Derek Clevenger: Why we need open primaries

Derek Clevenger was the mayor of Aumsville, Oregon. He became mayor after attending a city council meeting and asking questions that council refused to answer about a water and sewer fee that were not widely disclosed to citizens. As the chief petitioner, he leading the recall of half of the City Council of Aumsville and was later elected mayor, unseating the incumbent. He joined the Oregon National Guard, went on active duty, and earned his BA and his MBA while in Afghanistan. He is a trained medic and worked for the Department of State doing defense contracting in Northern Africa. Derek ran for Oregon House District 17 as an unaffiliated candidate. Because he ran as an unaffiliated candidate, he had to collect signatures to get his name on the ballot. If he had run as a Democrat or Republican, he simply would have paid a fee. Former Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan refused to certify his signatures, so Derek did not appear on the ballot. He since became interested in open primaries.www.alloregonvotes.comhttps://www.wweek.com/news/state/2023/06/06/feds-open-criminal-investigation-into-la-mota-and-shemia-fagan/https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/02/01/they-left-portland-is-losing-some-of-its-biggest-fans/https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/briefs/six-months-in-oregon-gov-tina-kotek-remains-countrys-least-popular-governor/#:~:text=Tina%20Kotek%20remains%20the%20least,disapproved%2C%20according%20to%20the%20pollhttps://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2022/05/new-poll-finds-kate-brown-is-nations-least-popular-governor.html