Politics & Government

Gomez, Golden To Contend For Oregon State Senate Seat

Jefferson Public Radio | By Liam Moriarty

Published May 15, 2018 at 10:40 PM PDT

Democrat Jeff Golden (L) and Republican Jessica Gomez will seek the Oregon Senate 3rd District seat, in a race that could give Democrats in Salem a supermajority.

Republican Jessica Gomez and Democrat Jeff Golden will face off in November for the Oregon Senate’s 3^rd District seat in Jackson County.

The 3^rd District seat was held for years by Dr. Alan Bates, a Democrat from Ashland. Bate’s sudden death in 2016 led to a special election. Former Ashland mayor Alan DeBoer won the seat but decided not to run this fall.

Gomez is founder and CEO of Rogue Valley Microdevices, a high-tech engineering and manufacturing firm. She’s also on the boards of several business groups, including the Medford/Jackson County Chamber of Commerce.

Golden, a one-time Jackson County Commissioner, is a writer and public media producer and host. He has a long history of community organizing and progressive political activism in southern Oregon.

If Democrats re-take this seat, it could give them a super-majority in the Senate that would let them pass spending measures without any Republican votes.