School, Western Oregon University and the Willamette University College of Law. He launched his legal career in 2006.

A civil litigator by trade, he got his first taste of politics with a losing run for state Senate in 2010. Four years later, he commanded a resounding 72% in winning election to a Corvallis House seat, launching a career that would catapult him to the speakership.

Rayfield cut his legal teeth representing the little guy in cases against well-heeled corporations and institutions. On the side, he became actively involved in pushing major legislative initiatives even before winning a seat at the table.

Post-election, he moved quickly up the ladder, taking on larger and larger roles, and won plaudits along the way for an inclusive, collaborative, even-handed style.

In the community, he’s held board seats with the Linn-Benton Housing Authority, New Roots Housing, Majestic Theatre and Linn-Benton Bar Association. He’s also served as a Linn County Peer Court judge and coached Oregon State University’s Mock Trial Team.

Lathrop is a Wallowa County native who moved to the valley to earn undergraduate and law school degrees at Willamette University. He began his legal career as a deputy district attorney, prosecuting cases in Marion and Yamhill counties.

He and his wife, former high school sweethearts, make their home in Newberg. But his biggest claim to fame stems from a tour in Africa, fighting land raiders in Uganda and human traffickers in Ghana with international human rights organizations.

He’s billing himself as a crusader against crime, corruption, addiction and homelessness. And his lack of a political and legislative record at home has helped him avoid the issue litmus test trap hampering other Republican contenders.

There’s a lot to like about Lathrop’s candidacy. He is, by all measures, a credible contender.

However, we give the nod to Rayfield, based on superior legislative and professional experience and a proven record of accomplishment in elective office. We find him best equipped for the challenges of running the state’s largest law firm.

Secretary of State

After two terms as state treasurer, Democratic standard-bearer Tobias Read is seeking election as secretary of state this year.

He mounted a gubernatorial bid in 2022, but lost out to Tina Kotek. We favored him in that campaign, terming him a “moderate, thoughtful and likable consensus-builder,” and he’s given us no reason to change our minds since.

After growing up in rural Montana and Idaho, Read came to Oregon to study politics and economics at Willamette University. Post-graduation, he served a tour as an aide to U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers in Washington, D.C., then earned an MBA at the University of Washington.

After settling into a corporate post with Nike, Read won a seat in the Oregon House and quickly began moving up the ranks. He parlayed his business orientation, political moderation and amiable personality into a winning run for state treasurer in 2016, and cruised to re-election in 2020.

He’s being opposed on the GOP side by state Sen. Dennis Linthicum, a divisive 2020 election denier and 2023 session boycotter who’s barred from seeking legislative re-election. We find Linthicum’s strident partisanship, rigid ideology and undistinguished legislative career disqualifying for such a sensitive post.

For a quarter of a century, Phil Keisling, Bill Bradbury and Kate Brown provided competent and consistent oversight of the office. But since Brown’s ascension to the governorship in 2015, it has bounced back and forth among seven leaders.

It’s time the office was returned to steady hands, and there are perhaps none steadier than those of Tobias Read.

State Treasurer

Replacing Read at the treasury will be a tall order, but the Democratic nominee, legislative budget writer Elizabeth Steiner, seems up to it.

She’s more partisan than either Rayfield or Read, and more closely affiliated with the state’s powerful public employee unions than we would like. But she has a stellar record of competency in the handling of challenging fiscal issues, which her Republican opponent lacks.

Steiner holds a B.A. in religion and the humanities from the University of Chicago and M.D. from the University of Massachusetts, flagship institution in her home state. She teaches medicine and maintains a family medical practice at Oregon Health & Science University.

Getting into politics through public health activism, Steiner won a seat in the Oregon Senate in 2011. She focused on public health issues early in her Senate tenure, then transitioned into budget-writing on the strength of her fiscal acumen.

In making her case for state treasurer, she says, “My 35 years of experience in healthcare professions have given me a breadth of understanding of state systems that can be transferred to other large systems and agencies in our state government.”

Opposing her is state Sen. Brian Boquist, an ideological ally and fellow session boycotter of Linthicum’s.

He’s seeking another office for the same reason — being barred from seeking Senate re-election by a voter initiative penalizing resort to boycotts. And we find him equally ill-suited.