One third of all Oregon senators are now ineligible for another term following the 13th day of a Republican walkout in the Senate.

Six more Republicans on Thursday joined three Republicans and one conservative Independent in having at least 10 unexcused absences from Senate floor session roll calls. That triggers a new state law that bars them from another term in office. 

Thursday’s roll call was emotional and had an air of resignation. 

Sen. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford, used the “courtesies” section of the agenda — usually reserved for noting dignitaries, friends, families or others in the Senate — to offer courtesies to the senators who had walked out. He called putting their political careers possibly on the line to block the abortion and transgender medical care guarantees in House Bill 2002, along with gun controls in House Bill 2005, “selfless acts.” Both bills were nearing a vote in the Senate after approval by the House and would have then gone to Gov. Tina Kotek to sign into law.

Brock Smith and Sen. Dick Anderson, R-Lincoln City, were the only Republicans on the floor. Their presence was not enough to create the two-thirds quorum required by the Oregon Constitution for lawmakers to meet. Oregon is one of just four states that require more than a simple majority.

Sen. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, immediately after rose and in a shaky voice, broken by tears, said she had come to work with a “lump in my throat instead of a spring in my step” and was comforted by a guard on duty.

“These people are here every day doing their jobs, ” she said.

A drawn-looking Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, then called for the roll of those present. There were 18, with 10 absent and two excused. For the 13th consecutive day, there was no quorum.

At the close of the session, Wagner made an impassioned speech from the president’s podium.

“Today is another extremely challenging day for Oregon,” Wagner said.  “I’ve never seen a situation like this. It is unique, it is beyond disappointing, it is troubling and, frankly, it is saddening.”

The senators who continued the walkout were showing “disrespect for democracy,” in which the will of the majority of voters take precedence over those of the minority. He said if Oregon voters truly support the Republican policies, then the party would have a majority in the Legislature.

Wagner said the walkout “must end.”

“The people of Oregon desire it,” he said. “Democracy demands it.”

He invoked Benjamin Franklin’s famous remark at the Constitutional Convention. When the vote was finished and the delegates left the hall, a bystander asked Franklin what kind of government the new country would have.

“A Republic – if you can keep it,” Franklin said.

Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp, who was not present on the floor, reiterated in a statement his stance that Democrats were igniting partisan tension while bills with common ground were left unfinished. 

“While Democrats are laser focused on the issues that do nothing but divide, we are focused on the real issues Oregonians care most about – homelessness, affordable housing, public safety, cost of living, job creation, and fully-funded education,” Knopp said.

The biggest impact is on the six no-shows who are newly barred under law from another term or running for office in the House: Knopp and Sens. Art Robinson, R-Cave Junction, Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, Suzanne Weber, R-Tillamook, Lynn Findley, R-Vale and Bill Hansell, R-Athena. They join Sens. Dennis Linthicum, R-Klamath Falls, Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, Cedric Hayden, R-Roseburg and Brian Boquist, I-Dallas, who had previously hit the 10-absence mark.

Tim Knopp of Bend

Next election: 2024

“Senate Republicans are engaged in a peaceful, constitutional protest,” Knopp said after he crossed the 10-absence mark. 

Background: The House minority leader has taken the point position in blasting Democrats, especially Wagner, a long-time teachers union lobbyist. In a rare personal attack in the Senate, Knopp said the new senate president was “untrustworthy, deeply partisan, and doesn’t have the necessary skills to run the Senate in a bipartisan fashion.”

Knopp represented House District 54 around Bend from 1999 to 2005, including two years as House majority leader. He left office and concentrated on his work as an executive vice-president for the Central Oregon Builders Association. He won a close 2020 re-election bid over retired Daimler executive Eileen Kiely of Sunriver by just over 1,500 votes out of 96,989 votes cast. Redistricting in 2022 gave Knopp a district with a significant Democratic voter tilt.

He’s been mentioned by activists in both parties as a possible candidate for treasurer or secretary of state. He’s a key player in Republican fundraising and campaign direction in Oregon. Knopp is listed as a director on five political action committees: The Senate Republican’s Leadership Fund, Central Oregon Small Business PAC, Oregon Freedom PAC, Oregon Reagan PAC and Deschutes County Republican Central Committee PAC. In addition, he has his own campaign PAC, and is affiliated with the Oregon’s 13 Constitutional Defense Fund PAC, created to support the walkout.

Oregon’s 13 Constitutional Defense Fund, based in Bend, reported Thursday having $1,258.14 in contributions since its first report on May 15. The only contributions large enough to warrant reporting the donors are $200 from Peggy Winters of Medford and $150 from Herschel Stubblefield of Eugene. 

Bill Hansell of Athena

Next election: 2024

Background: After 30 years as a Umatilla County commissioner, Hansell went to the state senate in 2013. He announced earlier this year that he would retire, leaving his seat open for the 2024 election. He represents Senate District 39, which sprawls over much of northeastern Oregon, covering more land than the state of Maryland. It includes Wallowa, Union, Umatilla, Morrow, Gilliam, Sherman and parts of Wasco and Jefferson counties.

Hansell took part in Republican walkouts in 2019 and 2021, but was concerned as more interest groups demanded senators walk out over bills they disliked. When a gun control bill came to the Senate, Hansel joined Knopp and a handful of other Republicans to go to the floor to allow for a quorum. They vigorously denounced the bill and voted against passage. But their presence allowed a quorum and the bill was approved by the majority Democrats. Hansell reported receiving death threats from gun rights extremists, which Senate officials reported to the Oregon State Police. After announcing he would be leaving the Senate, Hansell saw his longtime effort to have the potato named as the state vegetable gather steam. It was in the final stages of House approval when the walkout began and the bill has stayed put since.

Lynn Findley of Vale

Next election: 2024

Findley issued a statement Thursday slamming Democrats for what he said were partisan decisions on the absences and Republican claims the 1979 clarity in legislative language law required bills to be returned to committees to be rewritten.

“It seems that leadership in Oregon feels they can do no wrong and are above the law. We are in the middle of an accountability crisis, and it is time that something is done about it. By denying quorum, we have drawn attention to Democrats willfully violating the law. As a Senator, I swore an oath to uphold the laws and constitution of Oregon. My oath is sacred to me. I refuse to join a quorum of the Senate if our actions will trample on the rule of law.”

Background: Findley has moved quickly up the political ranks in Eastern Oregon. He was elected to the House in 2018 and received both the Republican and Democratic nominations, essentially running unopposed. He was then appointed to the House District 30 Senate seat in January 2020. He won election in 2020 for a full four-year term.

Findley joined with Hansell in staying in Salem and taking part in floor debates over gun control legislation whose more fervent opponents demanded Republican senators walk out to block. He also received death threats and was the target of a recall campaign that fizzled. He joined Hansell in legislation targeting fellow Republican senators Dallas Heard of Roseburg and Dennis Linthicum of Klamath Falls, who led a successful insurgent campaign that saw Heard become the new state Republican chair and Linthicum the party treasurer. The bill that would have barred senators from holding party executive positions became moot after Heard resigned from both the state party and the Senate. Finley’s southeast district is geographically the largest in the state, bordering Idaho, Nevada and California. It covers Baker, Crook, Grant, Harney, Lake, Malheur and parts of Deschutes and Jefferson counties. 

Suzanne Weber of Tillamook

Next election: 2026

Weber said in a statement Thursday instead of concentrating on bills with bipartisan support, Democrats were concentrating on hot-button social issues they know divide the parties.

“There is bipartisan support for legislation on housing, transportation, and infrastructure,” Weber said. “Yet Senate President Rob Wagner insists on holding these commonsense policies hostage to jam through extremist policies that do nothing but bitterly divide the legislature and the state.”

Background: A late-blooming rising star in the GOP, the former Tillamook mayor won a House seat in 2020, then flipped the Senate District 16 seat formerly held by Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, who resigned to mount an unsuccessful unaffiliated campaign for governor in 2022. Weber has taken a leading role in the fight over the current walkout, joining with Rep. Emily McIntire, R-Eagle Point, and Oregon Right To Life to file a request for a temporary restraining order against a Senate vote on HB 2002, based on Republicans’ invoking a 1979 law that requires legislative analysis of bills be written at essentially an 8th grade level. The petition was rejected by Marion County Circuit Judge David Leith, who said “I don’t see any likelihood of success in persuading the court” to pass judgment on legislative process.

Kim Thatcher of Keizer

Next election: 2026

Background: A frequent lightning rod for taking strongly conservative stances, sometimes at odds with other party leaders. She was among the group of senators who walked out over the 2021 gun control legislation, as demanded by the Oregon Firearms Federation, the most conservative gun group in the state. Winning Senate District 11 around Salem and its suburbs in November was the culmination of a bruising two years for the Keizer lawmaker. After serving 10 years in the House and eight years in the Senate, she was the 2020 GOP nominee for secretary of state, losing by 7% to Sen. Shemia Fagan, D-Portland. Thatcher found herself shoehorned into a tough new district following redistricting for the 2022 election. Her bid to stay in the Senate was made all the more intriguing when the Democratic nominee, Eric Swenson, bowed out. Party officials instead chose Richard Walsh. Thatcher won 52.7% to 47.1% 

Art Robinson of Cave Junction

Next election: 2024

Background: A chemist, scientist and political activist, Robinson has been an iconoclastic presence in southern Oregon politics over the past two decades. He was best known for his inexhaustible ability to endure defeat over the course of five consecutive bids for the seat held by U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield. In 2020, he was urged to switch to the race for Senate District 2 to allow conservative star Alek Skarlatos take a shot at DeFazio. Skarlotos gave DeFazio the closest race of his career, but Robinson won the Senate seat. Amid the internal Senate Republican strife of 2021, Robinson announced he was becoming an independent Republican – remaining a party member, but declining to participate in the Senate Republican caucus.