Far-right Republicans in Josephine County are counting on inattentive voters to help them build a framework for taking over the world, or at least the Oregon statehouse. JoCoGOP is running a slate of people aiming for traditionally non-partisan school board seats, a community college seat and the infiltration of the library district board in order to further their agenda of forcing their religion and ideology on our educational institutions. From these positions they hope to stairstep to city and county offices and eventually to become a majority in the state legislature in order to fulfill their dream of turning Oregon into Idaho.
For what can happen when voters don’t pay attention look at what is going on in Ottawa County Michigan https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/22/ottawa-county-commission/ and closer to home Shasta County in northern California https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/21/california-journalist-far-right-takover-shasta-county
Why could this happen in Josephine County? Because we have the same dynamics here as Ottawa and Shasta counties: a predominantly white Republican majority that votes a straight ticket without needing to know who they are voting for, powerful evangelical churches exerting influence, a culture dominated by right-wing media, fury over COVID mandates turned into media-driven fury over anything they perceive as “woke,” a robust gun culture, a few well-off supporters trying to buy power to further their goals and a general population of people who just don’t pay attention or even bother to vote in local elections.
What will happen if these people gain control? No more taxes that pay for services people take for granted, no more levies that support police and fire departments, no more school bonds to renovate aging school buildings, no more rules so your neighbor could have a dump on his property, no more public health, lax tax collection, the degeneration of our beautiful parks or possibly even the sale of some, total annihilation of environmental protection and if these people achieve their goal of taking over the statehouse NO MORE choice for women.
Stop this progression now by being aware of who’s on the ballot and by VOTING. Your quality of life depends on it.