| Ellen Rosenblum For Attorney General |
| Ellen Rosenblum won big in the Oregon attorney general race with the support of the marijuana community |
With early results showing a commanding 62 to 38 percent lead, pro-medical marijuana candidate Ellen Rosenblum is the winner of the hotly contested race for attorney general of Oregon.
Two Democrats — Rosenblum and Dwight Holton — had battled it out in the primary for what effectively is all the marbles, since there will be no organized Republican opposition on November’s general election ballot.
The candidates had seemed similar until the medical marijuana issue became a major part of the campaign, with Rosenblum’s friendliness to safe access for cannabis patients distinguishing her from her more hardline opponent, who was cast as an enemy of Oregon’s medical marijuana law.
Both candidates were moderate Democrats, and both were attorneys. Holton was the former U.S. Attorney in Portland. Rosenblum is a long-time judge.
The race took a unexpected turn last month when the marijuana community got behind Rosenblum, spurred on by Holton’s characterization of the Oregon marijuana law as a “train wreck.”
Rosenblum capitalized on Holton’s thoughtless comment, accusing him of wanting to repeal the medical marijuana law against the will of Oregon’s voters, who approved the law in 1998.
She got nearly $200,000 in contributions from drug policy reform groups in the final days of the campaign, reports Jeff Manning at The Oregonian.
