Democrat Elizabeth Steiner declares victory in Oregon treasurer race

Published 8:45 pm Tuesday, November 5, 2024

UPDATED at 11:19 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 with reaction from Steiner’s campaign.

State Sen. Elizabeth Steiner, a Portland Democrat who has played a key role in crafting legislative budgets for years, is on track to be Oregon’s next treasurer.

Steiner declared victory a few hours after the first results were published Tuesday night.

“As your next state treasurer I commit to bringing many perspectives together to find both/and solutions that will benefit people across our great state. Please join me as we work to make Oregonians the most financially secure, healthiest people in the nation,” she said in a statement via email.

Election results from the Secretary of State’s Office gave Steiner nearly 50% of the vote, compared with nearly 45% for her Republican opponent, state Sen. Brian Boquist of Dallas. Boquist did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.

A third candidate that Steiner had worried could spoil her bid — Mary King, a retired Portland State University professor and candidate for the Working Families and Pacific Green parties — earned nearly 6%.

If the trend holds, Steiner would be the first woman in Oregon history to hold the position.

“Tonight, I’ve broken the glass ceiling as Oregon’s first woman state treasurer,” she said in the statement. “This is a win shared by all those who believe in the idea that every Oregonian should have the tools they need to reach financial security.”

Oregon’s treasurer manages the nearly $98 billion Public Employees Retirement System, or PERS, which currently provides benefits to about 146,000 retirees. The treasurer also manages public banking and savings programs, including the Oregon College Savings Plan and Oregon Saves, a retirement savings program run through the treasury.

Steiner helped pass Oregon Saves in the Legislature and has been trying to expand the state’s college savings plan. A family physician and adjunct associate professor at Oregon Health & Science University, she has spent 12 years in the Legislature, including six as co-chair of the powerful budget-writing Joint Ways and Means Committee.

She campaigned on increasing financial literacy among Oregonians and creating a webpage for residents to enroll in savings accounts for college, retirement and future care and then monitor their savings. She said she wants to double the number of Oregon children with a savings plan for post-secondary education and ensure they understand how it would work. She also said she’d start a baby bond program for every kid born in Oregon who would get a one-time deposit from the state into a savings account that family members could contribute to over time and that the recipient could access after they turn 18.

She said she would work to make PERS solvent and less reliant on fossil fuel investments.

Boquist, who believes smaller government is better government, did not propose any new programs during the campaign and said divestment in fossil fuels was a “red herring political issue” and that those holdings only represent about 3% of PERS investments. Instead, he said PERS should slowly reduce investments in private equity companies and bonds outside Oregon and step up investments in housing.

Like Steiner, Boquist is a longtime lawmaker, with nearly 20 years in the Legislature, including the last 15 in the Senate. He was disqualified from running for another term after participating in a six-week walkout by Senate Republicans in 2023.

He ran a lackluster campaign — he didn’t have a campaign website and filed to run at the last minute. He only raised about $16,000 this year, and his single biggest expenditure was $3,000 to the Secretary of State’s Office for appearing in the Voters’ Pamphlet.

In comparison, Steiner raised more than $930,000 this year and spent tens of thousands on advertising, both on TV and radio stations and social media.

State treasurers are elected to a four-year term and are limited to two terms during any 12-year period.

This story was originally published by Oregon Capital Chronicle and used with permission. Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lynne Terry for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter.