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.