DPO wants to see Smith’s travel records

Democratic Party Chairwoman Meredith Wood Smith wrote a letter to U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton) on Monday, challenging him to release his travel records from 2002 to 2008 to prove that he had visited every Oregon county every year he was in office.

The DPO’s challenge comes after U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) asked for Smith to pledge that whoever won the Senate seat in November would engage in town halls in every Oregon county ever year to listen to voters. Smith responded to the challenge Friday in a press conference in Roseburg.

“Mr. Merkley is challenging me to go to all of Oregon’s counties once a year,” Smith said. “Well, I do that."

Now, Wood Smith wants the incumbent senator to prove it.

“Senator, I simply don’t believe that you’ve visited every county every year. And I’m sure many other Oregonians who haven’t seen you nor heard from you in years are equally skeptical,” Wood Smith wrote in a letter to Smith.

Wood Smith was skeptical that Smith had made a point to visit some of Oregon's southern counties, including Lake County. So in her letter, the DPO chair said that she would give Smith until noon on Tuesday to turn over his public schedule spanning 2002 to 2008 to the media. She also asked him to make note of each different Oregon county where he held a public appearance.

The challenge comes on the heels of a letter Merkley wrote Smith last Wednesday, asking him to engage in a pledge that whoever won the Senate race would hold public meetings in every Oregon county every year so that Oregonians could have access to their senator.

"Our senators should be accessible and accountable to the voters of the state," Merkley said.

Calls to Smith's campaign were not immediately returned.

See Smith’s statement here (approximately 3:40 in).

EARLIER on PolitickerOR.com: Merkley challenges Smith fo commit to yearly public forums