In an attempt to ensure his gun-ban ally clenches the Democratic nomination for Oregon Secretary of State, gun-ban billionaire Michael Bloomberg has poured $250,000 into Oregon state Rep. Val Hoyle’s campaign, giving her a larger political war chest than the other two Democratic contenders combined. The April 29 donation brings Hoyle’s fundraising total to $587,000 this calendar year alone.
Hoyle, who ironically lists one of her main platform goals as “getting big money out of politics,” says the donation wasn’t a surprise, as she’s been in contact with Bloomberg’s office for some time. But beyond the hypocrisy of accepting the money, the real issue is why it was given in the first place.
Calling the payout “disturbing,” state Sen. Richard Devlin said, “[T]his $250,000 check is an admitted direct payment for a single piece of legislation,” referring to Hoyle’s role in passing Oregon’s 2015 “universal” background check legislation. A Bloomberg spokesperson concurred, saying “No one in the country has worked harder—or more successfully—to take on the NRA than she has.”
