Press Releases

Democratic Party Chair Meredith Wood Smith Responds to GOP Tirade over Candidate support from Public Servants

Mar 05, 2010


“Candidates should be honored to receive support from such important public servants in their communities”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Amy Wojcicki, Communications Director
[email protected]
503-239-8636

PORTLAND, Oregon (March 5, 2010) – 

GOP chairman Bob Tiernan has asked 2 Republican legislators to leave the party after committing the sin of—wait for it—considering an endorsement from law enforcement, health care workers and education employees.

AFSCME, the organization that represents nurses, corrections officers, child care providers, EMT’s and sanitation workers recently came to the aid to Republican Representatives Bob Jensen (R- Pendleton) and Greg Smith (R- Heppner) in their reelection campaigns.

Bob Tiernan took this as a mortal offense and wrote to Jensen and Smith that if “you choose not to reject any assistance from the public employee unions and their Democratic allies, then I respectfully request that you consider removing yourself from the election for the Republican Party nomination…”

  “It is unfortunate that Mr. Tiernan and the Oregon Republican party continue to place more and more restrictive ‘litmus’ test on their elected officials. Candidates should be honored to receive support from such important public servants in their communities” said Meredith Wood Smith, Chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon. “This is clearly a sign of the ideology and bullying that voters will see from Republicans this November.”  

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