LINN COUNTY, OR — Sweet Home City Councilor and House District 11 candidate Angelita Sanchez has joined a statewide lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 1599, arguing the legislature cannot move a voter-qualified gas tax referendum from the November 2026 General Election to the low-turnout May primary.
More than 250,000 Oregonians signed petitions placing the transportation tax on the November ballot. The petition sheets clearly stated the vote would occur in the November General Election. Changing that election after the signatures were gathered would alter the terms presented to every voter who signed the petition.
Along with Senator Bruce Starr, Representative Ed Diehl, and Jason Williams of the Oregon Taxpayers Association as petitioners, the lawsuit includes citizen plaintiffs from across Oregon representing counties statewide.
Sanchez did not simply support the referendum. She helped execute it. She personally circulated petitions across House District 11, often standing for hours in the cold and rain explaining the measure and verifying voter eligibility. She reviewed petition sheets for compliance with Oregon election law and hand-delivered completed petitions for submission. On multiple occasions, Sanchez drove across the ice-covered Santiam Pass, carrying tens of thousands of completed petition sheets to deliver them in person and on time.
After the referendum qualified, Sanchez reviewed Oregon’s constitutional referendum processes, language and historical election precedents at the Oregon State Archives. “The law is clear,” Sanchez said. “If citizens qualify a referendum for the November General Election, it goes to November. Changing the date after the fact is unconstitutional.”
“I stood in the rain alongside volunteers collecting signatures and carried tens of thousands of petitions across an ice-covered Santiam Pass to get them delivered,” Sanchez said. “The people followed the law. Now politicians are trying to change the rules after the fact.” Sanchez said the issue reflects a broader principle about voter approval for major tax increases.
“As a five-year Sweet Home City Councilor, I did not raise extreme taxes or impose new fees without voter input,” Sanchez said. “Major tax and fee increases should go before the people.”
The lawsuit seeks expedited judicial review of whether the legislature can retroactively change the election date of a certified referendum. “There are two legislative bodies in Oregon,” Sanchez said. “The one in Salem and the people. I will not stand by while the will of the people in House District 11 is manipulated.”
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About Angelita Sanchez
Angelita Sanchez is a small business owner in the trucking industry, a 7th-generation Oregonian, and a five-year Sweet Home City Councilor. She has served as legislative staff in the Oregon Senate, circulated statewide petitions, and advocated on tax and regulatory issues affecting rural communities. She lives in Sweet Home and is running for State Representative in House District 11.
