OR Dems' walkout hypocrisy

Oregon Democrats were against legislative walkouts to deprive the majority of a quorum before they were for them

Lisa Reynolds, as State Rep. in 2021 decrying a GOP walkout (left) and as State Sen. in 2025 celebrating a Democrat walkout (right).

When Democrat legislators fled Texas earlier this week in a walkout, stalling Republican redistricting, their Oregon counterparts applauded the efforts.

But when state Republicans did the exact same thing, just a few years ago, Oregon Democrats jumped to condemn them. Apparently, this is less about principle – and more about party.

One of the most striking examples is Democrat state Sen. Lisa Reynolds, of west Portland.

When Oregon Democrats forced redistricting in September 2021 – gerrymandering District 5, looping in Democratic Bend (but not Republican Redmond) with southeast Portland – state Republicans walked out. Reynolds criticized them for doing so.

“Not enough Republicans showed up to reach quorum (we need 40 legislators total) we were not able to do the work we were elected to do,” she wrote on X. “I hope my Republican colleagues join us so we can do the work of the people.”

But when Texas Democrats walked out this week to protest Republican redistricting, she applauded them.

“With TX Dems! They’ve left the state to prevent congressional map gerrymandering,” she posted to Instagram as captured by Oregon Citizen on X.

Reynolds recently claimed to OPB that comparing the two walkouts was like comparing “apples and oranges” – even though they were both over redistricting.

Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley took a similar approach.

Oregon Republicans walked out in 2023 to stall Democrat legislation codifying “gender transition” and abortion for minors, and imposing stricter regulations on guns. Merkley strongly condemned that walkout.

“They’re not over a constitutional issue. They’re over policy,” he said at the time to KVAL. “To just bail out and say, ‘I’m going to take my pay and I’m not going to do the work’ is unacceptable. They need to show back up to work.”

But he supported the walkout in Texas, when Democrats participated.

“When the act of showing up would directly lead to the disenfranchisement of voters, you need to get creative and act in a way that meets the moment,” Merkley wrote, according to OPB.

Democrat state Rep. Rob Nosse, of Portland, voiced frustration with the Republican walkout of 2023 at the time – calling the walkout “crying and wailing and gnashing of teeth” over bills he wanted passed.

“I’ve been processing it for weeks,” he said at the time.

But, like Reynolds and Merkley – when Democrats walked out in Texas, he changed his tune.

“We can’t have four years of President Trump remaking the country with the help of a compliant Congress,” he posted to Instagram. “Hang in there, Texas Democrats! The nation is counting on you and your stand for our democracy.”

Most Oregon Democrats have kept radio silence on the Texas walkout – perhaps recalling their previous positions.

During Oregon’s Republican walkout of 2023, the state Senate Democrats posted a bright red graphic, reading: “DO YOUR JOB.”

Just a few years before, Republicans walked out in 2019 to stall a “cap-and-trade” climate bill. Then-state Rep. Tina Kotek – now governor – called it a “dark week for the integrity of the legislature.”

“Senate Rs have been threatening our democratic institution and subverting the will of Oregon voters who know we need to act now,” she wrote at the time. “Their walkout has come at immense cost to our institution and potentially the planet.”

Now, Texas Democrats are holding up critical issues still in the legislature – including flood relief, a ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying, and the Women’s Privacy Act.

Apparently for Nosse, the dissonance rings clear.

“If you cannot handle a little hypocrisy, you can’t handle humanity,” he said.