Update — June 29, 2026: The count has grown significantly. As of June 29, 16 Oregon county Democratic parties have formally passed resolutions opposing IP28 — up from 12 at time of publication. New additions include Benton, Clatsop, and Coos counties. Source: Joel Byron Barker, Chair, Jefferson County Democratic Party. The complete updated list will appear in a follow-up piece.

THE IP28 FILES — PART 9
Twelve Counties: Oregon Democrats Break With Their Own Party Over IP28

The IP28 Files is a primary source investigation into Initiative Petition 28. Start with Part 1 at johnpayson1.substack.com. 7 days until the July 2 signature deadline.

THE STORY NOBODY IS COVERING

The narrative around IP28 has been simple from the beginning: liberal Portland activists versus conservative rural Oregon. Urban versus rural. Democrat versus Republican.

That narrative is wrong. And the primary source documentation proving it wrong has been sitting in county party meeting minutes across Eastern and Southern Oregon for months.

Twelve Oregon county Democratic parties have passed formal resolutions opposing IP28. Not individual Democrats. Not Democratic voters. Organized Democratic Party bodies — precinct committee persons, party chairs, elected party officials — voting in their official capacity to formally oppose a measure backed by Portland-based activists.

Twelve counties. Nearly a third of all county Democratic parties in Oregon. Most votes unanimous. No county resolution has failed.

This is the most underreported story in the IP28 campaign. Today it gets documented.

THE COMPLETE LIST — PRIMARY SOURCES

The following Oregon county Democratic parties have passed formal resolutions opposing IP28 as of June 25, 2026. Source: Joel Byron Barker, Jefferson County Democratic precinct committee person, Substack: Old Truck Good Coffee.

Baker County
Crook County
Grant County
Jefferson County
Josephine County
Klamath County
Malheur County
Polk County
Umatilla County
Union County
Wallowa County
Wasco County

Coos County is scheduled to vote imminently. If it passes, that will be thirteen counties — more than a third of all Oregon county Democratic parties on record opposing IP28.

Look at that map. Baker. Grant. Malheur. Klamath. Wallowa. Wasco. Union. These are not Portland suburbs. These are Eastern and Southern Oregon counties where Democrats live alongside Republicans in the same ranching communities, the same fishing towns, the same agricultural economies.

WHAT THESE RESOLUTIONS ACTUALLY SAY

The Crook County Democratic Party’s resolution — adopted unanimously on May 12, 2026 — is the most thoroughly documented. It is worth reading directly because it says what every rural Oregonian already knows.

The Crook County Democrats found that IP28 would criminalize standard agricultural and husbandry practices, effectively ending animal-based food production in Oregon and turning farmers and ranchers into criminals. They found that IP28 reclassifies routine veterinary and breeding practices — including artificial insemination — as animal sexual assault, subjecting professionals to felony charges. They found that over one million Oregonians who hunt or fish annually would be unable to do so if IP28 passes. And they found that IP28 would defund the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife by removing license-fee revenue that provides 45 to 55 percent of the agency’s budget.

Their resolution calls for more balanced, practical approaches to animal welfare instead of a measure that would criminalize essential practices.

That is not a Republican talking point. That is the Democratic Party of Crook County, Oregon. Adopted unanimously.

Sources: Crook County Democrats IP28 Resolution | KTVZ Coverage May 19, 2026 | Jefferson County Democrats Resolution

WHY THIS MATTERS

IP28’s proponents need Portland and Eugene to carry the measure on the November ballot. They need Multnomah, Lane, and Washington counties to outvote the rest of Oregon.

What they did not anticipate is that the Democratic Party infrastructure in rural Oregon would formally organize against them. Precinct committee persons are not casual observers. They are the people who knock doors, make phone calls, and turn out Democratic voters in their counties. When they pass a resolution opposing IP28, they are committing their organizational energy to defeating it.

Joel Byron Barker — Jefferson County Democratic precinct committee person and publisher of Old Truck Good Coffee on Substack — put it plainly: in Jefferson County, he and his fellow PCPs are organizing to stop IP28. The resolution is not symbolic. It directs the party body to work together on what they have agreed upon.

Twelve county parties directing their organizing infrastructure against IP28. Before the measure has even qualified for the ballot.

THE BIPARTISAN RECORD — COMPLETE

For the record, here is every documented opposition position across both parties:

Republican opposition on record: Sen. David Brock Smith (R-SD1), Rep. Darcey Edwards (R-HD31), former Gov. candidate Christine Drazan (R).

Democratic opposition on record: Sen. Anthony Broadman (D-SD27, Bend), Gov. Tina Kotek (D).

Democratic Party organization opposition: 12 county Democratic parties — Baker, Crook, Grant, Jefferson, Josephine, Klamath, Malheur, Polk, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Wasco.

Still silent: Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-OR2), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D), Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson (R-HD59), Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR1).

The silence from Merkley and Bonamici is now the story within the story. Twelve county Democratic parties in their own state have formally broken with the activist agenda behind IP28. Neither of Oregon’s U.S. Senators has said a word.

Jeff Merkley is running for his fourth term this November. His own party’s county organizations in a third of Oregon’s counties have gone on record opposing a measure that would destroy rural Oregon. He has said nothing.

That is a choice. And Oregon voters are entitled to know it.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

IP28 proponents submitted their signatures before the July 2 deadline. The Oregon Elections Division will now use statistical sampling to match signatures against voter registration records — verifying against duplicates, non-registered signers, and people who have moved out of state. The final verification deadline is August 2, 2026.

If IP28 survives verification and qualifies for the November ballot, the bipartisan opposition already documented in this series becomes the foundation of the campaign to defeat it. Twelve county Democratic parties. A sitting Democratic governor. A Bend Democrat senator. A twenty-year large animal veterinarian running for Congress. Oregon’s Farm Bureau. The Oregon Hunters Association. The Coastal Conservation Association of Oregon.

They are all on record. They organized before the measure even qualified.

The people behind IP28 said from the beginning that 2026 is just the opening move.

So is this.

This is Part 9 of The IP28 Files. Read the complete series at johnpayson1.substack.com

Sources:
Crook County Democrats IP28 Resolution — crookcodems.org
KTVZ — Crook County Democrats Oppose IP28, May 19 2026
Jefferson County Democrats Resolution — jeffcodemsoregon.org
Joel Byron Barker — Old Truck Good Coffee, Substack
Sportsmen’s Alliance — IP28 Signature Submission Update

John Payson is a Central Oregon resident, real estate professional, and publisher of Central Oregon Policy Watch at johnpayson1.substack.com

MY COUNTER. MY CART. YOUR PROBLEM.

I went to the store last week. Same trip I make every week. Milk. Cheese. Beef. Pork. Chicken. Sausages. Hot dogs. Tillamook cheddar — because that’s what you buy when you live in Oregon and you know where your food comes from.

At home we raise our own chickens. Their eggs sit on my counter — not in the refrigerator — because fresh unwashed eggs retain their natural protective coating. That’s what real food looks like. We know exactly what goes into them. We know the animal. We know the feed.

IP28 would make raising those chickens a potential criminal act.

Not the factory farm down the highway. Not some industrial operation in the Willamette Valley. My chickens. My eggs. On my counter. East of Gosney Road in Bend.

IP28 removes the good animal husbandry exemptions that currently protect backyard chicken keepers, small flock owners, and family farms from criminal prosecution under Oregon’s animal cruelty statutes. The only protection that remains is a narrow self-defense clause that does not cover routine flock management — feeding, culling sick birds, controlling the predators that come for your hens.

This piece is about what IP28 would do to every grocery trip in Oregon. Not just mine. Yours.

WHAT OREGON ACTUALLY PRODUCES

Before we talk about what disappears from your cart, let’s establish what Oregon actually puts there.

Oregon generated $6.4 billion in agricultural cash receipts in 2022. The agriculture, food, and fiber industry accounts for 15.4% of all Oregon sales and 20.3% of all Oregon jobs. Cattle and calves rank as the second top agricultural commodity in the state. Dairy products — milk — rank fourth.

Oregon exported $138 million in beef and veal, $120 million in dairy products, $21 million in poultry, and $130 million in commercial fish operations in 2022 alone.

That is not an abstraction. That is the food on your table, produced by your neighbors, keeping money inside Oregon’s economy.

IP28 would eliminate every one of those industries — not by taxing them, not by regulating them, but by criminalizing the people who run them.

Sources: Oregon State Board of Agriculture 2025 Report | USDA NASS Oregon Facts and Figures 2022

WHAT DISAPPEARS FROM YOUR CART

Oregon Farm Bureau puts it plainly: IP28 would effectively turn Oregon into a “no kill or harm” sanctuary state, eliminating in-state meat, dairy, and animal protein production. Oregonians would be forced either into a vegan lifestyle or to rely on food shipped in from other states or countries.

Let’s translate that to your grocery cart.

Tillamook. Oregon’s most recognized food brand. Tillamook County dairy contributes $724.9 million annually to Oregon’s agricultural economy. Every block of Tillamook cheddar, every container of Tillamook yogurt, every carton of Tillamook ice cream — gone from Oregon production. Replaced by imported dairy from California, Washington, or further.

Oregon beef. 1.23 million cattle in Oregon as of January 2025. $791 million in cattle and calves value in 2022. Under IP28 every rancher who manages that herd — branding, castrating, managing livestock — faces potential criminal liability for standard husbandry. The rational response is to sell the herd and leave Oregon.

Oregon pork, chicken, and eggs. Every chicken raised for meat. Every backyard flock kept for eggs. Every hog operation in the state. All of it exposed to prosecution under IP28’s elimination of good animal husbandry protections. Including the eggs on my counter this morning.

Oregon seafood. $130 million in commercial fish operations exported annually. IP28 removes the exemptions protecting commercial fishing entirely. Every fishing vessel operating out of Astoria, Newport, and Coos Bay faces criminal exposure.

Your farmers market. Sen. Anthony Broadman — Democrat, Bend — stated it directly in February 2026: “Buying locally-raised foods at the local farmers market would be outlawed while restaurant and grocery prices would increase substantially due to the need to ship meat and dairy from out of state.”

A Bend Democrat said that. On the record. In February.

Sources: Oregon Farm Bureau IP28 Statement | USDA NASS Oregon Livestock Report January 2025 | Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus press release February 2026

WHAT HAPPENS TO PRICES

Your grocery bill is already under pressure. The USDA Economic Research Service confirmed in its March 2026 Food Price Outlook that beef and veal prices are already 14.4% higher than one year ago. Beef prices are predicted to increase another 10.1% in 2026. Overall food prices are predicted to rise 3.6% this year — faster than their 20-year historical average.

That is before IP28.

One clarification worth making: national dairy prices are actually declining in 2026 according to USDA. That makes Oregon’s in-state dairy production more valuable to Oregon families — not less. You are currently benefiting from lower dairy costs because Oregon producers are supplying your market. IP28 would eliminate that supply and force imports from California, Washington, or further. When local supply disappears and distance increases, prices rise regardless of what national trends show.

Now add IP28 to the full picture. Oregon’s in-state beef production — 1.23 million cattle, $791 million in annual value — eliminated by criminal statute. Oregon dairies — 111,000 milk cows, $724.9 million in dairy value — shut down. Oregon’s commercial fishing fleet — $130 million in annual exports — exposed to prosecution.

Every pound of beef, every gallon of milk, every piece of fish that Oregon currently produces for Oregonians would have to be imported. From California. From Washington. From further away — including, as IP28’s own petitioner said on camera, from China.

When supply shrinks and distance increases, prices rise. That is not a political argument. That is economics.

The Oregon families who will feel this most are not the ones buying imported cheese at a specialty grocery store in Portland. They are the families in Bend, La Pine, Prineville, Burns, and Baker City who buy Oregon beef because it is local, fresh, and affordable.

Sources: USDA Economic Research Service Food Price Outlook March 2026 | USDA NASS Oregon Facts and Figures 2022

THE HUMANE TRANSITION FUND — WHO PAYS

IP28’s proponents are not unaware of this problem. Their solution is the Humane Transition Fund — a new state council with grant-making authority that would “help with food assistance” and “cover all costs of operating a job retraining program” for the 30,000 Oregonians whose jobs in animal agriculture would be eliminated.

Read that again. The people who want to criminalize Oregon’s agricultural economy have a plan to retrain the people they put out of work — funded by redirecting existing agricultural subsidies.

There are 531,000 Oregonians whose jobs are linked to the agriculture, food, and fiber industry. The Humane Transition Fund does not mention them. It mentions the ones directly employed in animal agriculture. The rest — the truck drivers, the feed store operators, the equipment dealers, the rural grocery stores, the small town restaurants — are collateral damage the fund does not address.

Source: Deseret News IP28 analysis May 2026

THE BOTTOM LINE

My eggs are on my counter this morning. My chickens are in my pasture. My grocery cart has Tillamook cheddar and Oregon beef in it every week.

IP28 would make keeping those chickens a potential criminal act. It would eliminate the Oregon producers who supply my grocery cart. It would force every family in this state to pay more for food shipped from further away — or abandon the diet they’ve fed their families for generations.

The people behind IP28 have never raised a chicken. They have never managed a herd. They have never run a commercial fishing operation out of Newport at 4am.

They designed a measure that criminalizes the people who have — and sends your grocery bill higher in the process.

15 days until the July 2 signature deadline. The measure has cleared the minimum threshold. Verification is pending.

Stop saying it won’t pass.

This is Part 8 of The IP28 Files. Read the complete series at johnpayson1.substack.com

Sources:
Oregon Farm Bureau IP28 Statement
USDA NASS Oregon Facts and Figures 2022
USDA NASS Oregon Livestock Report January 2025
Oregon State Board of Agriculture 2025 Report
USDA Economic Research Service Food Price Outlook March 2026
Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus press release February 2026
Deseret News IP28 analysis May 2026
National Agricultural Law Center IP28 analysis

John Payson is a Central Oregon resident, real estate professional, and publisher of Central Oregon Policy Watch at johnpayson1.substack.com

THE SHORT VERSION

IP28 doesn’t just criminalize hunting and fishing. It criminalizes the routine veterinary care your animals depend on to stay alive.

Dehorning. Castration. Branding. Hoof trimming. Deworming. Breeding. Every standard practice that keeps livestock healthy and productive — stripped of legal protection in a single vote.

And the veterinarians who perform these procedures? They’re already disappearing. Oregon is in the middle of a rural veterinary crisis that IP28 would make catastrophically worse.

Dr. Barbara Kahl has spent 20 years treating animals across Oregon, Texas, and American Samoa. Large animal. Equine. Livestock. USDA herd health. Expert witness in animal welfare cases. She’s also running for Congress in Oregon’s 1st District against Rep. Suzanne Bonamici — who has said nothing about IP28 despite representing Tillamook dairy country.

Dr. Kahl has something to say. And she said it better than most.

If you are reading this in email, source links only work on the web version. Read the full piece here.

MY PROPERTY. MY FAMILY. MY COMMUNITY.

I walked out to my pasture this morning. Performance horses. Chickens. My daughter’s barrel racing arena. The property we’ve called home since 2022.

And I thought about what happens to all of it if IP28 passes.

Not the economics. Not the constitutional argument. The morning routine. The vet call. The farrier. The coyote that came through last spring. Every single one of those moments — criminal.

That’s not a policy disagreement. That’s an attack on my family’s way of life by people who have never set foot on a working property in their lives.

Dr. Barbara Kahl has spent 20 years making farm calls. She has something to say about what IP28 would do to every property like mine across Oregon.

THE CRISIS BEFORE THE CRISIS

Oregon is already losing its large animal veterinarians.

The USDA declared 243 rural veterinary shortage areas across 46 states in 2025 — the highest number ever recorded. The largest concentrations of shortages are in the Midwest and West. Oregon is in both categories.

Since the end of World War II the United States has lost 90 percent of its large animal and livestock veterinarians. That is not a typo. Ninety percent. Gone in eighty years. The few who remain are spread across vast rural distances — covering hundreds of miles per farm call, carrying student debt averaging $202,647, choosing between the animals that need them and the economics that are driving them away.

Oregon State University’s Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine graduates approximately 80 students per year. It is one of the smallest veterinary schools in the country. The federal government awarded a $125,000 grant in 2024 just to expand mobile large animal vet services to Sherman, Gilliam, Wasco and Hood River counties — because there weren’t enough vets to cover the ground.

That is where Oregon’s rural veterinary system stands right now. Before IP28.

Now add IP28.

The procedures large animal vets perform every day — castration, dehorning, branding, hoof trimming, deworming protocols — lose their legal protection the moment IP28 passes. No exemption for veterinary procedures beyond a narrow self-defense clause. The vet who shows up at your property to perform standard livestock care is now performing acts that could be classified as criminal animal abuse under Oregon statute.

The rational response for any large animal vet still practicing in rural Oregon is to stop making farm calls.

IP28 does not just threaten Oregon’s agricultural economy. It threatens to finish off what little remains of Oregon’s rural veterinary infrastructure — in the middle of a federal crisis that the USDA is already spending millions trying to fix.

Sources: USDA Rural Veterinary Action Plan, August 2025 | Johns Hopkins large animal vet study, 2023, via AGDAILY | USDA NIFA Oregon large animal vet grant 2024

THE VETERINARIAN WHO ACTUALLY KNOWS

Full disclosure before you read a word of this: Dr. Barbara Kahl is a Republican candidate for Congress in Oregon’s 1st District running against incumbent Rep. Suzanne Bonamici. She has a political stake in this fight.

She also has 20 years of large animal veterinary experience in Oregon, Texas, and American Samoa. She has performed 2am foalings in the field. She has run USDA herd health programs. She has served as an expert witness in animal welfare cases. She is a multigenerational Oregonian.

Her political candidacy does not invalidate her expertise. It is declared here so you can weigh it yourself.

This is what she wrote publicly on May 28, 2026. In her own words.

“I need to talk to you about IP28, not the bumper sticker version. The real one.”

She opened with that line. It is exactly the right opening.

Dr. Kahl went on to explain what most Oregonians signing that petition never understood — including the piece that should stop every livestock owner cold:

“Standard veterinary procedures such as artificial insemination and castration are relabeled under IP28 as ‘sexual assault.’ I am not editorializing, that is the plain language of the initiative. Those practices were developed specifically to avoid harm to animals, increase genetic diversity to keep animals healthy and strong, and reduce over-population.”

Read that again. Artificial insemination — the practice that protects female animals from injury during breeding and maintains genetic diversity across Oregon’s herds — is classified as sexual assault under IP28. A procedure developed specifically for animal welfare. Criminal.

And on the exemption IP28’s proponents point to as their proof of reasonableness — the narrow veterinary carve-out:

“The veterinary carve-out is a trap, not a protection.”

Here is why. Most of what keeps Oregon’s livestock alive is not performed by a licensed veterinarian on-site. It is performed by the farmer. Under established husbandry standards. That current Oregon law explicitly protects.

Dr. Kahl put it plainly:

“Most of what farmers and ranchers do every day to keep their animals healthy is not performed by a licensed veterinarian on-site. It is performed by the farmer themselves, under established husbandry standards that current Oregon law explicitly protects. Under IP28, farmers, ranchers, veterinarians, breeders, and animal owners would be exposed to criminal liability for standard, humane practices that are essential to animal health, food production, and genetic management.”

And then she put the rural vet crisis in terms no government report can match:

“I’d like them to sit with me for a week and explain it again, while sitting in the high desert helping a calf that was mauled by coyotes, still alive but needing euthanasia, waiting for a vet to show up out of nowhere that may never arrive because they are too far away, or the calf is inaccessible by road. That’s not cruelty prevention; that’s the petitioner’s ignorance of proper animal husbandry.”

And then she said the line that should be on a billboard in every county in Oregon:

“The veterinary profession in Oregon is already in crisis. IP28 would be the killing blow.”

She is right. The USDA declared 243 rural veterinary shortage areas nationwide in 2025 — the highest number ever recorded. The United States has lost 90 percent of its large animal veterinarians since World War II. The average vet school graduate carries $202,647 in student debt. Oregon State’s veterinary school graduates 80 students per year.

Dr. Kahl connected the economics directly:

“What veterinarian, already carrying $150,000–$200,000 in student debt, already working in legal and professional ambiguity is going to remain in food animal practice in Oregon when every procedure they perform could be second-guessed in a criminal proceeding?”

The answer is none. They will leave. And the animals IP28 claims to protect will have no one to care for them.

She also validated every economic number this series has documented — from primary sources — with her own verified figures:

Oregon’s agriculture food and fiber sector exceeds $42 billion in total economic value. Over 531,000 jobs are linked to it. Animal agriculture contributed $4.4 billion and employed more than 30,000 people in 2022. Oregon exported $138 million in beef and veal, $120 million in dairy products, $21 million in poultry, and $130 million in commercial fish operations.

And then she said this:

“Approximately one million Oregonians who hunt, fish, trap, or work in agriculture would be at risk of criminal prosecution under IP28. One MILLION people. Just think — add all of Portland, Salem, Hillsboro, and Gresham together. That is how many would face prosecution for managing herds and putting food on the table with IP28.”

One million people. Every number in that statement traces to primary source government data. It checks out.

She closed with the line that defines this entire political moment:

“I am Dr. Barbara Kahl. I am a veterinarian, a multigenerational Oregonian, and I am running for Congress in Oregon’s 1st District because this district, its farms, its coasts, its working families, deserves a representative who understands what is at stake and will fight for it. Our current incumbent — silent.”

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici represents Oregon’s 1st District. Her district includes Tillamook County — home of Tillamook dairy. One of Oregon’s most recognized agricultural brands. Directly threatened by IP28.

She has said nothing.

Source: Dr. Barbara Kahl, Vote Oregon Red Facebook Group, May 28 2026 | USDA Rural Veterinary Action Plan August 2025 | Johns Hopkins large animal vet study 2023 via AGDAILY | OSU Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine via East Oregonian March 2025 | USDA NIFA Oregon vet grant 2024

THE BOTTOM LINE

I walked out to my pasture this morning. Performance horses. Chickens. My daughter’s barrel racing arena. The property we’ve called home since 2022.

And I thought about what happens to all of it if IP28 passes.

Not the economics. Not the constitutional argument. The morning routine. The vet call. The farrier. The coyote that came through last spring. Every single one of those moments — criminal.

Dr. Kahl spent 20 years making farm calls across Oregon. She has been in the field at 2am. She has performed the procedures IP28 would criminalize — not because she was careless with animals but because that is what responsible animal care looks like in the real world.

She said it plainly: the veterinary profession in Oregon is already in crisis. IP28 would be the killing blow.

Oregon is already fighting to keep its large animal vets. The federal government is spending millions trying to fix a crisis that took 80 years to create. OSU’s veterinary school graduates 80 students a year. The USDA declared a national emergency. And IP28 would make every farm call in Oregon a potential criminal act.

The people behind IP28 have never made a 2am farm call. They have never assisted a difficult birth in a field. They have never managed a herd through a drought. They have never watched a coyote take a lamb and had to decide what to do about it.

They designed a measure that would criminalize the people who have.

One million Oregonians who hunt fish trap or work in agriculture would face criminal exposure under IP28. One million. That is every person in Portland Salem Hillsboro and Gresham combined. At risk of prosecution for doing what their families have done on this land for generations.

Dr. Barbara Kahl closed her post with one sentence about the congresswoman who represents Tillamook dairy country and has said nothing about a measure that would destroy it.

“Our current incumbent — silent.”

That silence has a cost. And Oregon’s animals — the ones that actually depend on working veterinarians and responsible ranchers — will pay it.

24 days until the July 2 signature deadline. The measure has cleared the minimum threshold. Verification is pending.

Stop saying it won’t pass.

This is Part 7 of The IP28 Files. Read the complete series at johnpayson1.substack.com

Sources: Dr. Barbara Kahl, Vote Oregon Red Facebook Group, May 28 2026 USDA Rural Veterinary Action Plan August 2025 Johns Hopkins large animal vet study 2023 via AGDAILY OSU Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine via East Oregonian March 2025 USDA NIFA Oregon large animal vet grant 2024 USDA NASS Oregon Facts and Figures 2022

John Payson is a Central Oregon resident, real estate professional, and publisher of Central Oregon Policy Watch at johnpayson1.substack.com

THE SHORT VERSION

Four videos. On camera. In their own words.

The man behind IP28 told you Oregon’s farming jobs will be gone anyway by the time his measure passes. He told you ranches should be converted to solar farms. He told you imported meat from China is cheaper. He admitted — on camera — that IP28 would ban tribal hunting and fishing on Oregon state land for cultural and religious purposes. Then he called it “a big shift” and kept pushing.

His signature gatherer told you the same thing with a shrug.

Oregon has 35,547 farms. 68,564 producers. 1.23 million cattle. A $4.4 billion agricultural economy. Three generations of families who built this state with their hands.

He looked at all of that and said — it’ll be gone anyway.

Watch the videos. Every link is below. Then ask yourself who gave this man permission to decide what Oregon’s future looks like.

BEFORE WE START — A NOTE ON SOURCES

Everything in this piece comes from primary source video. Four separate recordings from a single interview session filmed by Right.Side.Rebel and released in multiple clips. All publicly available. All linked below so you can watch every second yourself.

That is the standard this publication holds itself to. Not what someone said about what someone said. The actual video. The actual words. You watch it. You decide.

If you are reading this in email, the links are only active on the web version. Read the full piece here.

WHO IS BEHIND IP28

His name is David Michelson. Thirty-two years old. Substitute teacher at Portland Public Schools. He went vegan after witnessing pigs being killed and decided that Oregon’s ranchers, hunters, fishermen, and farmers needed to be stopped.

He has been filing versions of this same ballot measure since 2020. IP13. IP3. IP28. Three attempts. Six years. Each version deliberately vaguer than the last.

He is not from a livestock area. He has never ranched. He has never farmed. He said so himself on camera when asked directly.

Oregon has 35,547 farms and ranches. 68,564 producers. 1.23 million cattle. An agricultural economy worth $4.4 billion annually supporting 30,000 jobs. The average Oregon farm operator is 58.6 years old — someone who has spent their entire adult life building something.

David Michelson has decided all of that needs to end.

And he went on camera to explain exactly how.

Source: David Michelson, Animal Activism Collective YouTube, June 20 2025 | USDA NASS Oregon Facts & Figures 2022 | USDA NASS Oregon Cattle Inventory January 2025

TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE. ONE IDENTICAL STORY.

David Michelson laid out the strategy in a Zoom room full of activists on June 20 2025. He thought he was talking to supporters. His signature gatherers said the exact same things on camera while collecting signatures from people who thought they were protecting dogs and cats.

Same goal. Same timeline. Same dismissal of your way of life.

Nobody coordinated their messaging to hide it. Nobody needed to. When your ideology is this complete — when you genuinely believe that ending all animal use is the highest moral priority on earth — you just say it. Everywhere. To everyone.

That is what makes these videos so important. This is not a gotcha moment. This is a movement telling you exactly what it is.

The question is whether you were listening.

“THE JOBS WILL BE GONE ANYWAY”

This is the line that should make every Oregon farmer, rancher, and agricultural worker stop cold.

One of IP28’s lead petitioners was asked directly about the 35,000 plus farms and ranches that would be affected if IP28 passes. About the families. About the traditions passed down through generations.

Here is what he said. On camera. Word for word.

“By the time a majority of people want it, I actually don’t think as many people will be employed in these industries to begin with.”

Read that again.

He is not promising to protect your job. He is telling you your job is already obsolete. That by the time IP28 finally passes — in their multi-decade timeline — the economy will have moved on without you.

He said this to someone’s face. On Instagram. While collecting signatures across Oregon.

That is not a policy argument. That is a dismissal. Your livelihood. Your family’s future. Your community’s identity. Gone. Dismissed with a shrug on a social media video.

And his plan for the 35,547 farms left standing in the meantime?

Mushroom farming. Energy crops. Solar panels.

His exact words: “You could use it for solar power, you know, those types of facilities.”

Oregon’s rangelands — the high desert east of the Cascades, the Coast Range grazing land, the Willamette Valley pastures — converted to solar installations. Because someone collecting signatures in Portland decided that was a better use of your land.

Source: Right.Side.Rebel Instagram Reel

“MADE IN CHINA IS CHEAPER”

The interviewer asked the question every Oregonian should be asking.

If IP28 passes and Oregon’s animal agriculture shuts down — where does the food come from?

Here is the answer. On camera. Word for word.

“Most of our products are imported and usually things like from afar are actually cheaper. Like made in China is cheaper products rather than made in the US. So actually I don’t think it would increase our grocery prices at all.”

Let that land for a moment.

One of IP28’s lead petitioners just told you that replacing Oregon’s $4.4 billion agricultural economy with imported meat from China is not a problem. That it might actually be cheaper. That your grocery bill won’t go up.

Oregon exported $138 million in beef and veal in 2022. $120 million in dairy products. $21 million in poultry. $130 million in commercial fish operations. That is Oregon food. Grown here. Processed here. Feeding families here and across the country.

His answer to all of it — China is cheaper.

This is the same movement that calls itself compassionate. That says it wants to protect animals. That frames IP28 as an extension of love.

They want to shut down Oregon’s farms and ranches and replace them with imported meat from a country with virtually no animal welfare standards — because it’s cheaper.

That is not compassion. That is ideology dressed up as economics. And it was said on camera without a moment of hesitation.

Source: Right.Side.Rebel Instagram Reel | USDA NASS Oregon Facts & Figures 2022

THE PETITION THEY DIDN’T WANT YOU TO READ

When Right.Side.Rebel asked to see the back of the clipboard — the full petition text — here is what happened.

The signature gatherer hesitated. Then redirected.

“Oh. Yeah yeah, that’s easy. So. Yeah, we have a summary, and we have the full text.”

But the full text never got shown. The conversation moved on. The clipboard stayed face down.

This is not an accident. This is a trained response.

Here is what the full text actually says — the part they weren’t rushing to show you:

IP28 criminalizes any activity other than self-defense and veterinary practices that intentionally injures, kills, or sexually violates a nonhuman animal. No exceptions for hunting. No exceptions for fishing. No exceptions for ranching. No exceptions for rodeo. No exceptions for pest control.

The summary on the front of that clipboard said protect animals in Oregon.

The full text on the back said criminalize your way of life.

When the interviewer pushed — are you getting into all the facts with people, like that we’d have to import our meat, that this affects livestock — here is the response:

“We go over the main effects of the initiative with them. If they ask further questions, we have those conversations.”

If they ask.

They don’t volunteer it. They wait to be asked. And on a busy street corner in Portland when someone is being handed a clipboard and asked to sign quickly — how many people ask?

That is how 126,000 signatures get collected for a measure that would criminalize hunting, fishing, ranching, rodeo, and pest control in Oregon.

Source: Right.Side.Rebel Instagram Reel

RAT TRAPS, STERILIZATION, AND THE WILDLIFE PLAN

The interviewer asked what happens when restaurants can’t set out rat traps.

The answer should have been simple. It wasn’t.

“New York City is actually a great example. They started phasing in birth control boxes instead of poison boxes for mice and rats to lower their populations without killing them. That would be allowed under something like this. You could have also the catch and release traps, which have been around since the eighteen hundreds and relocate them outside effectively.”

Catch and release traps. For rats. In Oregon restaurants.

Portland ranked among the rattiest cities in the United States according to Orkin’s 2024 annual report. Under IP28 the solution is not extermination. It is relocation.

But the wildlife management answer was even more revealing.

The interviewer pointed out that without hunting, wildlife populations would explode. More deer on the roads. More disease. More destruction of crops and grazing land.

Here is the response:

“We are no longer using lethal forms of wildlife management. That still means we could use non-lethal, and the USDA has researched quite a few different sterilization vaccines that could be used to make it so the animals can’t reproduce.”

Sterilization vaccines. For Oregon’s deer, elk, and predator populations.

The interviewer caught it immediately.

“So you want to treat them as a companion but against their will you would be sterilizing them?”

The response: “This would allow for that to happen rather than to kill them. And I think if any human being was asked if they’d rather be sterilized or killed, I think most would answer sterilized.”

He compared Oregon’s wildlife to human beings making medical decisions.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife manages 612 wildlife species across 98,000 square miles. Their entire budget runs north of $180 million. The overwhelming majority comes from hunting and fishing license fees. IP28 eliminates that funding source and replaces professional wildlife management with sterilization vaccines.

That is not conservation. That is an ideology that has never managed a single acre of Oregon rangeland being imposed on the people who have managed it for generations.

Source: Right.Side.Rebel Instagram Reel | Orkin 2024 Rattiest Cities — KOIN 2024

THE TRIBAL TREATY THEY COULDN’T ANSWER

Oregon has nine federally recognized tribal nations. Their rights to hunt and fish are not granted by Oregon state law. They are protected by federal treaties with the United States government — treaties that predate Oregon statehood itself.

IP28 contains no exemption for tribal hunting and fishing.

Right.Side.Rebel asked one of IP28’s lead petitioners directly about this. The answer was more damning than a dodge would have been.

Here it is. Word for word.

“This doesn’t change tribal sovereignty in any way. But it doesn’t provide an exception on Oregon state land for cultural or religious killing of an animal. And so it would ban hunting and fishing among any Oregonian.”

Then he said this:

“We do recognize that is a big shift. People meet their need not just for sustenance, but for belonging and other important spiritual needs by killing animals.”

He knows. He said so on camera. IP28 would ban tribal members from exercising treaty-protected hunting and fishing rights on Oregon state land — including for cultural and ceremonial purposes. Rights that have been honored since before Oregon was a state. Rights protected by federal law that supersedes anything Oregon voters can pass.

He recognized it as a big shift. Then kept pushing the measure anyway.

This is not an oversight. IP28’s legal team drafted this measure three times. IP13. IP3. IP28. Each version deliberately vaguer than the last. The tribal exemption was never added. Not by accident. By design.

Federal treaty rights supersede state law. That constitutional collision happens the moment IP28 passes. Oregon’s tribal nations have standing to challenge this in federal court on grounds that go far beyond anything the agricultural community can argue.

The people who drafted this measure know that. They just didn’t tell the 126,000 people who signed it.

Source: Right.Side.Rebel Instagram Reel

“I WAS NOT RAISED IN A LIVESTOCK AREA”

The interviewer asked the question in two separate parts of the same interview. The answer was identical both times.

“I can’t speak for all of our team. But I personally say that no, I was not.”

Not raised in a livestock area. Not raised on a farm. Not raised in a ranching community. Never managed a pasture. Never pulled a calf at 2am. Never dealt with a coyote taking livestock. Never looked at a drought-cracked field and wondered how to keep the herd fed through winter.

Oregon has 35,547 farms and ranches. The average operator is 58.6 years old. That means the average Oregon farmer has spent nearly four decades building something — learning the land, the animals, the seasons, the economics of feeding people.

The people behind IP28 have spent that same time in Portland. In classrooms. In activist networks. In ideology.

There is nothing wrong with caring about animals. There is nothing wrong with wanting them treated humanely. Most of the ranchers, hunters, and farmers opposing IP28 would tell you the same thing. They care about their animals. They have spent their lives caring for them.

The difference is they actually know what that means.

The people collecting signatures on Portland street corners do not. And they told you so themselves.

On camera. Without hesitation. Without embarrassment.

Source: Right.Side.Rebel Instagram — full interview series

THIS IS A CONSTITUTIONAL FIGHT — AND YOU’VE SEEN THIS PLAYBOOK BEFORE

Everything you just read is not just a policy disagreement.

It is a constitutional violation. And it is not the first time.

I grew up in California. Watched it happen there. Moved to Washington. Watched it happen there. Moved to Oregon in 2017.

Here it is again.

The playbook never changes. Find something that sounds reasonable. Frame it as compassion or safety or saving the planet. Then do one of two things — tax it until people stop doing it, or criminalize it outright. Either way the goal is the same. Force you to stop doing something they don’t want you to do.

Don’t believe me? Look around you right now.

As of January 1, 2026 — you need a state permit to float a kayak or paddleboard on an Oregon river. Governor Kotek signed it. A one-year permit costs $20. Two inner tubes tied together require a permit. Your kid floating the Deschutes on a raft needs government permission. A ballot initiative was filed to repeal it — needing 117,173 signatures just to get on the same ballot as IP28.

Right here in Bend your city council is debating a fee on natural gas hookups in new homes. Ashland already passed one in 2025. The goal is to make gas appliances expensive enough that builders stop installing them.

California threatened waiters with jail time for handing customers plastic straws. California banned foie gras. California banned fur. Berkeley tried to ban natural gas appliances in your home — a federal court stopped them.

See the pattern?

It starts small. A permit. A fee. A restriction. Then it grows. And when the fees and restrictions aren’t enough — it becomes criminal.

IP28 doesn’t start small. It goes straight to criminal. One vote. Your fishing rod. Your ranch. Your barrel racing arena. Your livestock. Criminal.

This is collectivism. The systematic erosion of individual liberty by people who have decided their moral framework should govern your life. They don’t ask. They don’t negotiate. They regulate, tax, and criminalize until your way of life disappears.

The Constitution assigns the burden of proof to those seeking to restrict individual liberty — not to those defending it. IP28’s proponents have not met that burden. What they’ve done instead is go on camera and tell you your way of life is already obsolete.

Jobs will be gone anyway. China is cheaper. Switch to mushrooms. Install solar panels.

That is not compassion. That is contempt. And Oregon has seen enough of it.

Sources: Oregon paddleboard permit law — KGW July 2025 | Ballot initiative to repeal permit fees — The Source Bend August 2025 | Bend natural gas fee — OPB April 2026 | Ashland natural gas fee — The Source Bend February 2026 | California plastic straw criminalization — Daily Signal 2018

THE BOTTOM LINE

One interview. One petitioner. Everything said out loud. Nothing hidden.

The farming jobs will be gone anyway. China is cheaper. Switch to mushrooms. Install solar panels. Sterilize the deer. Relocate the rats. And by the way — tribal hunting and fishing on Oregon state land? We recognize that’s a big shift. We’re pushing it anyway.

That is who is behind IP28.

Not a rancher. Not a hunter. Not a fisherman. Not a farmer. Not anyone who has ever pulled a calf at 2am or watched a coyote take a lamb or managed a pasture through a drought.

Someone who sat down for an interview and told you — calmly, casually, without embarrassment — that your way of life is already obsolete.

Oregon has 35,547 farms and ranches. 68,564 producers. 1.23 million cattle. An agricultural economy worth $4.4 billion. Families who have worked this land for generations. Communities built around the ranching, hunting, fishing, and equestrian traditions that define this region’s identity.

None of them were in that interview room. None of them were asked. None of them consented.

They just woke up one day and found out someone was collecting signatures to make their lives criminal.

Watch the videos. Every link is in the sources below. Watch the casualness. Watch the shrug. Watch the moment when the interviewer asks where Oregon gets its meat if not from Oregon ranches — and listen to the answer.

Then ask yourself one question.

Who gave these people permission to decide what Oregon looks like?

Because they didn’t ask you. They don’t intend to. They have a 40-year plan and Oregon is just the opening move.

The July 2 signature deadline is 29 days away. The measure has not yet been officially verified for the ballot. But the trajectory says it will be.

Between now and November — stop saying it won’t pass. Stop shrugging. Stop walking away from the clipboard without reading what’s on the back.

They are counting on your complacency. They have been counting on it for six years.

Don’t give it to them.

This is Part 6 of The IP28 Files. Read the complete series at johnpayson1.substack.com

Sources: David Michelson, Animal Activism Collective YouTube, June 20 2025 Right.Side.Rebel Instagram — full interview series Reel 1 — April 22 2026 Reel 2 — April 23 2026 Reel 3 — May 27 2026 Reel 4 — June 2 2026 USDA NASS Oregon Facts & Figures 2022 USDA NASS Oregon Cattle Inventory January 2025 Oregon paddleboard permit law — KGW July 2025 Bend natural gas fee — OPB April 2026 California plastic straw criminalization — Daily Signal 2018 Portland rattiest cities — Orkin via KOIN 2024

John Payson is a Central Oregon resident, real estate professional, and publisher of Central Oregon Policy Watch at johnpayson1.substack.com

The IP28 Files is a primary source investigation into Initiative Petition 28. Start with Part 1 at johnpayson1.substack.com

Update: The Oregon Secretary of State's website confirms 126,115 signatures submitted as of May 29, 2026. The measure has cleared the minimum threshold of 117,173 required signatures. Signatures are currently undergoing verification. The July 2, 2026 deadline remains in effect. Source: Oregon Secretary of State.

Reading this in email? Source links only work on the web version. Read the full piece here.

That note does three things:

• Establishes your publication as more precise than a CBS affiliate

• Drives people to sos.oregon.gov to verify themselves

• Shows new readers who find Part 5 through tomorrow’s distribution exactly what your standard looks like in practice

Add that note to the scheduled Part 5 piece tonight before you go to bed.

Go into Substack, open the scheduled Part 5 draft, paste that note at the very top before the series header, hit save without republishing.

Can you do that now?

THE SHORT VERSION

IP28 is not a grassroots Oregon movement. It is a professionally funded, nationally organized campaign backed by a Portland foundation with $18 million dedicated to eliminating animal agriculture, a New York philanthropist who has funded this same measure across multiple election cycles, a Berkeley radical animal liberation organization whose members have faced criminal charges, the world’s largest animal rights organization, a San Francisco tech billionaire’s charitable fund, and at least one $25,000 donor nobody can identify.

Not one dollar of that money comes from a Central Oregon rancher. Not one dollar comes from a hunting family on the Oregon coast. Not one dollar comes from the communities this measure would destroy.

That is not a coincidence. That is the strategy.

Full primary source documentation below.

THE QUESTION THAT STARTED THIS

A reader named Atlandea left a comment on Saturday’s piece that stopped me cold.

“Wondering if there is some BIG money behind the organizer? Follow the money, right?”

Atlandea grew up in Coos Bay. She lives in Portland now. She knows the distance between the people pushing this measure and the people it would destroy.

She asked the right question. Here is the answer.

WHAT THE OREGON SECRETARY OF STATE SHOWS

Every dollar donated to an Oregon ballot measure campaign is public record. The Oregon Secretary of State campaign finance database is the primary source. No interpretation needed. Just names and numbers.

As of May 26, 2026, Yes on IP28 has raised $304,818.28.

Here is who wrote the checks.

Craigslist Charitable Fund — $30,000

Craig Newmark. San Francisco. The man who built Craigslist and turned his fortune into a charitable foundation. He’s the top donor. Number one on the list. Craig Newmark has never ranched in Oregon. He has never fished the Coquille River. He has never set a trap line in the Coast Range. He decided from San Francisco that your way of life is a problem worth $30,000 to fix.

David Michelson — $28,110

The chief petitioner funded his own campaign. A 32-year-old substitute teacher at Portland Public Schools who went vegan after witnessing pigs being killed. He has been filing versions of this measure since 2020. He is all in — financially and ideologically.

Owen Gunden — $25,000

New York. He bankrolled IP3 — the 2024 version of this same measure — with $50,000. Now another $25,000 to IP28. Same guy. Same agenda. Different year. When someone keeps funding the same campaign cycle after cycle they’re not a donor. They’re an investor. The question is what return he’s expecting on that investment.

Postnov Leonid — $25,000

This is the name that should make every Oregonian stop and ask a question. Postnov Leonid. No public profile. No documented connection to Oregon. No traceable presence in the animal rights funding ecosystem. A Russian surname. $25,000 to a ballot measure campaign in Oregon.

David Michelson confirmed in his June 20 2025 video that IP28 accepts donations from anyone in the world — including non-US citizens. He said it openly. He said it proudly.

So Oregon voters deserve a straight answer: who is Postnov Leonid and where did that $25,000 come from?

That question is sitting in the Oregon Secretary of State’s campaign finance database. Unanswered.

PETA — $10,000

Let’s be clear about what PETA actually is before we talk about their check.

PETA’s own president has publicly stated the goal is total animal liberation — no hunting, no fishing, no farming, no pets, no animal-based medical research. Every form of human interaction with animals. Gone.

Their Virginia shelter has killed nearly 50,000 animals over two decades. A state inspector called it a euthanasia clinic. In 2014 their workers took a family’s Chihuahua off their front porch and killed it. The family got a fruit basket and a $50,000 settlement.

This is the organization that wrote a $10,000 check to help put IP28 on your ballot.

They don’t want to protect animals. They want to eliminate the relationship between humans and animals entirely. IP28 is a step toward that goal. That’s why they funded it.

Source: Virginia Department of Agriculture state records | Oregon Secretary of State campaign finance records

Karuna Foundation — Portland, Oregon

Here is where it gets personal.

The Karuna Foundation is not some distant Silicon Valley operation writing checks from California. They are based right here in Portland, Oregon. Eighteen million dollars in assets. Their stated mission — published publicly in the Foundation Directory — is to fund organizations and individuals advocating for a vegan lifestyle and the removal of animals from the food system.

Not the improvement of animal welfare. Not the reduction of cruelty. The removal of animals from the food system entirely.

A Portland foundation with $18 million dedicated to eliminating Oregon’s agricultural economy funded IP28’s 2024 cycle. They are confirmed funders of the current campaign.

They are your neighbors. And they are funding the elimination of your neighbors’ livelihoods.

Source: Foundation Directory — Candid | Oregon Secretary of State campaign finance records | AG Professionals, December 2025

Direct Action Everywhere — Berkeley, California

DxE describes itself as a network working to achieve revolutionary social and political change for animals in one generation.

Revolutionary. Their word. Not mine.

Here is what revolutionary looks like in practice. DxE members have been criminally charged for trespassing and breaking into agricultural facilities. Their stated long-term goals include having former heads of state endorse their vegan agenda and stealing animals from farms. They specifically named the Clintons, the Obamas, Trudeau, Merkel, and the Pope as targets for endorsement.

They created what they call a seed city strategy — establishing a base of political influence in Berkeley California first and expanding outward from there. They want one state to ban the sale or production of all animal-derived products by 2030.

Oregon is the target.

DxE funded IP28’s previous cycle. Their presence in this campaign is not incidental. This is their playbook being executed on your ballot.

These are not animal welfare advocates. They are self-described revolutionaries with a documented history of criminal activity who have decided Oregon’s ranchers, hunters, fishermen, and farmers are obstacles to be eliminated.

Source: InfluenceWatch | Activist Facts | Oregon Secretary of State campaign finance records

THE FULL PICTURE

WHO FUNDED IP28? Source: Oregon Secretary of State Campaign Finance Records, May 26 2026

Craigslist Charitable Fund — $30,000 — San Francisco, CA

David Michelson — $28,110 — Portland, OR

Owen Gunden — $25,000 — New York, NY

Postnov Leonid — $25,000 — Unknown

PETA — $10,000 — Norfolk, VA

Karuna Foundation — Confirmed funder — Portland, OR

Direct Action Everywhere — Confirmed funder — Berkeley, CA

Count the Oregon ranchers on that list.

Count the Central Oregon hunters.

Count the fishing families from Coos Bay or the dairy farmers from Tillamook.

Zero. Not one dollar from the communities this measure would destroy.

This is not a grassroots Oregon movement. Grassroots movements are funded by the people who have skin in the game. The people who live where the issue exists. The people whose livelihoods, traditions, and families are directly affected.

This is an outside operation using Oregon’s ballot initiative process as a weapon. The signatures were gathered mostly in Portland and Eugene by non-residents and non-citizens. The money came from San Francisco, New York, Berkeley, and Norfolk. The strategy was designed in animal liberation conferences and Silicon Valley boardrooms.

And somewhere in there is a $25,000 check from someone named Postnov Leonid that nobody has explained.

THIS IS A CONSTITUTIONAL FIGHT — NOT JUST A BALLOT FIGHT

Here is what every Oregonian needs to understand about what IP28 actually represents — beyond the money, beyond the donors, beyond the strategy.

IP28 is collectivism wearing a compassion costume.

The United States Constitution is built on a foundational principle — individual liberty. The burden of proof falls on those seeking to restrict that liberty. Not on those defending it. The Fifth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment. The entire framework of American constitutional law assigns that burden to government and to those who would use government as a weapon against individual freedom.

IP28 uses Oregon’s criminal law to impose the moral framework of a small, wealthy, ideologically driven group onto every rancher, hunter, fisher, farmer, and property owner in this state. It does not ask permission. It does not negotiate. It criminalizes.

A Portland substitute teacher. A San Francisco charitable fund. A New York investor. A Berkeley radical organization. A Portland foundation with $18 million.

None of them asked you. None of them sat across a table from a Crook County rancher or a Tillamook dairy farmer or a Coos Bay fisherman and said — how does this affect your family?

They didn’t have to. That’s the point of a ballot initiative. Collect enough signatures in Portland and Eugene and let the urban vote decide what rural Oregon is allowed to do on its own land.

That is not compassion. That is the deliberate use of collective political power to override individual liberty.

And it has been funded — dollar by dollar — from outside this state by people who will never feel the consequences of what they are trying to do to your community.

FOUR REPRESENTATIVES. FOUR RACES. ONE QUESTION NOBODY WILL ANSWER.

While outside money pours into Oregon to fund IP28 — from San Francisco, New York, Berkeley, and Norfolk — four of your elected representatives have said absolutely nothing.

Rep. Cliff Bentz represents every rural county east of the Cascades. Running for re-election in November. Silent.

Sen. Jeff Merkley represents all of Oregon. Running for his fourth term in November. Silent.

Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson’s family has farmed and ranched in Crook County since the mid-1800s. She calls herself “rural Oregon’s voice — loud and clear.” Silent on IP28.

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici represents Tillamook County. Tillamook dairy. Silent.

They are all on the ballot in November. So is IP28.

Ask them where they stand. They work for you.

Cliff Bentz: bentz.house.gov Jeff Merkley: merkley.senate.gov Vikki Breese-Iverson: 503-986-1459 Suzanne Bonamici: bonamici.house.gov

WHAT YOU DO WITH THIS INFORMATION

Knowing who funded IP28 is not enough. Anger is not enough. Sharing this piece is not enough — though please do that.

Here is what actually moves the needle before July 2nd.

Check the Oregon Secretary of State campaign finance records yourself. Don’t take my word for it. Primary source is sos.oregon.gov. Search Yes on IP28. Every donor. Every dollar. Public record. Verify it yourself.

Ask your legislators where they stand — today. One question. Where do you stand on IP28? Make them answer.

Get your organization on record. Farm bureau. Hunting club. Equestrian association. Rodeo organization. Fishing club. A formal written resolution — not a Facebook post. Something durable that survives into the next cycle when IP29 gets filed.

Stop saying it won’t pass. Every time someone says it and walks away the campaign counts it as a win.

THE BOTTOM LINE

I grew up in California. Watched it happen there. Moved to Washington State for college in 1991 — watched it happen there too. Same playbook. Same outside money. Same urban majority telling rural communities how to live on their own land.

I’ve been watching this my entire adult life from the sidelines. Voting since 1986. Paying attention while the 3-second sound bite replaced substance and radical ideology dressed itself up as compassion.

I moved to Oregon in 2017. And here it is again.

The same collectivist mindset. The same outside money. The same pattern of urban political power being used as a weapon against people who ranch, hunt, fish, and farm for a living.

IP28 is not new. The names are different. The state is different. The ballot measure is different. But the playbook is identical to what I watched hollow out California and reshape Washington.

And it starts the same way every time.

With someone else’s money. Aimed at your way of life.

San Francisco. New York. Berkeley. Norfolk. Portland.

Not one dollar from a Central Oregon rancher. Not one dollar from a Coos Bay fishing family. Not one dollar from a Tillamook dairy farmer. Not one dollar from anyone whose life this would actually destroy.

They don’t need to live here. They just need your vote.

Don’t give it to them.

This is Part 5 of The IP28 Files. Read the complete series at johnpayson1.substack.com

Sources: Oregon Secretary of State campaign finance records, May 26 2026 | Oregon Secretary of State Monthly Submission Log May 20 2026 | InfluenceWatch — Direct Action Everywhere | Activist Facts — Direct Action Everywhere | Foundation Directory — Karuna Foundation | Virginia Department of Agriculture state records — PETA | Hunter Nation, March 2026 | Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, August 2023 | AG Professionals, December 2025 | Oregon Horse Council, January 2026 | David Michelson, Animal Activism Collective YouTube, June 20 2025 | Pork Business, December 2024

John Payson is a Central Oregon resident, real estate professional, and publisher of Central Oregon Policy Watch at johnpayson1.substack.com

You want to know what really grates on my nerves?

When someone hands you a contract and says don’t worry about the details. Trust me. It sounds great doesn’t it?

I’ve been in real estate for over twenty years. You know what I’ve learned?

The devil is always in the details.

IP28 is the details. The name sounds compassionate. The campaign sounds reasonable. And most of Oregon is nodding along without reading what it actually says — or more importantly, what the people behind it have actually said about what comes next.

I read it. I listened to all of it. And then I found something nobody else in Oregon seems to have bothered looking for.

What David Michelson Said When He Thought Only Activists Were Listening

On June 20, 2025, IP28’s chief petitioner David Michelson sat down with a group called Animal Activism Collective for a live Zoom session. The title on YouTube is “Voting to Help Animals.” What he said inside tells a different story.

This was not a press interview. This was not a campaign event with a teleprompter. This was a recruitment session for animal liberation activists — streamed live on YouTube where it accumulated 1,250 views in eleven months.

I listened to the whole thing. Honestly — it was nauseating. But I listened to every word because nobody in Oregon’s agricultural or hunting community apparently found it.

Until now.

Here is what Michelson said. His words. Not mine.

On the timeline:

“Our goal is to create an organization, a base that can do this in Oregon multiple election cycles in a row, to do this in other states. So that in decades — over ten, twenty, thirty, forty years...”

On 2026 specifically:

“No one on the campaign really thinks that this has a high chance of passing right now.”

On what comes after November:

“If we are able to form an organization that gets it on the ballot in multiple election cycles — 2028, 2030, 2032, 2034 — that can hopefully stimulate a lot more grassroots mass protests calling for a state amendment in their state and potentially a federal constitutional amendment.”

A federal constitutional amendment. Banning the killing of animals. Everywhere in America.

That is the stated end goal. Not buried in a manifesto. Not leaked from a private email. Said out loud on YouTube — in a recruitment session for activists — by the man running the campaign.

Primary source: David Michelson, “Voting to Help Animals w/ David Michelson,” Animal Activism Collective, YouTube, June 20, 2025. youtube.com/watch?v=rtYU8Mia-3Y

The Women’s Suffrage Playbook — And Why It’s Already Working

Michelson didn’t just talk about a long game in the abstract. He gave it a specific historical model.

“It took the women’s suffrage movement between forty to fifty years from the first ballot initiative to getting the nineteenth amendment. So I think we have a long — it’s a long game.”

Here’s what that actually looked like in Oregon. Six ballot attempts before women got the right to vote — 1884, 1900, 1906, 1908, 1910, and finally 1912. The vote actually went DOWN before it went up. In 1900 they had 48 percent. By 1910 they were down to 37 percent. Then in 1912 they won with 52 percent.

They didn’t stop. They kept coming back. That’s the model. That’s the plan. Already in motion. Already funded. Already three cycles deep.

Here is what the signature count looks like when you lay it out against the primary source record:

DateSignaturesSourceJune 20, 202561,000Michelson video, Animal Activism CollectiveLate 202580,000+Oregon Horse CouncilJanuary 27, 202698,125Oregon Secretary of StateFebruary 2026100,000+Oregon Hunters AssociationMay 20, 2026120,935Oregon Secretary of State

Nearly doubled in eleven months. With 36 days left until July 2nd.

This is not a fringe idea running out of steam. This is a disciplined organization getting stronger every single cycle.

Three Attempts. Getting Smarter Every Time.

IP28 is the third version of this measure. Not the first. Not the second. The third.

IP13 — filed 2020, targeting the 2022 ballot. Failed to qualify. IP3 — targeting the 2024 ballot. Raised over $150,000. Hired paid signature gatherers. Added language classifying artificial insemination as sexual assault. Still failed. IP28 — targeting the 2026 ballot. On track to qualify.

Each time they failed they regrouped, studied what went wrong, and came back smarter.

Michelson explained the strategic evolution himself in that June 20 video. He studied the Sonoma County factory farm ban campaign and noticed something. When the measure was specific — banning factory farms — the opposition got to argue definitions. What counts as a factory farm? Is this one a factory farm?

He didn’t want that fight.

So IP28 uses broader, vaguer language deliberately. Not a specific ban on specific practices. A removal of every exemption. Forces the issue down to one simple question: should we be killing animals at all?

Vague language wins signatures. Vague language wins in court after passage. Vague language is harder to campaign against because you can’t point to one specific thing and say — that’s the problem right there.

They learned. They adapted. They came back.

The opposition has not.

The Fruit and Vegetable Problem

A guy named Greg Savoie commented on a Facebook post this week suggesting Oregon should launch a counter-petition to outlaw the cruel and inhumane slaughter of fruits and vegetables.

He was joking.

I laughed. And then I thought about it for a second.

Because his joke cuts right to the heart of what’s wrong with IP28’s logic. If animals deserve legal protection because they’re sentient beings capable of suffering — where does that stop? Plants respond to damage. They have biological stress responses. They communicate through root systems.

The people behind IP28 know exactly where the logic leads. Michelson said it himself:

“I want truck drivers talking over the radio about whether they should give animals the right not to be killed.”

Not just Oregon. Not just farming. The entire framework of how human beings interact with animals — up for a vote, every two years, until enough people have been worn down to say yes.

The Signatures Are Coming From Portland. The Consequences Land At Our Door.

Here is what most coverage is missing.

Michelson explained where the signatures are coming from in that same June 20 video:

“Most of our petitioners are from Portland and Eugene. Given the fact that it’s more cost effective to stick to metro areas, that is why we do it.”

The signatures that could criminalize our cattle operations, our barrel racing, our hunting leases, our fishing trips with our kids — most of them were gathered outside grocery stores, in parking lots, and on street corners in Portland and Eugene by people who will never feel the impact of what they’re signing.

And it gets worse.

“You don’t need to be a resident of Oregon. You don’t need to be a US citizen to volunteer to petition.”

Non-citizens. Non-residents. Collecting signatures for an Oregon ballot measure that would reshape our entire way of life.

“It can actually be anyone around the world to donate to the campaign.”

International money. Funding a measure that affects our ranches, our livelihoods, our families, and our dinner tables.

This Is Our Life They’re Talking About

Let me be direct about what IP28 means at the household level. Because the policy language obscures what this actually is.

Cattle ranching has been part of Oregon since 1824. The cattle industry represents a $900 million economy in this state. In 2021, farmers and ranchers grew over $5 billion worth of agricultural products. For nearly 200 years of Oregon’s post-settlement period, farming has been a reliable constant protected by every generation of state government.

The fine print of IP28 targets all of it.

The man behind this measure is a 32-year-old substitute teacher from Portland who went vegan after witnessing pigs being killed in gas chambers. That’s his lived experience. That’s where this comes from.

My family raises chickens that give us more eggs than we know what to do with. Our performance horses get better care and supplements than most people I know. We have two dogs who are part of the family. We have pastures, a chicken coop, a garden, horse pens, and an outdoor arena. We live with animals every single day. We understand what responsible animal care actually looks like — not from a philosophy class, but from walking out to the chicken coop before sunrise.

David Michelson has spent six years trying to make that a criminal act. From Portland. With signatures gathered outside grocery stores, in parking lots, and on street corners by people who will never set foot on a Central Oregon property like ours.

Our grocery bills. Beef is already astronomical. We feel it every time we walk through the checkout line. Oregon cattle ranching is a $900 million industry. If IP28’s long game eventually succeeds — no Oregon beef, no Oregon dairy, no local lamb, no Tillamook cheese. Imported everything from states or countries with no obligation to meet Oregon standards. We think prices are high now? Wait until Portland activists have eliminated the local supply chain and we are buying synthetic meat products from a company funded by someone who has never owned a ranch, raised a calf, or fed a family from their own land.

Our kids. Barrel racing, roping, team penning — these are not just sports. They are how rural Oregon kids build character, discipline, and identity.

I know because we live it. My daughter Ashton competes in barrel racing and rodeo events through the Central Oregon PeeWee Rodeo Association and the Oregon Junior High Division — part of the National Junior High Division established in 2004 to bring rodeo to 5th through 8th graders and feed into the high school ranks. Her twin sister Addison plays volleyball. Two kids, same family, same community — both growing up in a place where animals, land, and outdoor life are part of who we are.

Our kids are growing up in that same community. 4-H and FFA programs operate in all 36 Oregon counties teaching young people to raise animals, care for them, and understand where food actually comes from. IP28 puts all of it in legal jeopardy. Not in 2026. But over forty years of persistent campaigning — one cycle at a time — the cowboy way of life is the target.

Our small businesses. The feed store in Prineville. The tack shop outside Bend. The guide service on the Deschutes. The processing plant in Hermiston. The veterinary practice built around agricultural animals. These are not corporations with lobbyists and legal teams. These are mom and pop operations that exist because Oregon’s agricultural and outdoor heritage exists. What these zealots are advocating to eliminate is not an abstract policy position. It is the economic and cultural foundation that built America — and built Oregon specifically. They don’t survive without it. Neither does our community.

Our fishing trips. John Marugg said it best in a Facebook thread this week — simply and honestly: “Well no more fishing for me and Ash.” That’s the whole story. A father. A kid. A fishing rod. An American tradition that stretches back to before there was an Oregon. IP28 puts that in the crosshairs of a forty-year campaign funded by international money and run by activists who have never baited a hook.

Our properties at 4am. The people behind this measure seem to genuinely believe the shelves at the grocery store fill themselves. That meat appears in the display case through some abstract process that has nothing to do with real people doing real work in the cold before sunrise. Our families and neighbors live this life every single day. We know what it means to take care of animals — not as a philosophical exercise, but as a daily reality. To be told by someone collecting signatures on a Portland street corner that what we do is animal cruelty is not just wrong. It is a fundamental failure to understand what built this state.

What “It Won’t Pass” Actually Does

I’ve been in the Facebook threads this week. Every single one has someone saying it won’t pass.

They’re probably right about 2026.

That is the most dangerous sentence in this piece.

Because here is what happens the morning after IP28 loses in November:

The campaign files IP29.

Every dollar raised funds the 2028 signature drive. Every volunteer becomes a trained organizer. Every media mention moves the conversation one degree further toward normal. Every person who said “it won’t pass” and didn’t show up becomes a data point proving the opposition is complacent.

Michelson said it himself on June 20, 2025 — to an audience of activists he was recruiting:

“Getting it on the ballot now will make it more likely to pass in a future election cycle, and that it will help us build the organization we’d need to keep getting it on the ballot. Our goal is to be persistent.”

The playbook is already in motion. Has been for years.

The name designed so nobody can oppose it without sounding like they’re for animal cruelty. The state chosen for its ballot initiative culture. The language deliberately vague so courts can expand it after passage. The public admission of likely defeat used to lower the opposition’s guard. The 40-year timeline modeled on a proven historical movement. The recruitment of non-citizens and non-residents as signature gatherers. The international funding pipeline. The Transitional Oversight Council stacked with the campaign’s own advocates funded by redirecting our agricultural subsidies.

None of this is hidden. He said it on YouTube.

1,250 views in eleven months. Nobody in Oregon’s agricultural or hunting community apparently found it — until now.

What We Need To Do — Starting Today

Voting no in November is necessary. It is the minimum — not the finish line.

Get your organization on record now. Farm bureau. Hunting club. Equestrian association. Rodeo organization. Fishing club. Ask your leadership where the formal written resolution is. Not a Facebook post. A resolution. Something durable that survives into the next cycle. The Crook County Democrats showed how. The Umatilla County Democrats showed how. It is not complicated — it just has to be done.

Contact our silent legislators today. Rep. Cliff Bentz, Sen. Jeff Merkley, and Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson have not issued public statements on IP28. The July 2nd deadline is 36 days away. Ask them one question: where do you stand?

Cliff Bentz: bentz.house.gov Jeff Merkley: merkley.senate.gov Vikki Breese-Iverson: 503-986-1459

Stop saying it won’t pass. Every time someone says it and walks away the campaign counts it as a win. They are counting on our complacency. Don’t give it to them.

The Bottom Line

I spent years at Zillow watching data get shaped into narratives designed to move markets and manufacture consent. I know what a long game looks like when someone is running one.

This is a long game.

David Michelson told his activists on June 20, 2025 that he wants truck drivers debating animal rights on the radio across America. He told them he is modeling a forty-year strategy on the women’s suffrage movement. He told them 2026 is just the opening move. He told them the goal is a federal constitutional amendment.

He was not hiding it. He said it in a recruitment session on YouTube.

The devil is always in the details.

Read them.

Oregon Secretary of State — full IP28 text: sos.oregon.gov Michelson’s own words — June 20, 2025: youtube.com/watch?v=rtYU8Mia-3Y

Then ask yourself if “it won’t pass” is a good enough answer for our families, our businesses, our community, and a way of life that has been part of Oregon since before it was even a state.

Sources: David Michelson, “Voting to Help Animals w/ David Michelson,” Animal Activism Collective, YouTube, June 20, 2025. youtube.com/watch?v=rtYU8Mia-3Y | Oregon Secretary of State Monthly Submission Log, May 20, 2026 | Willamette Week, January 28, 2026 | Current Affairs, September 2025 | KATU, February 2026 | In Defense of Animals, January 2026 | Oregon Hunters Association IP28 timeline | Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom — Beef Cattle | Oregon Fresh — Oregon’s Cattle Industry | Oregon History Project — Ranching in Oregon | Central Oregon PeeWee Rodeo Association | National Junior High Rodeo Association | Western Livestock Journal, December 2025 | Oregon Horse Council, January 2026 | Friends of Family Farmers, May 2024 | The Source Weekly, Bend, February 19, 2026 | Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, February 2026 | Edwards for Oregon press release, May 26, 2026 | KTVZ, May 19, 2026 | East Oregonian, April 18, 2026 | Ballotpedia — Oregon Women’s Suffrage Amendment | Oregon Secretary of State — Oregon Suffrage Timeline

John Payson is a Central Oregon resident, real estate professional, and publisher of Central Oregon Policy Watch at johnpayson1.substack.com

Editor’s Note — Updated June 4, 2026: Governor Tina Kotek and former Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan have both gone on record opposing IP28 since this scorecard was first published. The opposition to this measure is now documented across both major parties at the highest levels of Oregon government.

The IP28 Files — Part 3 of an ongoing investigation into Initiative Petition 28

Where Things Stand Right Now

Before anything else, the accurate number.

Update: The Oregon Secretary of State's website confirms 126,115 signatures submitted as of May 29, 2026. The measure has cleared the minimum threshold of 117,173 required signatures. Signatures are currently undergoing verification. The July 2, 2026 deadline remains in effect. Source: Oregon Secretary of State.

Submitted and verified are not the same thing. Oregon’s random sample verification process routinely invalidates thousands of signatures — people who have moved out of state, signatures that don’t match voter registration records, duplicates, non-registered voters. The Oregon Hunters Association has publicly stated proponents need approximately 140,000 total submitted signatures to ensure 117,173 survive verification. At 120,935 submitted with 36 days remaining until the July 2 deadline, they are roughly 19,000 signatures short of that buffer.

This measure is on track to qualify. It has not yet qualified. Every public statement that blurs that distinction is doing the campaign’s work for them.

On May 26, Rep. Darcey Edwards (R-HD31) issued a press release stating IP28 organizers had “gathered signatures exceeding the required threshold.” That framing is accurate on the raw count. It omits the verification gap. Precision matters here — and it matters more as coverage of this measure accelerates toward July 2nd.

Primary source: Oregon Secretary of State 2026 Initiative Petitions Monthly Submission Log, May 20, 2026. sos.oregon.gov

Signature count update: Multiple news outlets including Oregon Capital Chronicle and Ballotpedia are reporting 126,115 signatures as of a May 29, 2026 submission. The Oregon Secretary of State Monthly Submission Log has not yet updated to reflect this figure. This publication will update when the primary source confirms.

The Scorecard

What follows is every Oregon legislator who has taken a public position on IP28, and every legislator who represents Central Oregon and has not. Sources linked for every entry.

ON RECORD — OPPOSING

Sen. Anthony Broadman | Democrat | Senate District 27 | Bend

Broadman is the first Democrat to represent Senate District 27 since 1980. In February 2026, he co-chaired the Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus statement opposing IP28 alongside Republican Sen. David Brock Smith.

His public statement: hunting and fishing for food is part of Oregon’s heritage, buying locally-raised foods at the farmers market would be outlawed, and restaurant and grocery prices would increase substantially.

A Bend Democrat going on record against a measure backed by Portland-based activist organizations is not a small thing. It is the most important political data point in the IP28 story so far.

Source: The Source Weekly, Bend, February 19, 2026 | Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, February 2026

Sen. David Brock Smith | Republican | Senate District 1 | Port Orford

Co-chaired the Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus statement with Broadman. Represents Curry, Coos, and Douglas counties on the southern Oregon coast. Currently running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Jeff Merkley in the November 2026 election.

Source: Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus press release, February 2026

Rep. Darcey Edwards | Republican | House District 31 | Banks

Issued a formal press release May 26, 2026 warning of what she called devastating real-world impacts from IP28. Her Measure 110 comparison is the sharpest political framing the opposition has produced: IP28 sells a false bill of goods the same way drug decriminalization did — sounding compassionate while delivering consequences the campaign materials don’t advertise.

Edwards represents portions of Multnomah, Columbia, Washington, and Yamhill counties. She is not a rural Eastern Oregon voice. She is a Republican from the Portland metro fringe going on record against a measure her own constituents may have signed. That geographic fact matters.

Source: Edwards for Oregon press release, May 26, 2026

Gov. Tina Kotek | Democrat | Oregon Governor

Governor Kotek has publicly stated her opposition to IP28. Her exact words: “I don’t support IP28 because I believe criminalizing standard agricultural practices and lawful activities like hunting and fishing would be the wrong direction for Oregon.”

A sitting Democratic governor opposing a measure backed by Portland-based activist organizations is significant. It confirms what the county-level Democratic party resolutions already showed — IP28 does not have unified Democratic support in Oregon.

Christine Drazan | Republican | Former Oregon House Minority Leader | Former Gubernatorial Candidate

Drazan has publicly stated her opposition to IP28, calling it an attack on Oregon’s agricultural heritage and rural way of life. As the 2022 Republican gubernatorial candidate who came within two points of winning the governorship, her opposition carries statewide political weight.

ON RECORD — AT THE PARTY LEVEL

This is the story receiving almost no coverage.

In Eastern Oregon, county-level Democratic parties have formally broken with IP28 — not as individuals, not as endorsers of the opposition campaign, but as organized party bodies passing official resolutions.

Crook County Democrats — Prineville Unanimously adopted a resolution opposing IP28. Their stated reasoning: the measure goes far beyond animal cruelty prevention and threatens the farmers, ranchers, anglers, and hunters who define the county’s economy and identity.

Umatilla County Democrats Passed their own resolution opposing IP28. Their language was direct: the economic impact would be catastrophic to Eastern Oregon, and the political division certain to follow would be unavoidable.

These are not Republican farmers objecting to a Portland initiative. These are Democratic party organizations in rural Oregon formally telling their own statewide party: this measure does not represent us.

Sources: KTVZ, May 19, 2026 | East Oregonian, April 18, 2026

NO PUBLIC STATEMENT LOCATED

These three names are conspicuously absent from the public record on IP28 as of May 27, 2026.

Rep. Cliff Bentz | Republican | Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District

Bentz represents every county in rural Oregon east of the Cascades. His district includes every rancher, hunter, farmer, and equestrian who would be directly affected if IP28 qualifies and passes.

His voting record is consistent with opposition — he has chaired subcommittee hearings on wolf delisting, introduced Klamath Basin agricultural protection legislation, and has a consistent record defending rural Oregon property rights and agricultural interests.

No public statement on IP28 has been located as of publication.

That gap matters. The July 2 signature deadline is 36 days away. If IP28 qualifies for the November ballot, Bentz will be asked about it in every forum and every constituent meeting in his district through Election Day. His constituents are entitled to know where he stands before the measure qualifies — not after.

Contact: bentz.house.gov | @CliffBentz

Sen. Jeff Merkley | Democrat | U.S. Senate | Statewide

Merkley is running for his fourth term this November. He represents all of Oregon, including the ranching, hunting, and agricultural communities IP28 would most directly affect.

No public statement on IP28 has been located as of publication.

This is not a small omission. Sen. Broadman — a Democrat representing Bend — went on record in February. County Democratic parties in Crook County and Umatilla County passed formal resolutions in opposition. Merkley is running a statewide campaign in November and has said nothing publicly about a measure that would criminalize the way of life of a significant portion of his constituents.

Voters are entitled to ask why. He is running for re-election. He must answer.

Contact: merkley.senate.gov

Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson | Republican | House District 59 | Prineville

Breese-Iverson’s family has farmed and ranched in Crook County since the mid-1800s. She grew up in 4-H and FFA. She is affiliated with the Oregon Farm Bureau. She has a consistent record defending agricultural water rights and opposing government overreach on rural Oregon property.

No specific public statement on IP28 has been located as of publication.

Her record makes her position predictable. But predictable is not the same as public. The Crook County Democrats have already passed a formal resolution opposing IP28. Their own state representative has not issued a public statement. That is a gap her constituents in Prineville, Redmond, and Madras are entitled to have filled — in writing, on the record, before July 2nd.

Contact: oregonlegislature.gov/breese_iverson | 503-986-1459

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici | Democrat | Oregon’s 1st Congressional District

Bonamici has represented Oregon’s 1st Congressional District since 2012. Her district includes Tillamook County — home of Tillamook dairy, one of Oregon’s most recognized agricultural brands and directly threatened by IP28.

She was re-elected in 2024 with 68.6 percent of the vote. She is running for re-election in November 2026 — the same ballot where IP28 may appear.

No public statement on IP28 has been located as of publication.

Her silence is notable for a specific reason. Her own Republican challenger — Dr. Barbara Kahl, a veterinarian with over 20 years of large animal practice experience — called out Bonamici’s silence publicly on May 28, 2026, stating: “Our current incumbent — silent.”

IP28 would devastate the dairy farming community in Tillamook County. The congresswoman representing that community has said nothing.

Contact: bonamici.house.gov

The Bottom Line

The opposition to IP28 is real, bipartisan, and geographically broader than most coverage suggests. A Bend Democrat and a Port Orford Republican co-chaired a legislative statement against it in February. A Portland metro Republican issued a formal press release yesterday. Democratic county parties in Crook County and Umatilla County have passed resolutions opposing it.

The silence from Bentz, Merkley, and Breese-Iverson is a choice. With 36 days until the July 2 signature deadline and a potential November ballot measure, your representatives know what IP28 says. The question is whether they are willing to say so publicly.

You have three ways to change that:

Call Cliff Bentz: bentz.house.gov Contact Jeff Merkley: merkley.senate.gov Call Vikki Breese-Iverson: 503-986-1459 Contact Rep. Suzanne Bonamici: bonamici.house.gov

Ask one question: Where do you stand on IP28?

Then watch what they do with it.

This scorecard will be updated as public statements are made. If you have documentation of a public statement not reflected here, contact me at johnpayson1.substack.com

Sources: Oregon Secretary of State Monthly Submission Log, May 20, 2026 | Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus press release, February 2026 | Edwards for Oregon press release, May 26, 2026 | The Source Weekly, Bend, February 19, 2026 | Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, February 2026 | KTVZ, May 19, 2026 | East Oregonian, April 18, 2026

This is Part 3 of The IP28 Files. Read the complete series at johnpayson1.substack.com

John Payson is a Central Oregon resident, real estate professional, and publisher of Central Oregon Policy Watch at johnpayson1.substack.com

This morning I published a primary source breakdown of what IP28 actually does to Oregon law. Within hours the opposition picture got significantly clearer.

Here is what has happened since signatures crossed the threshold.

State Rep. Darcey Edwards Issues Formal Warning

On May 26, 2026 — one day before this publication's full IP28 analysis went live — State Representative Darcey Edwards (R - HD 31) issued a formal press release warning Oregonians of the measure’s consequences.

Rep. Edwards represents portions of Multnomah County along with Columbia, Washington, and Yamhill counties. A Republican from Portland metro territory opposing IP28 on record is worth noting.

Her comparison to Measure 110 is the sharpest line in any official statement yet: “Like Measure 110, which promised to address addiction through treatment services but instead led to increased drug use, open-air dealing, and a public health crisis that took the Legislature more than five years to begin correcting, IP28 sells a false bill of goods.”

That is not a rural Republican talking point. That is a documented pattern of Oregon ballot measures that promise one thing and deliver another. And it comes from a legislator whose district includes Portland suburbs — not Eastern Oregon ranching country.

Source: Press release, Office of Rep. Darcey Edwards, May 26, 2026.

Crook County Democrats Unanimously Oppose IP28

This is the detail that should end the narrative that opposition to IP28 is purely partisan.

The Crook County Democratic Party has unanimously adopted a resolution opposing Initiative Petition 28. Prineville — the seat of Crook County — sits at the heart of Central Oregon ranching and agricultural country. The local Democratic Party took one look at what IP28 would do to their community and voted unanimously against it.

When Democrats in Prineville and Republicans in Multnomah County are standing on the same side of an issue — that is not a partisan story. That is a community story. That is exactly what this publication exists to document.

Source: KTVZ, May 19, 2026.

The Coalition Against IP28

The opposition now includes organizations representing nearly every sector of Oregon’s outdoor and agricultural economy. The list includes the Oregon Farm Bureau, Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Ducks Unlimited, Safari Club International, National Wild Turkey Federation, and bipartisan leadership from the Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus.

The economic stakes are significant. Oregon’s animal agriculture sector contributed more than $4 billion to the state’s economic output and employed more than 30,000 people as of 2022.

Source: Deseret News, May 12, 2026. NWTF, April 20, 2026.

The Goal: Largest Defeat In Oregon History

The Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus — co-chaired by Senator Anthony Broadman (D-Bend) and Senator David Brock Smith (R-Port Orford) — has stated their goal publicly: deliver IP28 the largest defeat in Oregon ballot measure history if it qualifies for the November ballot.

That is a measurable standard. Hold them to it.

What This Means

IP28 has not yet officially qualified for the November ballot. Signatures still require verification by the Oregon Secretary of State. As of the most recent official log — May 20, 2026 — 120,935 signatures have been submitted toward the 117,173 verified required. Approximately 140,000 total are needed to ensure enough survive verification.

The July 2nd deadline is 36 days away.

If it qualifies — and the trajectory says it will — the opposition coalition that has formed is broader and more bipartisan than any previous cycle. That is meaningful. Whether it translates to the largest defeat in Oregon history depends entirely on whether that coalition turns out voters who don’t normally think of themselves as having a stake in this fight.

Crook County Democrats just told you they do.

Sources: Press release, Office of Rep. Darcey Edwards, May 26, 2026 | KTVZ, May 19, 2026 | Deseret News, May 12, 2026 | NWTF, April 20, 2026 | Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus statement, February 2026 | Oregon Secretary of State Monthly Submission Log, May 20, 2026

This is Part 2 of The IP28 Files. Read the complete series at johnpayson1.substack.com

John Payson is a Central Oregon resident and publisher of Central Oregon Policy Watch at johnpayson1.substack.com

Initiative Petition 28. The PEACE Act. The Oregon Remove Animal Cruelty Exceptions Initiative.

Three names. One measure. One question: what does it actually say?

Not what the campaign says it says. Not what the opposition says it says. What the statutory text — filed with the Oregon Secretary of State — actually does to existing Oregon law.

That is what this breakdown covers. Primary sources linked throughout. My perspective is declared upfront: I oppose this measure. But the analysis applies the same standard I use for everything on this publication. Where the measure has a legitimate argument, I say so.

Where Things Stand Right Now

Update: The Oregon Secretary of State's website confirms 126,115 signatures submitted as of May 29, 2026. The measure has cleared the minimum threshold of 117,173 required signatures. Signatures are currently undergoing verification. The July 2, 2026 deadline remains in effect. Source: Oregon Secretary of State.

Submitted and verified are not the same thing.

Oregon’s random sample verification process routinely invalidates thousands of signatures — people who have moved out of state, signatures that don’t match voter registration records, duplicates, non-registered voters. The Oregon Hunters Association estimates proponents need approximately 140,000 total submitted signatures to ensure 117,173 survive verification. At 120,935 submitted, they are roughly 19,000 signatures short of that safety buffer with 43 days remaining until the July 2nd deadline.

Their last submission on May 20th included 9,068 new signatures. At that pace they will likely reach the buffer threshold before the deadline.

This measure has not yet officially qualified for the November ballot. But the trajectory says it will.

Primary source: Oregon Secretary of State 2026 Initiative Petitions Monthly Submission Log, May 20, 2026.

What It Actually Is

IP28 amends Chapter 167 of the Oregon Revised Statutes — Oregon’s animal cruelty statutes. It does not create new animal cruelty laws. It removes the exemptions that currently protect specific categories of human activity from being classified as criminal animal abuse, neglect, or sexual assault.

That distinction matters. The campaign’s framing — that this simply extends protections from pets to other animals — is technically accurate as far as it goes. What it omits is what those protections mean in practice when applied to hunting, ranching, rodeo, and agriculture.

Here is what the text actually removes.

What Gets Removed — Six Specific Changes

1. The Definition of Animal Is Radically Expanded

Current Oregon law focuses protections primarily on domestic animals. IP28 redefines “animal” as any nonhuman mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, or fish — with no distinction between domestic, wild, livestock, or working animals. Every provision of the animal cruelty statutes now applies to this expanded universe.

2. Good Animal Husbandry Protections Are Gone

Current ORS 167.335 explicitly protects “animals subject to good animal husbandry practices.” IP28 strikes this exemption entirely. Dehorning cattle. Docking horses and sheep. Castration. Branding. These practices lose their legal protection. The only remaining shield is a narrow self-defense clause.

3. The Self-Defense Exception Is Dangerously Vague

The sole remaining protection reads: “except as necessary to defend against the threat of immediate harm to oneself, to other humans, or to other animals.”

The word “immediate” is doing enormous legal work here. Who defines it? The district attorney. A coyote circling a pasture — arguably not immediate. A horse pushed hard during barrel racing and injured — no exemption applies. A rancher castrating a bull — no exemption applies. An activist prosecutor in Multnomah County will define “immediate” differently than a Crook County rancher. The law gives them that power.

4. Rodeos and Equestrian Events Lose All Protection

Current ORS 167.335 explicitly exempts “animals involved in rodeos or similar exhibitions.” IP28 removes this language entirely. Barrel racing. Roping. Team penning. Cutting. Any competition where an animal is pushed physically and experiences stress or injury is now subject to prosecution under the animal abuse statutes. No exemption exists.

5. Hunting, Fishing, Trapping, and Wildlife Management Are Unprotected

Current law explicitly exempts lawful hunting, fishing, trapping, and wildlife management practices. IP28 removes every one of these exemptions. The self-defense clause does not cover recreational or subsistence hunting and fishing. Oregon’s nearly one million licensed hunters and fishermen are exposed to potential criminal liability.

The economic consequence goes beyond individual hunters. Sportsmen currently contribute 45 to 55 percent of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s budget. The General Fund — Oregon taxpayer dollars — makes up only 10 percent of ODFW’s $180 million annual budget. Criminalizing hunting and fishing does not just affect hunters. It defunds wildlife conservation statewide.

Source: Senator David Brock Smith statement, Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, February 2026.

6. Tribal Hunting and Fishing Rights Are Not Exempted

This is the provision that has received the least attention and deserves the most.

IP28 contains no exemption for Oregon’s tribal nations. Hunting and fishing for sustenance and ceremonial purposes — rights protected by federal treaty — would be criminalized under the same statutes as any other hunting and fishing activity. This is not a rural versus urban issue. This is a federal treaty rights issue. Oregon’s nine tribal governments have standing to challenge this on constitutional grounds that go far beyond the agricultural community’s objections.

The Judicial Activation Risk

Here is what most analysis of IP28 misses entirely.

The vague language in this measure is not accidental. It is strategic. IP28 does not need to define “immediate.” It does not need to specify which practices qualify as self-defense. It needs to pass. Then it needs one ruling from a sympathetic court.

A single judicial interpretation that “immediate” means only the moment of physical contact — not the approach, not the threat, not the defensive preparation — changes the practical scope of this measure dramatically without any further legislative action. Central Oregon ranchers and riders have no remedy against that ruling except another trip to the ballot.

This is a known playbook. Broad statutory language, activist enforcement, judicial expansion. IP28 is written to enable it.

The Bipartisan Opposition Nobody Is Talking About

The loudest opposition to IP28 has come from expected corners — hunting organizations, farm bureaus, agricultural groups. That opposition is real and legitimate.

But there is a more significant political story being missed.

In February 2026, Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chairs Senator David Brock Smith — Republican from Port Orford — and Senator Anthony Broadman — Democrat from Bend, representing Senate District 27 — issued a joint statement opposing IP28. They called it an attack on Oregon’s rural economy and cultural heritage.

Senator Broadman’s statement: “Hunting and fishing for food is a part of Oregon’s heritage and for many of us, part of who we are. Buying locally-raised foods at the local farmers market would be outlawed while restaurant and grocery prices would increase substantially.”

A Bend Democrat and a Port Orford Republican standing together against this measure is not a partisan story. It is a community story. It is what happens when a measure is so broadly written that it threatens a way of life that crosses party lines.

Source: The Source Weekly, Bend, February 19, 2026. Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, February 2026.

Where The Measure Has A Legitimate Argument

Intellectual honesty requires saying this.

There are practices currently protected by Oregon’s exemptions that reasonable people — including people who oppose this measure — would agree deserve scrutiny. Certain commercial farming practices and specific handling methods cause demonstrable suffering that the good animal husbandry exemption was arguably never intended to protect.

A narrowly drafted measure targeting those specific practices with defined standards and clear prosecutorial guidance would be a legitimate policy conversation.

IP28 is not that measure. It is a sledgehammer applied where a scalpel might have had merit. And the communities that bear the collateral damage are the ones with the least political power in a state where Portland metro dominates statewide elections.

The Long Game

IP28’s own supporters have publicly stated they do not expect the measure to pass in 2026. Their stated goal is to build infrastructure, shift public consciousness, and return to the ballot until it eventually succeeds.

Source: In Defense of Animals, January 2026.

This is the piece of the story that matters most for November. Defeating IP28 in 2026 does not end this campaign. It funds the next one. Oregon’s agricultural and outdoor recreation communities are not fighting a ballot measure. They are fighting a sustained, organized, long-term campaign to normalize the elimination of their way of life one election cycle at a time.

That context does not change the vote. It changes how seriously the opposition organizes after the vote.

The Bottom Line

IP28 has submitted 120,935 signatures toward the 117,173 verified required by July 2nd. It has not qualified for the ballot yet. Verification will determine whether it does.

If it qualifies — and the trajectory says it will — Oregon voters will be asked to remove every legal protection that defines this state’s agricultural and outdoor heritage and replace them with a single vague self-defense clause subject to prosecution by urban district attorneys and interpretation by activist judges. It creates a new state bureaucracy stacked with the measure’s own advocates, funded by redirecting agricultural subsidies. And its own supporters have told you it is designed to keep coming back until it wins.

Read the full text yourself. Oregon Secretary of State: sos.oregon.gov. Search Initiative Petition 28.

Apply your own judgment. That is exactly what this publication exists to help you do.

Sources: Oregon Secretary of State 2026 Initiative Petitions Monthly Submission Log, May 20, 2026 | ORS Chapter 167 current text | The Source Weekly, Bend, February 19, 2026 | Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, February 2026 | Oregon Hunters Association | In Defense of Animals, January 2026 | Senator David Brock Smith statement, Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus

This is Part 1 of The IP28 Files. Read the complete series at johnpayson1.substack.com

John Payson is a Central Oregon resident, real estate professional, and publisher of Central Oregon Policy Watch at johnpayson1.substack.com