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<font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">As a supporter of the 2006
campaign finance reform measures in Oregon, you know that Oregon's
campaign finance "system" is broken. To reform it, we need someone who
isn’t beholden to special interests or wealthy out-of-state
contributors.<br>
<br>
Fortunately, this year we have someone running to be the chief overseer
of elections in Oregon who has a record of fighting for more
accountability and transparency in state government and who is running
a true grassroots campaign.<br>
<br>
State Senator Vicki Walker has spent the last decade in Salem fighting
against the big money special interests that seem to control other
politicians. Vicki was</font><font color="black"
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;"> the originator
and
chief sponsor of SB 408
(2005), which stopped the private utilities from charging </span></font><font
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Oregon
ratepayers for "income taxes" that the
utilities actually never paid. These charges had amounted to over $1
billion since 1997. </font>
<blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><b><font
color="black" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Vicki also
played a pivotal
role in stopping the 2003-05
efforts of Neil Goldschmidt and the Texas Pacific Group (leveraged
buyout
artists) from taking over Portland General Electric Co. (PGE) and then
probably
dismantling it—as Texas Pacific later did to utilities it bought in
Texas—with profits
in the billions of dollars.</span></font></b></font></p>
</blockquote>
<font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><b>Her actions in the 2005
Legislature caused the big money interests to fund against her in 2006
the second most expensive campaign for a State Senate seat in Oregon
history.</b> Her opponent's campaign spent over $734,000 (about $31
per vote), nearly all coming from corporate-funded PACs. To overcome
the paid media barrage, Vicki was herself compelled to raise large
sums. So she knows exactly the effects of Oregon's current "system" of
having no limits whatsoever on political contributions.<br>
<br>
Vicki is running for Secretary of State and needs the help of people
like us who believe it is time to reform the way money influences
politics. She supports campaign finance reform that sets limits on
political contributions and provides the opportunity for publicly
funded campaigns.<br>
<br>
She isn’t hiding behind sound bites and 30-second TV ads. Instead, her
website, <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.vickiwalker.com">http://www.vickiwalker.com</a>, includes a detailed discussion of
her ideas to level the playing field, such as prohibiting pass-through
political contributions (also banned by our Measure 47) and requiring
that the Voters Pamphlet list the top five contributors for each
measure.<br>
<br>
We strongly support Vicki. She is being vastly outspent by her
opponents, who are getting five-figure contributions from out-of-state
groups. Vicki is counting on small contributors throughout the state.<br>
<br>
We hope you will join us by donating $100 or whatever you can afford.
If we are ever going to see real campaign finance reform enacted in
Oregon, we need to start by electing a Secretary of State who believes
that courage to stand up against big money should matter more than
insider connections.</font><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br>
<br>
<br>
Sincerely,<br>
<br>
Tom Civiletti<br>
</font><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">David Delk</font><br>
<font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Ernest Delmazzo (Injured
Workers Alliance)<br>
</font><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Drew Kaza<br>
</font><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Lloyd K. Marbet<br>
Dan Meek<br>
</font><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Eulia Quan Mishima<br>
Liz Trojan<br>
</font><br>
<br>
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