On May 15, three senators involved with the walkout—Daniel Bonham (R), Dennis Linthicum (R), and Brian Boquist (I)—accrued their 10th unexcused absences, a threshold making them ineligible to be re-elected to a subsequent term under Measure 113, a ballot measure Oregon voters approved in 2022.
The walkout began on May 3 when all but two members of the Republican Senate caucus were absent from the legislative session preventing a quorum. Democrats control the chamber with a 17-12-1 partisan breakdown with Republicans and one independent in the minority. Legislators need two-thirds of the chamber present for a quorum amounting to 20 senators.
The topics being considered at the time of the walkout were abortion, firearms, and gender-affirming care, which legislation defined as treatments that healthcare providers prescribe “to treat an individual for incongruence between the individual’s gender identity and the individual’s sex assignment at birth.” Majority Leader Kate Lieber (D) said Republicans walked out because of the content of the bills. “It is no coincidence that Republicans are employing these embarrassing antics as the Senate is about to vote on bills that protect reproductive health freedom and establish common sense gun safety laws,” she said.
