Readers respond: Fagan reflects one-party rule

The editorial about the low fine for former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan is correct in its criticism of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission for its overly gentle rebuke of Fagan’s corrupt conduct (“

A bargain-basement fine for Fagan’s broken ethics

,” May 18). The editorial board does not address the root cause of the scandal, however. Fagan should never have been our secretary of state in the first place.

In the May 2020 primary race, Fagan defeated Sen. Mark Hass, a far superior candidate, to win the nod as the Democratic Party’s nominee for secretary of state. She had been a late replacement for Jennifer Williamson, who dropped out after her own indiscretions with money came to light.

Fagan was anointed by the state’s public employee unions, who were punishing Hass for his support of common-sense adjustments to the Public Employees Retirement Fund. In doing so, the unions gave us a candidate with insufficient experience in public service who had not been properly vetted for our state’s second-highest office. I’d like to think the unions have done some soul-searching and now recognize the hazards of hubris. I’m still waiting to be convinced.

I’m a lifelong Democrat. You could count the number of Republicans I’ve voted for on the fingers of one hand, and you’d have enough digits left over to pick banjo. And I can see when the emperor is parading around in his boxer shorts. Shemia-Gate is a direct consequence of one-party rule in Oregon government.