McHaddad: The Oregonian Needs to Take Remedial Classes

Every once and a while I read a legacy media hitpiece that short circuits my brain. The hippies at the Oregonian almost gave me brain damage with their fact-check of this weekend’s Republican gubernatorial debate at the Dochester Conference in Welches. As expected, most of their fact-checks boil down to the candidates being correct, or making honest mistakes. Stay with me, dear readers, for as long as you can stomach their cavalcade of intellectually unburdened hot takes.

Chris Dudley

The Oregonian partially quotes the former Portland Trailblazer: “Portland … spent $1.5 billion in the last biennium, and yet homelessness went up by 35%.” No word on what is missing in that ellipses. Every accusation is an admission, and the Oregonian goes there immediately: “when tallying up the dollars that local, regional, state and federal governments spent addressing homelessness across the metro area, the number may not be far off.”

Dudley’s next subtle revelation of secret fascist leanings is his claim that, “If you are not literate by fourth grade, you have a 70% chance of being incarcerated.” Not so, says The Oregonian, because according to the World Literacy Foundation, “two-thirds of children in the United States who cannot read proficiently by the end of fourth grade will eventually end up in jail or on welfare.” The gap between 2/3 and 70% must be larger than I thought.

The most unforgivable sin, of course, is quoting information produced by another legacy media institution. “40% of high school graduates need remedial classes when they graduate from high school,” says Dudley. nonsense, says the Oregonian, citing article from the Oregon Journalism Project quoting Results for America that, “Data indicates that about 40% of high school graduates who enroll in community college have to take remedial courses.”

You are rich, fellow Oregonians! None of us have financial troubles, so why would Chris Dudley say that, “50% of your state is living month to month?” He apparently heard it from Neo-Nazi State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner, one of five statewide Democratic officials, whose 2026 Oregon Financial Wellness Scorecard says, “A majority of families, with (63%) and without children (56%), said in 2025 it is difficult make ends meet each month.” Pay no attention to the overdraft fees in your bank account – Chris Dudley is just making those up.

If you have any remaining brain cells, finish off with the Oregonian’s final admission. Dudley says, “’Mississippi went from 47th to first’ in reading scores” which, The Oregonian sobs, is “based on testing results adjusted for poverty and other student demographics.” Perish the thought of analyzing your data to interpret it better – only The Oregonian is allowed to do that.

Rep. Ed Diehl

The Honorable State Representative from East Salem through the Santiam Canyon got a number wrong, by his own admission after being contacted by The Oregonian. The focus on issues with Paid Leave Oregon is with a misquote, rather than the actual problems with PLO. For example, when Elgin agreed to raise franchise fees for a public utility, the manager told me that a key cost driver is Paid Leave Oregon expenses. Rep. Diehl’s quote was admittedly incorrect, but Paid Leave Oregon was the incorrect solution to create a viable paid family leave program in Oregon.

Next we come to Rep. Diehl’s analysis of State payroll increases: “In the last four years, I think just state payroll has increased by 47%, over $1.4 billion in state payroll and 4,000 new government employees.” Silence, legislator – a hitpiece writer is talking. You see, it was only 40%, around $1.2 billion, and just 3,000 new employees, by The Oregonian’s tally. But. But. There’s always a but in these fact checks: “Those figures don’t include workers at independent agencies, such as the Oregon Tourism Commission and the Oregon Lottery.” By their own admission, the Oregonian did not actually calculate the full numbers. I will take a legislator’s word on this, thank you very much.

Senator Christine Drazan

Maybe The Oregonian went easy on the candidate they endorsed this primary. Her only misstatement is that, “We have somewhere between 40 and 80% vacancy rates in downtown Portland.” Not true, says The Oregonian, because, “The true figure could be higher, Portland real estate brokers say, when excluding owner-occupied office buildings — a debated methodology — and accounting for offices where tenants pay rent but don’t actually occupy the space. By that math, they say, the downtown vacancy rate could sit around 60%.” Is 60% between 50% and 80%? Not sure, maybe The Oregonian’s editorial board can tell me after they join the 40% of students who need to take remedial college classes.

Congrats to The Oregonian for publishing a misleading headline in an rant that most readers will not actually click to open, much less research themselves. You make a lot of claims in your hitpiece. Most of them aren’t true.

Editor’s Note

Right Now Oregon, LLC President Alex Mchaddad is the City Administrator of Elgin, Oregon and the Treasurer of Young Republicans of Oregon, which sponsored the 2026 Dorchester Conference. His views are personal and do not reflect an official editorial position of Right Now Oregon or policy position of the City of Elgin.