Last year, 10 Republican senators in Oregon staged a record-long walkout as a stall tactic to prevent voting on bills for such issues as abortion, transgender health care, and gun.
On Thursday, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that these ten senators cannot run for reelection, according to the Associated Press.
This follows a decision made by the Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade to disqualify them from the ballot under a measure (Measure 113) aimed at stopping such boycotts.
It was originally voted on by the people of Oregon in 2022-amending the state constitution to bar lawmakers from reelection if they have more than 10 unexcused absences.
The prior boycott lasted two weeks and handcuffed the legislative session-stalling the vote on hundreds of bills. The six-week boycott is the longest in Oregon history.
Sens. Tim Knopp, Daniel Bonham, Suzanne Weber, Dennis Linthicum, and Lynn Findley, all among the 10 GOP senators who had more than the allotted number of unexcused absences, sued over the decision.
"We obviously disagree with the Supreme Court's ruling," said Knopp, the chamber's minority leader. "But more importantly, we are deeply disturbed by the chilling impact this decision will have to crush dissent."
What Happened?
Attorneys for the senators argued against the grammar and syntax of language used in Measure 113 during oral arguments before the Oregon Supreme Court in December.
In disagreeing the court said that, while the language used was ambiguous, the information provided to voters on the ballot title and explanation statement made clear the intent to bar truant lawmakers from holding office in a second term.
"Those other materials expressly and uniformly informed voters that the amendment would apply to a legislator's immediate next terms of office, indicating that the voters so understood and intended that meaning," the justices wrote.
The senators' lawsuit was filed against Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade, who last August said the boycotting senators were disqualified from seeking reelection.
She directed her office's elections division to implement an administrative rule based on her stance.
The 2023 walkout only ended after the GOP forced concession from Democrats on a sweeping bill on abortion, transgender health care, and measures pertaining to the manufacture and transfer of ghost guns.
Oregon voters approved Measure 113 by a wide margin following Republican walkouts in the Legislature in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
