Update: The Oregon legislature expelled GOP Rep. Mike Nearman on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Republicans joined with Democrats in kicking him out; the only “no” vote was cast by Nearman himself. His party will appoint a successor to fill his seat. Read the latest here.
“Just days before Rep. Mike Nearman helped armed protesters enter the closed Oregon Capitol building in December, endangering fellow lawmakers and Capitol employees, he coached constituents on the exact steps to get his help breaking in,” the Portland Oregonian reported on Sunday, June 6, 2021 (read story here).
“A video shows Nearman … walking constituents through the step by step process of where to stand, how to text him and what help he would provide that would allow them to break the rules and get into the Capitol during the Dec. 21 special legislative session,” the Oregonian said. The newspaper posted a video of this on its website (link above).
Nearman (photo, left), a Republican with well-known ties to hate groups (read about that here and here), is facing criminal charges and has been billed for damage to the state capital building, as this blog previously posted (here) based on a Portland TV station’s reporting back in May 2021. Now, he also could face expulsion from the legislature. The Democrats have the votes to kick him out, if they want to, and some are calling for him to resign.
According to a smarmy biography (here) posted on the official legislative website, presumably by him, Nearman has a degree in computer science, which makes him “educated beyond his intelligence” (he said it, I didn’t); “has been a cab driver, a dishwasher, a grave digger, a computer support technician, a mover, a call center supervisor;” and “lives with his wife Debby, two dogs, a handful of sheep, [and] a bunch of chickens on a single acre.” He also claims to believe “in the Constitution and the rule of law process.”
Really? Conspiring with armed insurrectionists doesn’t quite square with this assertion.
Update (6/7/21): Looks like he’s going to be leaving the legislature.
“Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek wants to expel a Republican lawmaker who allowed violent protesters into the state Capitol in December. Fellow Republicans said Monday they want him out too. Video that emerged late Friday in local news reports that apparently showed Rep. Mike Nearman choreographing how he would let protesters into the Capitol, which was closed to the public, exploded like a bombshell in the Legislature on Monday. For even the minority Republicans in the House, it was too much. ‘Today, we strongly recommend that you resign from the Oregon State House of Representatives, House District 23 position,’ all 22 Republicans in the House said in a joint letter to Nearman. ‘Given the newest evidence that has come to light … it is our beliefs as friends and colleagues that it is in the best interest of your caucus, your family, yourself, and the state of Oregon for you to step down from your office,’ they said.”
(From an ABC News story here). Well, this changes my perception of Oregon Republicans. They do have standards, after all. The national leader of their party may not, and Republicans in other state legislatures may not, but these Republicans do, and that represents a sliver of sunlight coming through a crack in the door. Of course, the story might be different if they had the majority. But when your party is going to lose an expulsion vote anyway, you might as well hop on the bandwagon and look like you have some principles, too.