Oregon Rainmaker Rankings
The Oregon Rainmaker Rankings track which leaders and organizations are making the state easier, or harder, to live in.
Every week, I look at actions taken by elected officials, government agencies, businesses, nonprofits, and other leaders. Each action receives a score from +3 to -3:
+3 Major positive action
+2 Significant positive action
+1 Positive action
0 Neutral
-1 Negative action
-2 Significant negative action
-3 Major negative action
The basic question behind every score is: Does this action make it easier, or harder, to live in Oregon?
Scores reflect the significance of the action within that leader or organization's scope. A mayor of a small Oregon town can earn a +3 just as the governor can. A statewide decision may affect far more people overall, but the rankings are also intended to create a public record of how leaders perform at every level.
The goal is to make the scoring system systematic enough that different people looking at the same facts and applying the same rules would arrive at roughly the same score. We're not there yet, but that's the direction.
Over time, the Rainmaker Rankings will create a public record:
Who actually solved problems?
Who made government work better?
Who made Oregon more affordable, prosperous, safe, and livable?
Who made those things worse?
If enough people start paying attention to that record, Oregon's leaders will have a little more incentive to do things that move the state forward, and face a little more accountability when they don't.
All scores are published on a public Google Sheet containing:
“Overall Rankings w/Context” - table below with added context of who the people or organizations represent and for how long
“Weekly Rainmaker Rankings“ - weekly tabulation of scoring events
“Scoring Events” - articles scored including Date, Headline, Link, Leader(s), Score, Score Headline, and Score Explanation
“Leader / Organization Context” - table of leaders and organizations impacting Oregon.
Scores from July 26, 2026 - October 10, 2026.
| Rank | Leader / Organization | Overall Score | This Week | Articles Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ron Wyden | +8 | — | 6 |
| 2 | Tina Kotek | +7 | — | 6 |
| 3 | Phil and Penny Knight | +6 | — | 2 |
| 4 | Dan Rayfield | +5 | — | 4 |
| 5 | Oregon Department of Justice | +4 | — | 4 |
| 6 | Andrea Salinas | +4 | — | 3 |
| 7 | Jeff Merkley | +4 | — | 3 |
| 8 | Maxine Dexter | +4 | — | 3 |
| 9 | Jeff Golden | +4 | — | 2 |
| 10 | Oregon Legislature | +3 | — | 2 |
| 11 | Oregon State University | +3 | — | 2 |
| 12 | Tobias Read | +3 | — | 2 |
| 13 | Val Hoyle | +3 | — | 2 |
| 14 | Floyd Prozanski | +3 | — | 1 |
| 15 | Fred Girod | +3 | — | 1 |
| 16 | Kathleen Taylor | +3 | — | 1 |
| 17 | National Science Foundation | +3 | — | 1 |
| 18 | Pacific Power | +3 | — | 1 |
| 19 | Panic | +3 | — | 1 |
| 20 | Portland State University | +3 | — | 1 |
| 21 | Curry County Board of Commissioners | +2 | — | 1 |
| 22 | Genentech | +2 | — | 1 |
| 23 | Karin Immergut | +2 | — | 1 |
| 24 | Multnomah County Auditor’s Office | +2 | — | 1 |
| 25 | Travel Oregon | +2 | — | 1 |
| 26 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | +2 | — | 1 |
| 27 | Mitch Green | +1 | — | 3 |
| 28 | Alek Skarlatos | +1 | — | 1 |
| 29 | Angelita Morillo | +1 | — | 1 |
| 30 | Ballmer Group | +1 | — | 1 |
| 31 | Candace Avalos | +1 | — | 1 |
| 32 | Cascades Rural High Value Network | +1 | — | 1 |
| 33 | Court Boice | +1 | — | 1 |
| 34 | Department of Justice | +1 | — | 1 |
| 35 | Federal Trade Commission | +1 | — | 1 |
| 36 | Friends of Community Parks | +1 | — | 1 |
| 37 | Hermiston City Council | +1 | — | 1 |
| 38 | Hillsboro City Council | +1 | — | 1 |
| 39 | Janelle Bynum | +1 | — | 1 |
| 40 | Keith Wilson | +1 | — | 1 |
| 41 | Khanh Pham | +1 | — | 1 |
| 42 | Lisa Murkowski | +1 | — | 1 |
| 43 | Mazama Energy | +1 | — | 1 |
| 44 | Meghan Moyer | +1 | — | 1 |
| 45 | OpConnect | +1 | — | 1 |
| 46 | Oregon Department of Human Services | +1 | — | 1 |
| 47 | Oregon Entrepreneurs Network | +1 | — | 1 |
| 48 | Oregon Government Ethics Commission | +1 | — | 1 |
| 49 | Oregon Investment Council | +1 | — | 1 |
| 50 | Oregon Public Defense Commission | +1 | — | 1 |
| 51 | Oregon Public Utility Commission | +1 | — | 1 |
| 52 | Oregon Quality Education Commission | +1 | — | 1 |
| 53 | Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association | +1 | — | 1 |
| 54 | Oregon’s 14 Teacher-Training Programs | +1 | — | 1 |
| 55 | Pam Marsh | +1 | — | 1 |
| 56 | Portland Permitting & Development | +1 | — | 1 |
| 57 | Prosper Portland | +1 | — | 1 |
| 58 | Providence Health | +1 | — | 1 |
| 59 | Quaise Energy | +1 | — | 1 |
| 60 | Quanta Services | +1 | — | 1 |
| 61 | Southern Oregon University | +1 | — | 1 |
| 62 | Suzanne Bonamici | +1 | — | 1 |
| 63 | Tiffany Koyama Lane | +1 | — | 1 |
| 64 | U.S. Forest Service | +1 | — | 1 |
| 65 | U.S. HUD | +1 | — | 1 |
| 66 | U.S. Supreme Court | +1 | — | 1 |
| 67 | University of Portland | +1 | — | 1 |
| 68 | Urban League of Portland | +1 | — | 1 |
| 69 | Willy Chotzen | +1 | — | 1 |
| 70 | Woodburn City Council | +1 | — | 1 |
| 71 | Clackamas County Board of Commissioners | 0 | — | 2 |
| 72 | Elizabeth Steiner | 0 | — | 2 |
| 73 | Business Oregon | 0 | — | 1 |
| 74 | Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde | 0 | — | 1 |
| 75 | Jeff Swickard | 0 | — | 1 |
| 76 | U.S. Department of Agriculture | 0 | — | 1 |
| 77 | Brian Nesvik | -1 | — | 1 |
| 78 | Daimler Truck North America | -1 | — | 1 |
| 79 | Deborah Kafoury | -1 | — | 1 |
| 80 | Home Forward | -1 | — | 1 |
| 81 | Nvidia | -1 | — | 1 |
| 82 | Oregon Division of Financial Regulation | -1 | — | 1 |
| 83 | Oregon Health Authority | -1 | — | 1 |
| 84 | Oregon Universal Health Plan Governance Board | -1 | — | 1 |
| 85 | Portland City Administration | -1 | — | 1 |
| 86 | Portland Parks & Recreation | -1 | — | 1 |
| 87 | Robert F. Kennedy | -1 | — | 1 |
| 88 | Serena Cruz | -1 | — | 1 |
| 89 | U.S. Fish & Wildlife | -1 | — | 1 |
| 90 | U.S. Small Business Administration | -1 | — | 1 |
| 91 | U.S. Treasury Department | -1 | — | 1 |
| 92 | Jessica Vega Pederson | -2 | — | 2 |
| 93 | Multnomah County | -2 | — | 2 |
| 94 | City of Independence | -2 | — | 1 |
| 95 | FEMA | -2 | — | 1 |
| 96 | Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma | -2 | — | 1 |
| 97 | Oregon Department of Education | -2 | — | 1 |
| 98 | Portland Solutions | -2 | — | 1 |
| 99 | Terry Rowan | -2 | — | 1 |
| 100 | U.S. Department of Education | -2 | — | 1 |
| 101 | Urban Alchemy | -2 | — | 1 |
| 102 | David Steiner | -3 | — | 1 |
| 103 | Department of Homeland Security | -3 | — | 1 |
| 104 | Fossil-fuel lobby | -3 | — | 1 |
| 105 | Greg Smith | -3 | — | 1 |
| 106 | John Ward | -3 | — | 1 |
| 107 | Kate Lieber | -3 | — | 1 |
| 108 | Meta | -3 | — | 1 |
| 109 | Portland Trail Blazers | -3 | — | 1 |
| 110 | Portland Urban Forestry | -3 | — | 1 |
| 111 | Tawna Sanchez | -3 | — | 1 |
| 112 | Tom Dundon | -3 | — | 1 |
| 113 | U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission | -3 | — | 1 |
| 114 | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | -3 | — | 1 |
| 115 | U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement | -3 | — | 1 |
| 116 | United States Postal Service | -3 | — | 1 |
| 117 | Western States Petroleum Association | -3 | — | 1 |
| 118 | White House OMB | -3 | — | 1 |
| 119 | City of Portland | -4 | — | 3 |
| 120 | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services | -5 | — | 2 |
| 121 | U.S. Federal Tax Code | -6 | — | 2 |
| 122 | Trump Administration | -20 | ▼ 2 | 10 |