Oregon Rainmaker Rankings
The Oregon Rainmaker Rankings track which leaders and organizations are making the state easier (or harder) to live, work, and raise a family 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, work, and raise a family 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 - August 29, 2026.
| Rank | Leader / Organization | Overall Score | This Week | Articles Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tina Kotek | +4 | — | 4 |
| 2 | Dan Rayfield | +4 | ▲ 2 | 3 |
| 3 | Oregon Department of Justice | +3 | ▲ 2 | 2 |
| 4 | Oregon State University | +3 | ▲ 2 | 2 |
| 5 | Ron Wyden | +3 | — | 2 |
| 6 | Panic | +3 | ▲ 3 | 1 |
| 7 | Curry County Board of Commissioners | +2 | — | 1 |
| 8 | Genentech | +2 | — | 1 |
| 9 | Karin Immergut | +2 | — | 1 |
| 10 | Multnomah County Auditor’s Office | +2 | ▲ 2 | 1 |
| 11 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | +2 | — | 1 |
| 12 | Mitch Green | +1 | — | 3 |
| 13 | Andrea Salinas | +1 | — | 1 |
| 14 | Angelita Morillo | +1 | — | 1 |
| 15 | Ballmer Group | +1 | — | 1 |
| 16 | Candace Avalos | +1 | — | 1 |
| 17 | Court Boice | +1 | — | 1 |
| 18 | Friends of Community Parks | +1 | ▲ 1 | 1 |
| 19 | Hermiston City Council | +1 | — | 1 |
| 20 | Hillsboro City Council | +1 | — | 1 |
| 21 | Jeff Golden | +1 | — | 1 |
| 22 | Jeff Merkley | +1 | — | 1 |
| 23 | Maxine Dexter | +1 | — | 1 |
| 24 | Meghan Moyer | +1 | — | 1 |
| 25 | OpConnect | +1 | — | 1 |
| 26 | Oregon Department of Human Services | +1 | — | 1 |
| 27 | Oregon Entrepreneurs Network | +1 | ▲ 1 | 1 |
| 28 | Oregon Government Ethics Commission | +1 | — | 1 |
| 29 | Oregon Quality Education Commission | +1 | — | 1 |
| 30 | Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association | +1 | ▲ 1 | 1 |
| 31 | Portland Permitting & Development | +1 | — | 1 |
| 32 | Prosper Portland | +1 | — | 1 |
| 33 | Providence Health | +1 | — | 1 |
| 34 | Quaise Energy | +1 | ▲ 1 | 1 |
| 35 | Quanta Services | +1 | — | 1 |
| 36 | Tiffany Koyama Lane | +1 | — | 1 |
| 37 | U.S. Forest Service | +1 | — | 1 |
| 38 | Urban League of Portland | +1 | — | 1 |
| 39 | Clackamas County Board of Commissioners | 0 | — | 2 |
| 40 | Business Oregon | 0 | — | 1 |
| 41 | Tobias Read | 0 | — | 1 |
| 42 | U.S. Department of Agriculture | 0 | — | 1 |
| 43 | Daimler Truck North America | -1 | — | 1 |
| 44 | Deborah Kafoury | -1 | ▼ 1 | 1 |
| 45 | Elizabeth Steiner | -1 | — | 1 |
| 46 | Oregon Division of Financial Regulation | -1 | — | 1 |
| 47 | Oregon Health Authority | -1 | — | 1 |
| 48 | Oregon Universal Health Plan Governance Board | -1 | — | 1 |
| 49 | Portland City Administration | -1 | ▼ 1 | 1 |
| 50 | Portland Parks & Recreation | -1 | — | 1 |
| 51 | Robert F. Kennedy | -1 | — | 1 |
| 52 | Serena Cruz | -1 | ▼ 1 | 1 |
| 53 | U.S. Treasury Department | -1 | — | 1 |
| 54 | Jessica Vega Pederson | -2 | ▼ 1 | 2 |
| 55 | Multnomah County | -2 | — | 2 |
| 56 | City of Independence | -2 | ▼ 2 | 1 |
| 57 | FEMA | -2 | — | 1 |
| 58 | Portland Solutions | -2 | — | 1 |
| 59 | Terry Rowan | -2 | — | 1 |
| 60 | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services | -2 | — | 1 |
| 61 | Urban Alchemy | -2 | — | 1 |
| 62 | David Steiner | -3 | ▼ 3 | 1 |
| 63 | Department of Homeland Security | -3 | — | 1 |
| 64 | Greg Smith | -3 | — | 1 |
| 65 | John Ward | -3 | — | 1 |
| 66 | Meta | -3 | ▼ 3 | 1 |
| 67 | Portland Trail Blazers | -3 | — | 1 |
| 68 | Portland Urban Forestry | -3 | — | 1 |
| 69 | Tom Dundon | -3 | — | 1 |
| 70 | U.S. Federal Tax Code | -3 | — | 1 |
| 71 | U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement | -3 | — | 1 |
| 72 | United States Postal Service | -3 | ▼ 3 | 1 |
| 73 | City of Portland | -4 | — | 3 |
| 74 | Trump Administration | -12 | ▼ 3 | 7 |