Political Action Committee
Basic Rights Oregon has Endorsed these Candidates for the 2026 Primary Election:
Gov. Tina Kotek
Governor
Comm. Christina Stephenson
Oregon Commissioner of Labor and Industries
Sen. Sara Gelser Blouin
Senate District 8
Sen. Deb Patterson
Senate District 10
Virginia Stapleton
Senate District 11
Sen. Courtney Neron Misslin
Senate District 13
Myrna Muñoz
Senate District 15
Rachel Armitage
Senate District 16
Sen. Lisa Reynolds
Senate District 17
Sen. Rob Wagner
Senate District 19
Sen. Kayse Jama
Senate District 24
Kori Rodley
House District 7
Rep. Lisa Fragala
House District 8
Rep. David Gomberg
House District 10
Rep. Nancy Nathanson
House District 13
Rep. Ben Bowman
House District 25
Rep. Sue Rieke Smith
House District 26
Tammy Carpenter
House District 27
Rep. Farrah Chaichi
House District 35
Rep. Jules Walters
House District 37
John Wasielewski
House District 38
Rep. Rob Nosse
House District 42
Rep. Tawna Sanchez
House District 43
Rep. Travis Nelson
House District 44
Rep. Andrea Valderrama
House District 47
Rep. Zach Hudson
House District 49
Nick Walden Poublon
House District 52
Councilor Juan
Carlos Gonzalez
Oregon Metro Council President
Councilor Christina Lewis
Oregon Metro Council, District 2
Comm. Nafisa Fai
Washington County Commissioner, Chair
Anthony Martin
Washinton County Commissioner,
District 4
Sara Duncan
Marion County Commissioner, Position 1
Maria Hinojos Pressey
Marion County Commissioner, Position 2
Amanda Page
Deschutes County Commissioner, Position 3
Morgan Schmidt
Deschutes County Commissioner, Position 5
Comm. Jeremy Gordon
Polk County Commissioner, Position 3
Catherine McMullen
Clackamas County Clerk
Comm. Heather Buch
Lane County Commissioner, District 5
Cindy Johnson
Yamhill County Clerk
Evelyn Kocher
Beaverton City Council, Position 1
Dave Inbody
Salem City Council,
Ward 4
Councilor Mai Vang
Salem City Council,
Ward 6
Basic Rights PAC
The Basic Rights Political Action Committee (Basic Rights PAC) is the arm of Basic Rights Oregon that endorses political candidates and supports political campaigns and other efforts. Our PAC’s goal is to support candidates at the state and local level who are champions for LGBTQ+ equality, and will prioritize issues that disproportionately impact our communities.
About our PAC Board and Endorsements:
Our current PAC board is made up entirely of LGBTQ+ Oregonians, and is majority-BIPOC. None of our board members work or have worked for Basic Rights Oregon, but they do all have lived experience in progressive advocacy in Oregon. Each member is a volunteer, and each new member is voted on by sitting board members.
Endorsements are determined by a PAC board vote. The PAC board uses BRO’s mission to create lived equality for queer and trans Oregonians as a guiding principle in its decisions. Basic Rights Oregon staff assists in coordinating materials and facilitating PAC meetings.
When a candidate asks for a PAC endorsement, we send them an endorsement questionnaire, along with a deadline for completing it and turning it back in.
In some races, BRO PAC will hold endorsement interviews in addition to sending candidate questionnaires. In other races, our PAC board does not have capacity to interview each candidate, and will instead rely on the questionnaire.
Our questionnaires and interviews cover a wide range of issues that impact members of Oregon’s LGBTQ communities. That includes access to healthcare, nondiscrimination policy, housing and homelessness, public safety and policing, addiction and mental health, and others.
Because BRO is a statewide advocacy organization, our PAC gets asked to consider endorsements for many candidates each election cycle—sometimes that number is in the hundreds. We aren’t able to make endorsements in every Oregon race due to capacity, but we do consider each candidate who asks for our endorsement. We currently do not make endorsements in federal races.
Learn more about our PAC and endorsement process here.
Contact Our PAC Board
To request an endorsement from our PAC Board, or get in touch with questions or concerns, email bropac@basicrights.org.
Apply for the BRO PAC Board
Thank you for your interest in serving on the board of Basic Rights Oregon PAC! We ask that you complete and submit the application form below to be considered for the PAC Board. We look forward to receiving this information from you.
If you are unable to complete the form on this webpage, please instead download the PDF version and return a completed copy to bropac@basicrights.org with “PAC application” in the email subject line.