To understand what Tobias Read would accomplish as Oregon’s next secretary of state, he says to look at his almost eight years as state treasurer.

“Past performance, in this case, is a good indicator of future results,” Democrat Read said.

That’s just the problem, according to his main opponent, Republican state Sen. Dennis Linthicum.

“Remember, the state government is oriented, organized, managed and controlled by the majority party,” Linthicum said. “Anytime you get a concentrated power in the majority over decades, you have potential for abuse. The Secretary of State’s Office is a perfect place for me to interject different ideas, different concerns — some conservative, some not so conservative, some ideas that are contrary to the mainline Democrat majority.”

Linthicum, who lives in the Klamath Falls area, is barred under Measure 113 from seeking reelection to the Senate this year. He accumulated too many unexcused absences during the 2023 legislative walkout by Republican and Independent senators. His wife, Diane Linthicum, who is his legislative chief of staff, is running for his Senate District 28 seat.

Read, who lives in the Beaverton area, is finishing his second term as state treasurer. The Oregon Constitution bars him from a third consecutive term.

“I’m running for secretary of state because it has such a central role in everything that is important about how our democracy works,” Read said. “I’m really proud of what we’ve done at Treasury. I want to bring those lessons and that approach to an office that I think really needs stability and execution in an era when it feels like so many people are trying to undercut the effectiveness of government and really question its legitimacy.”

The third candidate is naturopathic doctor Nathalie Paravicini, of Portland, representing the Progressive and Pacific Green parties. She also ran for secretary of state in 2020, finishing third with 3.6% of the vote in a four-person race. Her priorities include election and campaign finance reform, including supporting Measure 117 for ranked choice voting.

After taking office in January, the new secretary of state will be first in line to become governor if a vacancy occurs. That’s how Kate Brown was elevated to the governorship when John Kitzhaber resigned.

The race is wide-open because appointed incumbent LaVonne Griffin-Valade is not running. Gov. Tina Kotek tabbed Griffin-Valade last year to complete the term of disgraced Democratic Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, who resigned.

The Secretary of State’s Office oversees such state functions as elections, audits, archives and business registrations. The secretary of state also is on the State Land Board, where Treasurer Read advocated innovative management of the Elliott State Forest near Coos Bay.

The Elections Division will be responsible for implementing the campaign finance reforms passed by this year’s Legislature and, if voters approve Measure 117, ranked choice voting.

Read and Linthicum hold differing views on elections, although they both assailed the state’s adding about 1,500 non-citizens to the voter rolls. Officials said those errors have been corrected and had resulted from clerical mistakes in the “motor voter” registration system at Oregon DMV (Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division).

Read said he would look “afresh, anew, completely and comprehensively” at how voter registration is conducted. He firmly supports vote-by-mail but would be on the lookout for improvements, including providing more assistance to local elections officials.

Linthicum was a plaintiff in a 2022 federal lawsuit that unsuccessfully sought to end mail voting and electronic tabulation of votes. The courts dismissed the case, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the plaintiffs’ appeal.

He said he’s been concerned for years about non-citizens’ voting. He advocates for voting in person at the polls with voters required to show identification. As secretary of state, he said, he could not undo vote-by-mail but could examine the Elections Division’s rules.

“I will follow the laws that come from the Oregon Legislature,” he said. “The secretary of state currently has rules that are extremely divisive and protective and somewhat censorship with regard to how vote-by-mail looks, acts, feels and tastes.”

Linthicum is a former Klamath County commissioner. During his nearly eight years in the Senate, he said, he was most proud of his striving for medical freedom, including opposing vaccination mandates and COVID-19 restrictions.

Read served 10 years in the Oregon House, where in 2015 he was a chief sponsor of the Oregon Retirement Savings Plan. Now known as OregonSaves, in 2017 it became the nation’s first operating state-sponsored retirement program. As treasurer, Read oversaw its growth along with emphasizing financial literacy for Oregonians.