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--> --> Fund-raising rule hastens governor's race PORTLAND (AP) - Since the mid-70s, Oregon had prohibited fund-raising during the legislative session by legislators and statewide elected officials, and by the candidates for those positions. Attorney General Hardy Myers, however, issued an opinion this winter that the ban violated the state constitution's free-speech provisions. As a result, five candidates in the 2002 race for governor have raised more than $415,000 since April 18. "We're just seeing there's no down time," said Phyllis Oster, a former fund-raiser for Democratic candidates who is not involved in any of the gubernatorial campaigns. "People have to get what they can as fast as they can for this race." The intent of the fund-raising law was to keep campaign fund-raising as separate as possible from the decisions made during the legislative session. After Myers nixed it, the secretary of state's office stopped enforcing the ban and the Legislature responded by passing a bill that required candidates to report their contributions within 48 hours until 30 business days after the end of the session. Those reports show that Republican Jack Roberts, the state labor commissioner, reported raising nearly $108,000, with about $47,000 of it coming from supporters in his political base of Lane County. One of his Republican rivals, Portland lawyer Ron Saxton, has reported contributions of $91,000, with much of it from the Portland area's business community. Saxton's largest donation during this period was $20,000 from a company owned by Portland businessman Robert Pamplin Jr. On the Democratic side, former Multnomah Chairwoman Beverly Stein collected almost $90,000, most from her political base in the Portland area. Former Treasurer Jim Hill raised $74,000, with about two-thirds coming from out-of-state donors. Maria Smithson, his campaign manager, said that Hill, the first candidate to enter the race, in August 1999, has been conducting an intense fund-raising effort around the country for the past 17 months. Mike Thorne, who left the Port of Portland recently to launch an exploratory campaign, does not yet have a large campaign-finance effort. But he's collected about $55,000, mostly from a small number of large contributors familiar with his work at the Port. His largest contributor is Nike founder Phil Knight, who gave him $25,000. Democrat Ted Kulongoski, who left the state Supreme Court in June to run for governor, has not raised any money. Republican Kevin Mannix, who announced his exploratory campaign this month, is trying to erase a $70,000 debt from his unsuccessful campaign for attorney general last year. For Hill, Stein, Roberts and Saxton, the Myers opinion allowed them to resume or increase fund-raising they had started before the session. Roberts, for example, had said early in the session that he had not expected to campaign heavily until after the session. But the new law and the competition from Saxton pushed up his schedule. Campaign aides say it's too early to tell how much a candidate would have to spend to compete in the primary and general election. But the record $3.4 million spent by Republican Dave Frohnmayer in 1990 could be eclipsed. "The competition to get to the donors first and get people to commit is going to be fierce," Oster said. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing