[READ ALL OF THE MERCURY’S 2020 ENDORSEMENTS HERE!—eds]
Oregon Ballot Measure 107, Campaign Finance Reform: Vote YES
The premise behind Measure 107 is simple, and hard to argue with: Politics shouldn’t be controlled by those with the deepest pockets, and the government should be able to set rules that limit the influence wealthy individuals and powerful corporations have over elections.
Specifically, Measure 107 would change the Oregon Constitution to allow state and local governments to set laws around how much money individuals and organizations are allowed to contribute to local political campaigns. It would also allow for laws requiring campaigns to disclose their largest contributors in their advertisements.
Multnomah County and City of Portland voters already passed campaign finance reform rules in recent elections, and those rules survived a legal challenge in the Oregon Supreme Court in April. If passed, this measure would likely open the door for statewide campaign finance reform—and considering that nearly $40 million was spent in the last governor’s race, that’s something Oregon sorely needs.