KGW’s Straight Talk

Portland business leaders said there are positive trends in downtown Portland's economic recovery but acknowledge it's a "work in progress" and won't happen overnight. In this episode of Straight Talk, representatives from the Portland Business Alliance, Prosper Portland and Travel Portland join Laural Porter to discuss the state of the city's downtown.

During the early days of the pandemic, reliable and fast internet connectivity became a lifeline for nearly everyone in some fashion, whether it was online school, working from home, ordering groceries, or telehealth doctors appointments. It meant that people who don't have that connection for one reason or another had an extra burden during an already difficult time. The City of Portland is working with Comcast and community groups to create multiple solutions to meet the needs of people without internet connection.

It was a historic election night in Oregon on Tuesday, with three women running for governor and more women candidates running for office up and down the ballot than ever before. 

KGW's election night analysts, Democrat Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal and Republican strategist Rebecca Tweed, reflected on the midterm election in Oregon during this week's episode of "Straight Talk."

Jayapal said that leading up to election night, the 2022 midterms were popularly described as a referendum on both the party in power in the White House and in the Oregon governor's office. 

But rather than being a referendum, Jayapal said voters took a more nuanced approach for specific candidates. Democrats like Tina Kotek, who won the Oregon governor's race, were successful because they ran nuanced campaigns that touched on both issues and values, she said.

Republican strategist Rebecca Tweed said that while it's disappointing that GOP candidate for governor Christine Drazan came up just short of winning the race, Republicans in Oregon can still point to some meaningful wins. 

It wasn't a runaway race for Democrats, she said, who have been in power in the Oregon governor's office for nearly 40 years, and Drazan brought a lot of energy to her campaign and messaging that resonated with a lot of Oregonians.

With just days before Election Day, Rene Gonzalez and Jo Ann Hardesty joined Straight Talk this week to talk about their vision for the city if they're elected to Portland City Council. Both were the top two finishers in the May primary election, setting up a November runoff after incumbent Hardesty fell short of the 50% threshold to win outright. The winner of the runoff will serve a four-year term starting in January.

With ballots mailed out and just over a week to go before Election Day on Tuesday, November 8th, voters in Washington's 3rd Congressional District are choosing a new face to represent them in Washington, D.C. 

Six-term incumbent Jaime Herrera Beutler lost in the top-two primary in August. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, the only Democrat on a crowded ballot, was the top vote-getter while Republican Joe Kent came in second. Herrera Beutler was one of 10 US House Republicans to vote to impeach former President Donald Trump, which Kent said motivated him to run against her. Neither he nor Gluesenkamp Perez have ever held elected office.

Gluesenkamp Perez owns a Portland auto repair shop with her husband and lives in rural Skamania County. Kent is a former Green Beret who served 20 years in the military. He's endorsed by President Trump and lives in Yacolt, Washington. In this week's episode of Straight Talk, Kent and Gluesenkamp Perez sparred over their competing visions for Southwest Washington and the nation, including what they would do to bring down inflation and reduce crime, and their views on abortion rights and immigration.

Following the taping of the regular edition of Straight Talk, the candidates took another 15 minutes to answer a bonus round of questions in which Kent and Gluesenkamp Perez debated what happened on January 6th during the US Capitol riot, how to make sure Social Security remains solvent, Second Amendment rights and how to reduce gun violence, and Kent's call to abolish Washington State's vote-by-mail system.

Wednesday night on KGW, the three candidates for Oregon governor met for their fourth and final debate before Election Day. Republican Christine Drazan, Democrat Tina Kotek and unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson got one last chance to make their case to Oregon voters.

The candidates had an hour to tackle some of the biggest issues facing Oregonians: homelessness, mental health, addiction services, abortion rights, education and campaign funding, among others.

"Straight Talk" host Laurel Porter moderated the debate, and now she explores some of the key takeaways as we quickly approach Election Day.

Oregon's congressional races are unusually tight in a typically blue state, and are drawing a lot of interest and money from both Republican and Democratic national party committees. One of the most competitive races is in Oregon's newly created sixth congressional district between Democrat Andrea Salinas and Republican Mike Erickson. The new district was created following the 2020 census and includes parts of southwest Portland, Salem, Woodburn, Yamhill County, and Lake Oswego in Clackamas County.

With the balance of power on the line in Congress, Oregon's hotly contested fifth Congressional district race is in the national spotlight.

Neutral polls show it's a contest that is too close to call. Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner, who defeated incumbent Kurt Schrader in the primary, is going head to head with Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer. One certainty in the race is that Oregon will add another woman to its Congressional delegation to join Democrat Suzanne Bonamici, who represents the state's first district.

McLeod-Skinner is a Terrebonne attorney and part-time emergency preparedness coordinator, as well as a board member of the Jefferson County Education District. Chavez-DeRemer served as mayor of Happy Valley from 2010 to 2018. She and her husband co-founded Anesthesia Associates Northwest, and own health and wellness clinics that treat drug resistant depression.

The two candidates appeared separately on this week's edition of "Straight Talk" to make their case to voters on why they believe they are the best fit for the vast and diverse district.

Portlanders are less than two months away from voting on Measure 26-228, a proposal to radically reshape the city's form of government, and supporters and opponents of the charter reform package are both pressing their cases.

Melanie Billings-Yun, who co-chaired the Charter Commission that developed the proposal, and Sol Mora, campaign manager for the reform proposal advocacy group Portland United for Change, were guests on Straight Talk this week to make their case for the ballot measure.

Also appearing this week was Vadim Mozyrsky, who was one of three Charter Commission members who voted against the package, and is now campaigning in opposition to it as part of a group called the Partnership for Common Sense Government.

As CEO of the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Care Systems, Becky Hultberg has a close-up view of the crisis gripping the state's health care sector — and she spends sleepless nights thinking about what the future holds.

More than two and a half years since the start of the pandemic, hospitals and skilled nursing homes continue to face historic staffing shortages, and it's left Oregon's hospitals and health care systems in deep financial turmoil.

"Like many of you, I have family members whose lives have been saved in hospitals," Hultberg said. "And it feels really scary and desperate to me to think about living in a place or being in a time when there's not an emergency department bed that's open in a reasonable time, or there's not a hospital bed available when someone I love needs that care."

Hultberg and Samaritan Hospital CEO Laura Hennum were guests on this week's episode of Straight Talk to discuss the hospital crisis, what caused it and possible solutions.