For a country that is supposedly on the verge of losing its democracy, Oregon Democrats were in a partying mood Election Night.
“Everybody’s going to Momo’s,” a young woman called out. She was headed for the escalator at the Hilton Hotel, while janitors cleaned up the ballroom where Democrats rejoiced as the statewide victories piled up.
Dan Rayfield won Attorney General, state Treasurer Tobias Read won Secretary of State, and state Sen. Elizabeth Steiner won State Treasurer, Read’s old seat. All Democrats.
“The Senate will have a super-majority,” Senate President Rob Wagner boasted.
It was too early to say if the state House of Representatives would also have a super-majority.
Wagner noted that a super-majority means no more walkouts by Republicans. (It also means the Democrats can pass tax increases without a single Republican vote.)
Earlier in the evening, there were allusions to Donald Trump and his race against Kamala Harris.
Congresswoman-elect Maxine Dexter (D-Portland), easily won the 3rd Congressional district, which runs from the east side of Portland to Hood River, and has three times as many Democrats as Republicans.
“The night is still young… We are holding our breaths,” Dexter told the crowd, referring to the presidential race.
But nobody seemed to be holding their breaths.
Dexter praised neighborhood leaders, volunteers and her team, and promised to put the needs of Oregonians first.
She insisted “We’re not going to let a few millionaires” decide what happens to the nation. (The man she is replacing — longtime Democratic Congressman Earl Blumenauer — retired as a millionaire.)
At least the crowd was more attentive to Dexter than they were to Gov. Tina Kotek, who briefly took to the stage early on and urged the audience — in her prim voice — to “keep the faith.”
Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, who is leaving office, attracted even less attention. Nobody seemed to be listening when she introduced Rayfield, who promised to make Oregonians safer.
Some media reports described the crowd as subdued because of Trump’s early returns, but many in the crowd appeared to be enjoying themselves. They laughed, talked, took selfies, ate free veggies, crackers and sandwiches and bought drinks.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley made it sound like Harris’s victory was a done deal. He was looking forward to “hearing two words in the Oval Office that have never been said” — Madam President.
“It will be exciting in January,” Merkley crowed, adding that every member of Oregon’s congressional delegation will be a Congresswoman.
He was referring to other Democratic victors — 4th District Congresswoman Val Hoyle, who survived a Republican challenge from retired Air Force Col. Monique DeSpain and 6th District Congresswoman Andrea Salinas who defeated Republican challenger Mike Erickson.
“Janelle Bynum has to win … She’s up 10 percent. Let’s take it home for Janelle Bynum…,” roared Merkley.
Bynum was locked in a tight race against one-term incumbent Lori Chavez-DeRemer for the 5th Congressional District that runs from Portland suburbs to Bend.
“Our democracy is in trouble,” Merkley continued. “We have to take the presidency tonight.”
Throughout the evening there were references to Bynum speaking, but it didn’t happen.
“Have you seen my mom?” Caroline Bynum asked Lakeitha Elliott, a community activist who has worked for state Rep. Bynum in the past.
The young girl exchanged a shy smile with a stranger. She is probably getting used to total strangers smiling at her.
With 69 percent of the vote counted, Bynum had 47.7 percent to Chavez-DeRemer’s 45.4 percent.
The result of that race could help determine if Republicans can hold on to a slender majority in the House. In addition to Bynum’s race, there are contests still in limbo in California and Washington.
While the Oregon state Senate can bask in the glow of its Democratic supermajority, the U.S. Senate now has a Republican majority. With a Republican president — and potentially a Republican majority in the House, Oregon will be an outlier.
Considering how often the state’s progressive agenda requires federal funding, Oregon may have to start printing its own money.
By 11 p.m., the Democratic Party at the Hilton was winding down. One last-minute arrival — Loretta Smith, who is leading in the race for Portland City Council District 1 — arrived, stayed briefly and left.
Outside, it was quiet. In front of City Hall, a camera crew from KGW was waiting in case there were protests against a Trump victory.
The real angst seemed to be in the media.
Trump was back. How did that happen?
“Young people are in tears tonight, and I don’t blame them,” wrote Lewis & Clark law professor Jack Bogdanski.
Not at the Hilton Hotel. They were headed to Momo’s.
Pamela Fitzsimmons is a former newspaper reporter and editor who now bears witness to Portland’s self-destruction on substack. portlanddissent.substack.com