Dennis Linthicum

Dennis Linthicum
Member of the Oregon Senate
from the 28th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 9, 2017
Preceded byDoug Whitsett
Member of the Klamath County Board of Commissioners
In office
January 2009 – January 2015
Succeeded byKelley Minty Morris
Personal details
Born1956 (age 67–68)
California, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Biola University (MA)
Signature
Dennis Linthicum campaign sign at the Jackson County Republican Party headquarters, August 2016

Dennis Linthicum (born 1956)[1] is an American politician serving in the Oregon Senate. A member of the Republican Party, he has served in the senate since 2017.

Early life and career

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Linthicum graduated with a bachelors in economics from University of California, Los Angeles in 1978, and received his master's degree in Christian Apologetics from Biola University in 2009.[2][3] He began a software developer career in California, working at Hughes Aircraft. Later, he was the senior vice president of management information systems at Lange Financial and again at Pacific Mutual Life Insurance.[4]

Political career

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Linthicum was elected as a Klamath County Commissioner in 2008. In 2013, he was involved in a recall petition to remove all of the commissioners over funding.[5] Recall backers did not gather enough signatures on petitions to qualify the issue for the ballot.[5]

In 2014, Linthicum ran as a conservative insurgent for the 2nd U.S. Congressional District seat held by U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River.[6] Walden won over 74% of the May primary vote over Linthicum. Walden won re-election in November with over 70% of the vote over two opponents.

Linthicum won election to the Oregon Senate in 2016. He and Oregon House candidate E. Werner Reschke, were the center of efforts to change candidate filing deadlines - nicknamed the "Whitsett Maneuver".[7] None won approval of the Legislature.

During the 2019 legislative session, Linthicum was among 11 Republican state senators who walked-out. The move was to deny the Democratic-majority Senate the minimum of 20 senators required to establish a quorum to do any business. Oregon is one of five states in the nation requiring a two-thirds quorum. The walkout's aim was to prevent a vote on a cap-and-trade bill that supporters said would lower greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to combat climate change. With the state budget unfinished, Democrats withdrew the carbon cap bill. Republicans returned on June 29 for a weekend marathon of votes, narrowly avoiding the constitutional deadline to complete the 160-day session. Linthicum remained absent, saying he had a prior commitment.[8][9][10][11]

Linthicum was elected to a second four-year term in November 2020.

On December 11, 2020, Linthicum and 11 other state Republican officials signed a letter requesting Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum join Texas and other states contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election in Texas v. Pennsylvania. Rosenblum announced she had filed in behalf of the defense, and against Texas, the day prior.[12]

Linthicum was elected treasurer of the Oregon Republican Party in February 2021 as part of a conservative insurgent slate that also elected Sen. Dallas Heard, R-Roseburg, as chairman and former Sen. Herman Baertschiger, Jr., R-Grants Pass, as vice chair.[13]

In October 2021, Linthicum signed a letter along with other Republican politicians from around the nation calling for an audit of the 2020 election in all states and the elimination of voter rolls in every state. The letter also claimed that the Arizona audit found evidence of fraud.[14]

Linthicum sponsored the Greater Idaho bill in the Oregon Senate on January 10, 2023, which would have required Oregon officials discuss the border between Idaho and Oregon from the Snake River to roughly follow the Cascade Range (with a conspicuous loop to ensure the booming and increasingly Democratic-tilting resort town of Bend) that would make 15 counties currently in Eastern Oregon part of Idaho.[15] The bill died without coming to a vote by the end of the session.

2023 unexcused absences

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While participating in a Republican-led walkout in May 2023, Linthicum reached the 10 unexcused absence threshold set by measure 113, disqualifying him from running for reelection after his current term ends.[16] Linthicum and four other Senators filed a lawsuit against Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade in response, arguing that the measure's wording allowed them to serve one additional term before being barred from reelection.[17] In September Linthicum filed for reelection despite the disqualification.[18] The Oregon Supreme Court agreed to hear the case with arguments beginning December 14[19] and unanimously ruled against the Republican Senators, confirming Linthicum's disqualification after his current term ends in January 2025.[20]

On March 12, 2024, Linthicum announced his candidacy for Secretary of State in the 2024 elections.[21]

Personal life

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Linthicum and his wife, Diane, have two children. He attends Bonanza Community Church.[3]

Electoral history

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2016 Oregon State Senator, 28th district [22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Linthicum 37,119 61.3
Democratic Todd Kepple 23,153 38.2
Write-in 283 0.5
Total votes 60,555 100%
2020 Oregon State Senator, 28th district [23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Linthicum 54,800 72.7
Democratic Hugh Palcic 20,444 27.1
Write-in 102 0.1
Total votes 75,346 100%

References

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  1. ^ "State of Oregon: Blue Book - State Senators by District". Archived from the original on November 8, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  2. ^ "Candidate Information". Oregon Secretary Of State. June 18, 2020. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Dennis Linthicum's Biography". Vote Smart. Archived from the original on March 23, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  4. ^ Ricarte, RaeLynn (May 3, 2014). "Dennis Linthicum wants incumbents replaced with true conservatives". Columbia Gorge News. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  5. ^ a b Tipler, Samantha (August 8, 2013). "County commissioner recall bid fizzles". Herald and News.
  6. ^ "May 20, 2014 Primary Election Abstract of Votes: Representative in Congress". Oregon Secretary of State. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  7. ^ "Editorial: Don't let anyone pull a Whitsett". The Bulletin. Bend, Oregon. January 20, 2017. Archived from the original on March 23, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  8. ^ "Oregon Republicans walk out on state Senate over climate change bill as governor threatens police roundup". CBS News. June 23, 2019. Archived from the original on June 24, 2019. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  9. ^ Osborne, Mark; Youn, Soo (June 23, 2019). "Oregon's Republican state senators go into hiding over climate change vote amid militia threat". ABC News. Archived from the original on June 23, 2019. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  10. ^ Selsky, Andrew; Zimmerman, Sarah (June 29, 2019). "Oregon Republican senators end walkout over carbon bill". Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  11. ^ Radnovich, Connor (June 30, 2019). "Oregon Republican senators end walkout, but legislature remains dogged by controversy". Salem Statesman Journal. Archived from the original on July 1, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  12. ^ Tess Riski (December 13, 2020). "A Dozen Oregon Republican Lawmakers Urged the Attorney General to Support Texas Lawsuit Undermining U.S. Election Results". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on December 14, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  13. ^ VanderHart, Dirk (February 21, 2021). "Oregon GOP ousts chair, taps state Sen. Dallas Heard as new leader". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  14. ^ Cappelletti, Joey (October 28, 2021). "State Sen. Kim Thatcher signs letter calling for election audit in 50 states". Keizertimes. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  15. ^ Rawlings, Matt (January 10, 2023). "Greater Idaho bill introduced in Oregon State Senate reading". KOIN. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  16. ^ VanderHart, Dirk; Dake, Lauren (May 18, 2023). "Oregon Republican walkout: 6 more senators are potentially ineligible for reelection". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on October 23, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  17. ^ VanderHart, Dirk (August 29, 2023). "Challenge to anti-walkout law could go straight to Oregon Supreme Court". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  18. ^ Selsky, Andrew (September 14, 2023). "GOP senators who boycotted Oregon Legislature file for reelection despite being disqualified". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on September 16, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  19. ^ VanderHart, Dirk (October 24, 2023). "GOP senators' challenge to walkout penalties lands before Oregon Supreme Court". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on October 31, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  20. ^ Shumway, Julia (February 1, 2024). "Oregon Supreme Court bars Republican senators who participated in walkout from reelection". Oregon Capital Chronicle. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  21. ^ O'Brien, Molly (March 12, 2024). "Senator Dennis Linthicum enters race for Oregon Secretary of State". Herald and News.
  22. ^ "November 8, 2016, General Election Abstract of Votes". Oregon Secretary of State. Archived from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  23. ^ "November 3, 2020, General Election Abstract of Votes" (PDF). Oregon Secretary of State. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 12, 2022. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
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