February 2023 - Oregon Campaign Finance Tracker
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February 2023 - Oregon Campaign Finance Tracker
Utility company dumps nearly $675k into battle against Eugene natural gas ordinance
Eugene City Council recently passed an ordinance “banning natural gas hookups in new low-rise residential buildings.”
Naturally, that would put a serious squeeze on the ability of Northwest Natural Gas Company to, y’know…do business in the area. So they kicked around $675k in support to Eugene Residents for Energy Choice - a group that has collected nearly enough signatures to challenge the ordinance via ballot measure.
A day after receiving the bulk of the contribution, Eugene Residents for Energy Choice paid more than $350,000 to a Washington-based firm that specializes in field campaigns for ballot initiatives - I&R Campaign Management Services.
Outside of this huge move by Northwest Natural to protect its business, campaign finance in Oregon had a relatively quiet month in February.
One other notable contribution came from Owen Gunden, listed as a self-employed computer programmer with a “digital mailbox” address in Puerto Rico. He donated a cool $50k on February 2, 2023, to the Yes on IP3 campaign - an initiative petition that “criminalizes injuring or killing animals, including killing for food, hunting, fishing; criminalizes breeding practices.”
The proposed change to Oregon law would effectively outlaw hunting and fishing, among other things. Proponents of the initiative also target various types and degrees of animal abuse. Similar measures have failed in the past.
Governor Kotek’s money machine slows in February
December and January were both six-figure months for Kotek’s campaign coffers - $359,904 in December 2022 and another $441,683 in January.
February, however, saw Kotek’s contributions skid to a much slower pace - just around $67k.