Myrna Muñoz poses in front of the Oregon State Capitol. (Photo courtesy of Myrna Muñoz)
A veteran Oregon education expert whose sister serves in the Oregon House is seeking to unseat one of the most influential moderate Democrats in the Senate.
Myrna Munoz, an education consultant who is related to Rep. Leslie Munoz, D-Woodburn, announced on social media last week that she would run in the Democratic primary for Oregon’s 15th Senate District, challenging Sen. Janine Solman, D-Hillsboro. Washington County’s jurisdiction includes most of the city of Hillsborough and the areas of Forest Grove, Cornelius and Rock Creek.
Munoz pointed to her connections to the local immigrant farm work community while noting that she is running to improve civil rights for everyone, fully fund public schools and ensure health care is a right for all.
“SD 15 deserves a senator who fights for working families and believes in our collective future,” she wrote in the caption of her announcement video. “We have 96 days left. Together we can win this.”
Munoz enters the race with fewer resources than Solman, who also serves as the Senate’s assistant majority leader. State campaign finance records show Solman’s campaign has more than $210,000 in the bank, while Munoz did not have any data or campaign account statements as of Monday. Candidates have 30 days after a transaction to report donations or spending, and that window shrinks to seven days closer to an election.
Munoz began serving as an education specialist for the Oregon Department of Education in January, providing support for English learners. At the same time, she said, she has also served as the self-employed executive director of the Multilingual Education Consulting Group since February 2022 and worked with the Oregon Department of Education from 2023 to 2024 to provide advice on multilingual and immigrant education. LinkedIn. She also served as an adjunct instructor at Portland State University from 2016 to 2023.
In an interview, Munoz described himself as a lifelong educator, a strong supporter of unions who never intended to run for office other than to assist his sister’s campaign. She considers herself a progressive and said she had been in touch with Solman’s campaign before, adding that the senator once helped her obtain a business license.
But she said there was widespread dissatisfaction in the district with Solman’s leadership and that she “felt like the things she was moving forward with were not well represented.” She mentioned Solman’s work on data centers and her response to concerns about aggressive immigration enforcement in data centers. January 30 City Hall With Oregon Attorney General Dan Layfield.
“Honestly, I’m very interested in the data center that Senator Solman is introducing, and she’s joining Attorney General Layfield in her town hall,” Muñoz said. “When people in the community where I grew up explained how scared they were of what was happening with ICE, I would say her response lacked empathy.”
Although Solman is the main sponsor Senate Bill 1586which would double the duration of property tax abatements for projects frequently utilized by Oregon data centers, she told The Oregonian/OregonLive.com She will introduce legislation to repeal that provision in an upcoming amendment. The bill had a public hearing Monday and will receive another hearing Wednesday before the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee.
Solman declined to be interviewed on Monday, saying she was proud to represent the community where she grew up and saying she would focus more on the election after lawmakers end their brief 35-day legislative session.
She said in a written statement late Monday that the economic development bill would ban standalone data centers and retail warehouses. She noted that she was a major co-sponsor of the project. law passed Last year, the bill required major energy users, such as data centers or cryptocurrency operations, to pay for their impact on Oregon’s power grid. She was pointing at her Side note On January 24, Governor Tina Kotek joined other leaders in condemning the federal government’s immigration enforcement policies.
“Based on feedback from previous events, legislators have committed to listening more and talking less, especially on local issues. To make room for as many voices as possible, I focus on listening to attendees rather than responding individually during meetings,” she said of her attendance at town halls. “It’s heartbreaking to hear the fear spreading in the community. We are experiencing a humanitarian crisis.”
Solman has served in the Senate since 2022 after serving in the Oregon House of Representatives since 2017. She has gained a reputation as a more industry-friendly Democrat, sometimes voting with Republicans against most Democrats. For example, in 2025, she voted against a bill there will be Require big tech companies to pay to aggregate content from local news outlets, and a new law Made in Oregon The first state in the nation to provide unemployment benefits to striking public and private sector employees.
Recently, Solman was goal The union-backed movement pressured moderate Democrats ahead of the session to completely disconnect and then reconnect state tax laws with federal ones. Democrats moved forward with legislation that would only partially depart from the federal tax code and passed the Oregon Senate on Monday. Sen. Mark Meeker, D-Gladstone, was the only Democrat to vote against the bill.
Munoz is likely to seek the support of some of the state’s largest unions, which are major donors to Salem’s Democratic leadership, to boost her campaign. When asked about the possibility, she said she is currently conducting interviews and meetings with stakeholders to gain buy-in.
Munoz is scheduled to hold a campaign launch event on March 1, and she said details of the event will be announced soon. The primary election will be held on May 19.
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