Bonamici Scores Lasting Victory
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 1:38PM
Democrat Suzanne Bonamici cruised to a double-digit victory over Republican Rob Cornilles in this week's special election to replace Oregon 1st District Congressman David Wu, who resigned last year amid a sex scandal.
Bonamici's convincing win didn't surprise many people, but explanations for her success don't always ring true. Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner, dismiss the 1st District and Oregon generally as a liberal-leaning part of the Left Coast.
That generalization overlooks the fundamentals that have turned Oregon's 1st Congressional District into a Democratic bastion since 1974, when in the wake of the Watergate scandal Les AuCoin became the first Democrat in state history to capture the congressional seat since it was created in 1893.
Voters in the 1st District, which in the 1970s included Lake Oswego, Lincoln City and more rural areas than now, didn't suddenly change their political philosophy. What happened was the growth of a working Democratic majority, backed by an effective political apparatus that gets out voters who support Democrats.
The 1st District encompasses Northwest Oregon, generally from the Willamette River west to the coast and from the Columbia River south to Yamhill County. With the exception of Yamhill County, this is one of the most pro-choice parts of Oregon. Republican candidates, especially when they are males, who run with the endorsement of Right to Life, can face tough sledding holding onto Republican women and fiscally conservative, but socially liberal independent voters.
The district includes King City, one of the state's largest enclaves of senior citizens. King City is home to a lot Republicans who have deserted their party's candidate if he or she talked about dismantling Social Security or cutting Medicare.
Northwest Portland and the western suburbs are comfortable homes for many of Oregon's prominent and politically active gay and lesbian citizens.