Recount: Reflecting on the 2018 Election

What were the big surprises in Oregon and across the country? What do these results mean for the Oregon Legislature in 2019? And what can we expect in 2020?

Join us as we look back at the political races and ballot measures that will shape the coming year in Oregon and beyond.

Panelists

Ana del Rocío is the state director of Color PAC Action, a nonprofit that uplifts leaders of color to enter public office and govern effectively. Ana is a first-generation Chicana/Peruana, and has experience in the public sector at both the state and local levels. In 2017, she was elected to the David Douglas School Board in an unprecedented election that saw people of color on the ballot for the first time, in a majority-people of color school district. In addition to her work advancing reflective democracy throughout Oregon, Ana sits on the board of Family Forward Action/The Mother PAC—where she brings a racial justice approach to organizing mothers and caregivers for better workplace policies, including paid family leave and affordable childcare. Ana lives in outer southeast Portland and spends her free time with her two young children, Túpac Amaru and Inti Guamaní.

Jillian Schoene has spent the last 20 years working in Oregon politics, at all levels of government, for both elected officials and candidates running for office. She was recruited to take over Emerge Oregon in the summer of 2014.

Before coming to Emerge, she worked with a number of candidates, including Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, Governor Kate Brown, and Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury. She also has worked for two members of Congress and two governors—Governor Ted Kulongoski during his second term in office and as Governor John Kitzhaber’s spokesperson during his 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

In addition to her work for Emerge, Jillian is a fierce advocate for women’s reproductive health, including that all have access to contraceptive care and safe, legal abortion services. She is board vice chair for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon.

Rebecca Tweed is campaign advisor to Oregon gubernatorial candidate Knute Buehler, executive director of Grow Oregon, the founder of Tweed Strategies, and an Of Counsel consultant to Gallatin Public Affairs and G2 Public Strategies in the Pacific Northwest. For more than a decade, she has been a top political strategist in Oregon and has worked on over 40 political campaigns and multiple advocacy issues ranging from local government and state candidate campaigns, to county and statewide ballot measures across Oregon.

Moderator

Leonard Bergstein is the founder and president of Northwest Strategies and a founding board member of the Oregon Sports Authority. He got his start in Oregon public affairs when he moved from New York in 1972 to work for Multnomah County Legal Aid, running the Legislative Action Center to inform and organize clients on landlord-tenant and consumer protection issues. Focusing next on electoral politics, Len ran Betty Roberts' historic race for Governor in 1973/74 and then went on to serve as the campaign manager, legislative assistant, and political affairs advisor to Governor Bob Straub. In 1978, Len was administrative assistant to Portland Mayor Neil Goldschmidt and in 1979 was a special assistant on the Washington D.C. staff of U.S. Secretary of Transportation Neil Goldschmidt. 

In 1981, Len returned to Oregon to start what has become one of Oregon's leading public affairs consulting firms—Northwest Strategies.

Len has long been involved with efforts to make Oregon a premier destination for amateur athletic contests, world-class spectator events, and major sports franchises. Twenty-five years ago, he helped start the Oregon Sports Authority, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for Oregonians by using Oregon's matchless physical assets and sports culture to attract more than 200 key sports events, totaling more than $300 million in economic impact to our region.

Len is a graduate of Wesleyan University (Middletown, Connecticut) and NYU Law School. While attending NYU Law School, Len enjoyed teaching at a public middle school and a private residential treatment center near New York City. In our state, Len is a long-time member of City Club and has supplemented his professional schedule with service on numerous boards, commissions, and community service organizations. Len is also the Political Analyst for KGW TV.

 

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