A Democrat from Central Oregon who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2018 confirmed this week that she plans to run in 2020 for Oregon secretary of state.

Jamie McLeod-Skinner, who presented the most serious challenge to U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, in years, told The Bulletin in Bend this week that she plans to run for secretary of state next year. Last week, McLeod-Skinner registered her political action committee for the May 2020 secretary of state primary.

In an interview Thursday, McLeod-Skinner said Oregon has an urban-rural divide that she could bridge as secretary of state by bringing “that rural perspective to the conversation.” McLeod-Skinner cited the secretary of state’s role in redistricting, running elections, overseeing audits of state government and voting on the state land board as reasons she will seek the post.

McLeod-Skinner said that if she is elected, she would pursue an idea pitched by unsuccessful 2016 Democratic secretary of state candidate Brad Avakian: auditing private companies that do business with the state.

She would also direct state auditors in the Secretary of State’s office to coordinate more closely with the agencies they review and focus more on "the good work that gets done.”

It’s long been the practice of state auditors, who are career public employees rather than political appointees, to share their findings with agency officials before the audit is released to the public. This includes soliciting agency feedback on the final draft of the audit. Auditors have also endeavored to make the reports relatable, for example by including in a 2018 audit the firsthand account of a dedicated child welfare caseworker who described the workload and burnout as so unmanageable “someone cries at their desk everyday.”

However, McLeod-Skinner said auditors could work more collaboratively with the agencies they examine.

"Instead of more of a gotcha type approach to it, it’d be ‘We’re all trying to work together to make sure the government’s funds are being spent well,'” McLeod-Skinner said.

Audits are one reason Democrats more broadly are keen to win back the secretary of state’s office, after losing it to Republican Dennis Richardson in 2016. Richardson campaigned on strengthening the Audit Division’s oversight of state government and cited specific examples of programs and projects he said escaped necessary scrutiny: the failed Cover Oregon health care website, the Columbia River Crossing bridge project and the Business Energy Tax Credit program.

Democrats accused Richardson of overseeing politically motivated audits. When a damning foster care audit was released during Gov. Kate Brown’s 2018 re-election bid, her top spokesman Chris Pair told the Statesman-Journal that audits completed on Richardson’s watch were “just about politics." Richardson’s plan to release an “auditor alert” in May 2017 with early findings from a Medicaid eligibility audit that was still underway also caused controversy and prompted the agency under review, the Oregon Health Authority, beat Richardson to the punch by preemptively acknowledging the problem.

Richardson died of brain cancer in February and the secretary of state’s race is wide open, with current Secretary of State Bev Clarno not expected to run.

The governor insisted she would only appoint a successor who promised not to seek election in 2020, and she ultimately selected Clarno.

In the interview with The Bulletin, McLeod-Skinner acknowledged the Democratic primary for secretary of state could be crowded in May 2020. Rep. Dan Rayfield, of Corvallis, is rumored to be interested in the job. He could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

On the Republican side, Sen. Tim Knopp of Bend has been rumored to be considering a run and Deputy Secretary of State Rich Vial has also been mentioned as a potential contender. Knopp could not be reached for comment on Thursday. Vial acknowledged he is considering a run.

“I have learned a great deal by serving as deputy secretary of state and am coming to appreciate just how important the functions of the secretary of state are,” Vial said on Thursday. "That has caused me to seriously consider running.”

— Hillary Borrud | hborrud@oregonian.com | 503-294-4034 | @hborrud

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