Many of us agree there is a major urban/rural divide in the state of Oregon (and many other states). The fact in Oregon is that 71% of all legislators live within 60 miles of the state Capitol. What are the solutions, when this results in voters from these urban areas controlling the entire state?

One idea is counties bordering Idaho break away from Oregon and join Idaho. Another idea is to change the Oregon Constitution to allow each county in Oregon to elect its own member for the state’s Senate.

Now wait … I know there was a 1964 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Reynolds v. Sims. This passed 5-4 and mandated that citizen voter districts must be of equal numbers in size.

Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan II (one of the dissenters) argued that the Equal Protection Clause was not designed to apply to voting rights.

Currently in 2023 the rural areas of Oregon and Washington do not have equal representation with the urban areas; this is unconstitutional and discriminatory. Many of us who are in older generations have witnessed times when opposing parties each held either the Senate or House. This “forced” our representatives to negotiate.

Before the industrialization and urbanization of the United States, a state Senate was understood to represent rural counties as a counterbalance to towns and cities. However, today we have the majority of legislators residing within the heavy population areas along the Interstate 5 corridor in both Oregon and Washington.

What would be the value of having one senator from every county?

1) A more responsive Legislature that would consider both sides of an issue as compared to our current status.

2) Forced open debate.

3) Allow Oregon to remain with its current borders.

Presently it appears that many urban legislators just say “It’s my way or the highway!” Working together would be a desirable solution.

Now, what would it take to accomplish changing to one senator from every county?

I would think our current legislators would have to seek legal advice as this would end up going before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Keep in mind there are many states just like Oregon experiencing discrimination by the urban centers.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in 1964 of Reynolds v. Sims, Portland has doubled in population along with several other big cities. We are now at the point of urban centers dictating most laws, rules and taxes over the rural areas that do not have the votes.

Without equal representation in the state Senate, rural areas don’t experience a true democracy. What do you choose?

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