Votes tallied: Change up next

Democratic wins could bring big changes to Portland

By Tribune staff

The Portland Tribune, Nov 6, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (3 Reader comments)

L.E. BASKOW / Portland Tribune

As President-elect Barack Obama’s victory was announced Tuesday night, crowds at the Oregon Convention Center went wild.

The Democratic tsunamis on Nov. 4 — the one that swept Barack Obama into the U.S. presidency, and the more localized Oregon one — might mean a significantly changed world for Portland. And for a few Portlanders.

Here are a few hints on those possible changes:

• Obama’s victory celebration in Chicago hadn’t been over for 12 hours before a group of Portland leaders had announced a Nov. 6 news conference to talk about “the need to create jobs, help (the) economy with a federal stimulus package to improve roads, bridges.”

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, Portland Mayor-elect Sam Adams, Multnomah County Chairman Ted Wheeler and city Commissioner Randy Leonard will speak at the conference.

Adams said on election night that the Democratic federal sweep — Democrats also made major gains in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives — will mean more public works money for Portland. Democrats in Congress also are proposing funding infrastructure improvement projects across the country to improve the economy.

“Obama is from a major city (Chicago), so he knows the problems caused by crumbling infrastructure,” Adams said. “He

discussed the harm caused by the federal disinvestment in infrastructure during the campaign.”

Adams also hopes Obama will support spending federal mass-transit funds on local streetcar projects. The Bush administration has opposed helping Portland build the east-side Portland streetcar extension that Adams favors.

“At least Obama knows what a streetcar is,” Adams said.

• If an Obama administration is more supportive of streetcar projects across the country, another election winner could be Oregon Iron Works. Portland has contracted with the Clackamas-based company to build the streetcars for the east-side line. The company’s streetcars could be used in other cities that build new streetcar lines, too.

• With Obama being sworn in as president Jan. 20, some familiar faces could be headed east.

The popular national Web site Politico.com recently included former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, a physician, as a potential pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services. There has been speculation that Kitzhaber’s natural-resource credentials make him well-suited for U.S. Secretary of the Interior, as well.

Politico.com, echoing earlier speculation in the Portland Tribune and elsewhere, also listed Portland U.S. Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer as a potential U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

One name that’s conspicuous in its absence from the list of potential appointments is Wyden’s.

In 2006, Wyden made a bid for national prominence with his well-publicized oil-prices filibuster, as well as a trip to New Hampshire to discuss tax reform in preparation for the presidential primary. To many, he appeared to be angling for a Cabinet post of some kind.

But Wyden was slow to endorse Obama and has backed a health care plan that’s significantly different from the president-elect’s, all of which may add up to Wyden remaining in the Senate.

• Portland’s political clout in the Oregon Legislature is sure to grow next year, when Democrats will rule the roost in Salem.

Oregon House Democrats achieved the magic 60 percent supermajority they sought, enabling them to pass money-raising measures without any Republican votes.

Portland has long been the Democrats’ chief power base in Oregon, and that base widened in the Nov. 4 election.

Democrats defeated incumbent House members in Gresham and Clackamas, and won three open seats serving east Multnomah County and Clackamas County.

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