Former Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith is the first to thrust an oar in the water in the race to represent Oregon’s unbounded Sixth Congressional District.

Smith, a Portland Democrat, announced her candidacy to the public Tuesday — months ahead of the autumn deadlines for the political process that will actually draw the district onto the map ahead of the 2022 election.

Unlike Oregon state lawmakers, there’s no district residency requirement for election to the House of Representatives, as the U.S. Constitution only requires living somewhere within the state.

The race is expected to attract several top Democrats, especially after the district’s location is set. Candidates cannot officially file to run until September and can wait until the deadline in March.

In an interview, Smith said ending voter suppression was “the most important thing that we should be doing,” while also highlighting the symmetry between police reforms proposed federally and the policy slate she crafted while running for Portland City Council.

“We need a bigger, larger, more aggressive voice from someone of color who has experience and a track record,” she said. “Qualified immunity needs to be taken off the table… and police have to be charged like everyone else if they murder people in our community.”

After eight years at the county dais, Smith ran unsuccessfully for Portland City Council in a campaign won by Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty in 2018. Smith was bested again by Commissioner Dan Ryan in a nailbiter run-off election last year.

If elected, she would be the first Black person to represent Oregon on Capitol Hill, and stressed that her legislative priorities would be guided by her experience as a single mother who raised a Black son, Jordan, in Portland, as well as her upbringing in a union family in Michigan and her 2011 health scare involving a brain tumor.

“Had I not had the health care that I did at the county… I would have never been able to survive,” said Smith, who later drafted a Medicare-For-All proposal. “I thought about all the other people who didn’t have the luxury of having that kind of health insurance.”

But Smith, 56, also carries baggage from her history in office, including allegations that she was a bullying boss to certain employees and misused her county credit card, though she later repaid the funds and denied the claims of harassment.

Smith says she has moved on from the issues but tries not to repeat her mistakes.

“I have so much passion in helping the most vulnerable in our community, so sometimes that boils over,” she said.

It’s still an open question whether Smith would live in the district she hopes to represent.

While there is no constitutional requirement to live in the district, U.S. House candidates who have run in for congressional seats outside of their home area have moved to the district during the campaign or after election.

Oregon has had five congressional districts since 1982, with the partisan division currently four Democrats and one Republican.

The state population jumped by an 11% population jump in the past decade – mainly in suburban the suburban Portland and Bend areas.

The growth made  Oregon eligible for an extra seat following apportionment to the states based on population that was announced in April. California was among states that lost a seat.

State lawmakers expect to get U.S. Census data needed to draw the districts sometime in mid-August. Senate and House redistricting committees will work on the maps. A special session of the Legislature is tentatively scheduled for September 20. Maps are due to the Oregon Supreme Court no later than September 27.

If lawmakers can’t agree on a plan, legislative redistricting would go to Secretary of State Shemia Fagan. 

But the congressional districts would be drawn by a special judicial panel that should hammer out the maps in November. Any legal challenges would go directly to the Oregon Supreme Court.

Smith, who lives in Northeast Portland, said her two decades of experience working as an aide to current U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden had given her the confidence to jump in the race before anyone else.

“I’ve been exposed to issues around the state, and if the congressional line is drawn anywhere in Oregon, I know a little bit about it,” she said.

Reporter Peter Wong and EO Media Group contributed to this article.