Oregon’s District 4 representative of 32 years Peter DeFazio made an appearance at Tsunami Books on Jan. 22 as the designated community spotlight guest for City Club.
City Club is a Eugene group that gathers local leaders and people of communal influence for intimate interview panels and open, community discussions. DeFazio’s attendance is before the start of his campaign for the 2020 primaries. The Oregon 2020 primaries will take place on May 19.
DeFazio is facing a new challenge this year: an opponent from his own party who’s 33 years his junior. Doyle Canning, a two-decade-long progressive activist, is competing for DeFazio’s seat.
DeFazio, the current chairman of Congressional Transportation and Infrastructure, has received funding from both transportation PACs and unions for decades. “I’ll still take PAC money since my seat is targeted,” he stated at his appearance. “I’m not going to disarm in the face of that, but I do want to get away from it.”
The presence of PAC and corporate funding does not imply corruption with any certainty. However, the credibility and intentions of PAC money have recently been the subject of intense scrutiny since the 2010 Citizens United ruling. According to OpenSecrets.org, a site dedicated to tracking political funding, DeFazio has received 266 PAC contributions in 2019 alone, totaling $635,250. This includes contributions from Schneider National, Delta Airlines, Home Depot and several transportation related Unions.
DeFazio passionately expressed that the ruling was a “perversion of our system, and incredibly damaging.” He considered impeaching Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts following the ruling, but ultimately decided against this measure.
As the political climate continues to desire greater funding transparency, DeFazio may face public pressure to speak on his connections, and their influence, or lack thereof.
DeFazio continued to speak candidly on the damaging nature of super PACs and their foreign, “black money” influence in politics.
Building on that, attendees brought the Citizens United ruling to attention. The crowd was curious about his opinion on the subsequent collapse of accountable political fundraising caused by the ruling.
Sure to reiterate his disappointment he said, “[referencing Citizens United] it’s a cancer eating away at the system.”
Event attendees were not forgiving with their questions. As the event proceeded, more hard-hitting questions were asked. DeFazio picked up on the energy and answered questions with eventual directness. For instance, it took four months for DeFazio to reach a decision on President Trump’s impeachment. When attendees questioned this latency, DeFazio was considerably more direct about his opinion on Trump.
“If he gets elected for four more years, our representative democracy will not be able to survive.” Adding that, “[President Trump] acted impulsively and recklessly outside the Constitution.” With this, the crowd stirred in approval and seemed to be pleased with his subpoenaing Trump Hotel documents and stiffening his opposition toward the President.
DeFazio’s advice on changing the current direction of the government was equally stern, and concise: “Keep the house, get the Senate and we can provide quite a bulwark. [If President Trump gets re-elected] One impeachment [process] does not preclude another.”
As for endorsing anyone for the 2020 election, DeFazio remains quiet and unaffiliated. An attendee asked if a more moderate candidate would be a more enticing choice for voters to which he answered, “I think we need a ticket that speaks to both [sides]. I’m not going to name names at the moment.”
*This article has been edited from the original version
