The Bridge by OR360

Close races, but results are in for Virginia and New Jersey elections.

Biden's infrastructure bill is making political and economic waves.

Vaccines for kids and boosters are rolling out. 

What does this all mean for the 2022 Oregon election?

Find out on this episode of The Bridge.

Dirk VandertHart is one of Oregon's most prominent political journalists, working for OPB. Previously, he worked at the Portland Mercury, and before that worked at several local publications across the country. Many Oregon politicos will recognize his voice from radio or from the OPB Politics Now podcast.

He is an incredibly well-sourced and thoughtful reporter with many nuggets of wisdom and insight you're unlikely to hear from anyone else. In this episode, we discuss the state of local journalism in Oregon, and Dirk explains whether he's optimistic or pessimistic about the future of state politics reporting in Oregon. Dirk's also tells us about his path to Oregon (and whether he considers himself an Oregonian) and some of the things he's learned along the way. Then, we dive into the most important political topics of today: redistricting and the 2022 election.

As you may have heard, our co-host, Ben Bowman, has announced that he's running for the Oregon State House in the newly-created District 25 (Tigard and parts of Beaverton). In addition to hosting this podcast and writing a weekly politics newsletter for Oregon360, Ben is the chair of the Tigard-Tualatin School Board. Previously, he worked for former Rep. Margaret Doherty and then-Rep. Val Hoyle (now Labor Commissioner). 

In this episode, Alex asks Ben about how campaigns work, what he hopes to do in the legislature, and how his run for office will impact The Bridge podcast. 

If you want to learn more about Ben's campaign (and offer your support!), check out his website: www.BenForOregon.com

Reagan Knopp is a conservative political consultant with over ten years of experience working in Oregon politics, campaigns, the state legislature, and more. He owns a small consulting firms and serves as the Editor in Chief of The Oregon Catalyst, a conservative blog covering Oregon politics. This episode might surprise you. Reagan walks us through what happened with redistricting, the future of the Oregon Republican Party, and what Oregon Republicans could learn from Stacey Abrams and Georgia Democrats. If you listen closely, you also might hear from Reagan's daughter in this episode!

Amaury Vogel is the Associate Executive Director of the the Oregon Values & Beliefs Center (OVBC). OVBC is an innovative organization that provides public opinion research for free to policymakers, news organizations, and the general public. In this episode we talk about how polling works (and why sometimes it doesn't work), and we discuss what makes OVBC unique. 

We also talk about some of OVBC's incredible research on everything from climate change to wildfires to homelessness to Greater Idaho.

Amaury worked for Volunteers of America – Oregon for 7 years providing direct service and managing programs. She worked with vulnerable populations in a variety of settings, including early childhood education, domestic violence, and the healthcare system. She earned an interdisciplinary studies degree with a primary focus in psychology and a secondary focus in social work.

The Oregon Bridge is now The Bridge by OR360 Media! After 24 very successful episodes, the founders are sitting down in this episode to talk about the bright future of the podcast, of OR360, and demystify the suite of products that we will be offering moving forward including "The Way", "The Bridge", The Liftoff " and more!

Thank you all so much for your support of the podcast, we couldn't do this without you!

Be sure to follow and subscribe @OR360media on all major platforms!

The Oregon Bridge goes "under the hood' in this episode with our own producer Buddy Terry. 

Buddy was born in Portland and raised in rural St. Helens Oregon. Along with being a full time multimedia producer, Buddy is a graduate of Anthropology from Oregon State University, and is currently pursuing his Masters of Journalism and Documentary Film Production at the University of California at Berkeley. 

In this episode, Buddy discloses a little bit about his own personal politics, sheds some light on the 21st century state of news media, and takes listeners behind the scenes a bit by breaking down the Oregon Bridge production process.

Val Hoyle has been a leading figure in Oregon politics since she was appointed to the State House in 2010. She was quickly elected House Majority Leader by her colleagues, where she oversaw the political and campaign functions of the House Democrats. After a close second-place finish in the primary for Secretary of State in 2016, she was elected in 2018 as Oregon's 10th Commissioner of Labor and Industries, winning 17 of Oregon's 36 counties. She is frequently discussed as a potential candidate for Congress or Governor in the future.

This was a fun conversation. In this episode, Hoyle talks about her theory on why political polarization has worsened in America. She also talks about how the Bureau of Labor and Industries is re-imagining apprenticeships so more people can benefit, and how she has worked to change the culture of the state agency she leads. As a bonus, she also tells the story of the first time she met Ben (who worked for her when she was Majority Leader).

Bridget Barton is currently the leading fundraiser in the GOP primary for Oregon governor. While she has never held public office, but she's been involved in Oregon politics for decades as a consultant and in volunteer positions. She has deep connections among GOP leaders and is considered one of the front runners for the Republican nomination.

In this episode she tells us her personal story about addiction and being in recovery. Her experience informs her policy proposals for addressing Oregon's addiction crisis, and she has some views that might surprise you. We also discuss homelessness, the challenges facing the city of Portland, COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and campaign finance reform.

Final-Five Voting is the combination of (1) a single open primary election with the top 5 candidates advancing to the general election and (2) ranked-choice voting in the general election. A similar proposal passed in Alaska in 2020.

This kind of proposal could be coming to Oregon in 2024 via ballot measure, and it could fundamentally change Oregon's electoral system. In this episode, we explore Gehl's diagnosis of the problem (the "political industrial complex"), her solutions, and we talk through some potential critiques from Alex and Ben.