Disclaimer: The opinions stated by Michael Sugar are those of a private citizen. Sugar’s opinions are not affiliated with the West Linn-Wilsonville School District or his status as a public employee of the state of Oregon. 
Having participated in local political campaigns since the age of 17, Michael Sugar, history teacher, now finds himself running one of the types of campaigns he’s supported since high school. Running for the Oregon House of Representatives in District 40, Sugar was inspired to run by a recent experience in political advocacy, as well as his experience growing up in Oregon schools.

“I had worked to increase education funding on a number of things. That effort to advocate for funding was robust, and nonetheless, that effort failed, and that was very frustrating to me, and not just because we had tried hard, and because I felt the funding was needed, but also because, growing up in Oregon schools, our schools have been underfunded my entire life,” Sugar said. “[2008] was the recession, and school funding went off a cliff, and so that’s what got me involved in politics at age 17. It was the issue which had greatly impacted me as a young person [that] continues to be an issue broadly, and despite our best efforts from the outside, just organizing and advocating, we couldn’t get the job done on education funding. So when my State Representative, Annessa Hartman, announced that she was not going to run for reelection, I decided to put my name in the hat and go for it.”

Since making that decision, Sugar has raised over $23,000 to help him in the primary election, with his opponent being Charles Gallia, a health policy consultant. After voting closes on May 19, the winning candidate will be announced on June 15 and will proceed to the general election against the winner of the Republican primary for the legislative district. The candidates for that election are Adam Baker and Sue Leslie.

The winner of the general election will take the open seat for District 40 in the Oregon House of Representatives. As it is an open seat, meaning that the current Representative, Annessa Hartman, is not running for re-election, the election is predicted to be more competitive, with sources stating that District 40 is a swing district and could go to either party.

While the difficulty is sure to be greater, Sugar is not going in blind. Through his experiences supporting other campaigns, Sugar is experienced in the groundwork it takes to run for office.

“I have not put myself in the driver’s seat as the candidate [before], but I have knocked many a door and attended many a planning meeting in the effort to elect somebody, whether that was a governor or getting a measure passed on the ballot, or a State Superintendent of Education, or another legislator,” Sugar said.

Now Sugar has made his own set of policies, rather than promoting someone else’s, running mainly under the priorities of expanding the middle class, with an emphasis on lowering costs and protecting democracy.

“When it comes to expanding the middle class, that is number one, targeting, what are the quality of jobs that people have?” Sugar said. “For a lot of folks who, regardless of what inflation or cost of living has done, make too little. But in addition to that, [the] cost of living is just absolutely taking a wrecking ball to people’s lives. When it comes to democracy, that is protecting [the] rights of anybody in Oregon, whether that is [the] right to assemble and protest, freedom of speech, being able to go to school without being pulled out of your car, freedom of the press, and protecting people’s right to be themselves without fear of persecution or prosecution for doing things that are legal and normal. And I think that mail-in ballots [are] another thing to protect, and there are ways of doing these things. On some issues, we can do more at the state level than we can for others. But in general, those are the two big categories.”

Though he is an educator with direct experience in schools and is endorsed by education-focused organizations and individuals, schools are not central to Sugar’s policy, as he instead runs under more general policies.

“I show up to a lot of education events, for sure, but healthcare is also important to me. Homelessness and addressing that is important to me, and earthquake preparedness is important to me,” Sugar said. “There are a lot of things, but [the] middle class and democracy [are especially important to me], to which education is central to both.”

While Sugar had the motivation to run, the idea didn’t become real until he spoke with others who knew the state’s political climate, and could advise him on whether election was a possibility. He also had to ensure that he had a plan for how he would adjust his teaching career if he were elected.

“Before you file, you need to know if it’s viable. So you call mentors and local leaders [that] you trust, and you ask their opinion, at least I did, and then I filed,” Sugar said. “Also, I spent a lot of time talking to our business office here at the school district.”

Currently, Sugar fulfills three jobs at West Linn High School: a teacher, Speech and Debate coach, and Athletic department employee. Should he be elected to Oregon’s House, Sugar has thought about how he will need to adapt the roles he fills in preparation for the time commitment of being a Representative.

“There would be some changes. Essentially, I’d be teaching part-time. If I were to still coach, it would be on a very part-time basis. There’s a long year and a short year to the legislature. If I were to continue coaching, it would be more on that year when the legislative session is much shorter, and then on the longer session year, I’d probably help get the team started in the fall, and we’ve had some discussions with other staff members about taking that over,” Sugar said. “[During] the long year, it’s a semester off, and on the short year, it’s a month off. So I take unpaid leave for that period. And the legislative salary, while not glorious, the fact that it is 12 months a year does, over the two-year cycle, eventually catch me up, and financially, it is either about the same or ever so slightly ahead [of teaching].”

Once it was clear that being a Representative was a possibility for Sugar, he began the process of garnering support for his campaign. This was done through fundraising, seeking endorsements from community members, attending events, and making himself a presence in the community.

“Frankly, you just keep showing up, you keep having conversations, you keep knocking doors. You buy advertisements, whether that’s billboards or lawn signs, or social media. And it’s that you also work with organizations,” Sugar said. “For example, in the Democratic Party, the unions play a big role. They are big supporters of democratic politics, generally. And so, working with those organizations to meet their members, and then you promote the causes those organizations care about. And they did the same for me.”

Throughout the process, Sugar stays strong in the belief that human resources and connections are the biggest players in getting his campaign off the ground and keeping it running. Whether it’s social media or getting him into events, his ‘kitchen cabinet,’ the group of volunteers taking up various jobs in his campaign, helps voters become more aware of Sugar’s campaign.

“I’m very lucky, very, very lucky, to have a group of four or five people who are all [volunteering]. We have a volunteer coordinator, we have somebody who deals with all the stuff I have to hand [out], like thank you letters and stuff, who makes sure I’m on top of those and organized and sending those out,” Sugar said.

Sugar is now in the final stretches of campaigning for the primary election, and should he win over Gallia, he’ll prepare for the general election, which will close to voters after November 30. While only registered democrats can vote for Sugar in the primary election, all voters can participate in the general election, meaning that Sugar would need to campaign to a larger sample of the population. In District 40, there are nearly 53,000 registered voters, with 17,296 democrats, 12,659 republicans, and the rest unaffiliated or identifying with other parties.

“To win, you have to be able to have appeal across a broad spectrum, which, I think, just as a function of personality and upbringing, I do, and I think that’s why I’ve had traction here in this district, because I can work with people from a variety of groups,” Sugar said. “So it means you have to work really hard, and you need to have outreach to a lot of voters to be able to win. But I think I’m well-positioned to deal with that kind of competition, either in the primary now or in the general, if I’m fortunate enough to make it that far.”

To anyone interested in participating in local and state government, Sugar has recommendations on how to get started, namely researching the issue most important to them and reaching out to elected officials to get involved.

“If you’re like ‘I don’t know what issues matter to me,’ then go find out. Research it from multiple perspectives, so you have some opinion on it, also so you have some questions to ask about it,” Sugar said. “Research the people who are around you who are elected. There are city counselors, and there’s a mayor who’s a recent West Linn graduate. Research local leaders and then pick one to reach out to and see if you can either volunteer on a campaign, or if there’s a task they need volunteer support with. Get involved in a campaign for somebody you like on an issue you care about.”

While the results of Sugar’s campaign remain uncertain, his motivations have not changed, nor has his conviction that he is capable of taking on his role in the community.

“By and large, I am running because I want people to have optimism in their future together as a community, and that’s particularly true of young people,” Sugar said. “Just serve the community and keep teaching, and keep legislating, until the major problems that I feel I’m well-suited to address are resolved. I’m not aspiring to higher officer or something like this, but I am glad to take on these roles that I think I’m well qualified and well-suited to.”