Regarding your “Red Trickle” election update (11/10), I was happy to celebrate the mostly good or, at worst, OK news for Oregon Democrats. And I am glad that Democrat Andrea Salinas is winning our new 6th Congressional District.
What I find disturbing is the loss of seven-term incumbent Democrat Kurt Schrader’s 5th Congressional District seat to a Republican. Schrader manifested a politics that I find distasteful, for instance when he spoke or voted against his Democratic colleagues in highly visible ways. He was in a small minority of conservatives in the party.
He gave ample reasons for Jamie Mcleod-Skinner to mount her successful primary challenge from the left. Unfortunately, greater electability turns out not to have been one of those reasons. And now she has lost the election to a Republican by a little over 2 percent.
We on the left should take both these factors — ideology and electability — into account, as we choose our candidates. Many Republicans who threw in with election denial and misogyny are paying the price in electoral losses. Their record is of ignoring the lessons of failure; we need not make that same mistake.
Larry Koenigsberg
Eugene
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519
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