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Ky Fireside, who has been active in the opposition to license-plate reader cameras, has filed to run for the seat that will be vacated by the retiring John Lively.
A local Lane County organizer working with Oregon lawmakers to address privacy concerns posed by local law enforcement technology across the state now wants to join their ranks.
Ky Fireside, an archaeologist and Springfield-based activist, filed their campaign paperwork in late October for Oregon’s 7th House District, currently represented by Rep. John Lively, D-Springfield. After winning Springfield’s state house elections since 2012, Lively, 79, announced in early November that he would retire at the end of his term in January 2027, citing age as a significant factor.
The 7th House District spans the entire city of Springfield and its population of nearly 62,000. Lively won his 2022 race against a Republican challenger by more than 4 percentage points and his 2024 election by more than 11 percentage points. Republicans have listed the district in past elections as a priority target.
Lively has not made any endorsements for a successor, bringing Fireside into a contested Democratic primary with one other local contender. Springfield City Councilor Kori Rodley announced her campaign in mid-September and has raised more than $10,500, according to campaign finance records as of Wednesday. Fireside told the Capital Chronicle that their campaign has raised more than $2,500.
“I can’t find anyone that’s saying ‘Yes, queer people are under attack by the federal government and I’m going to protect them.’ I don’t see anyone saying ‘We’re in a health care crisis right now, and this is an emergency situation,’” Fireside told the Capital Chronicle. “Everybody’s just so very centrist, and that’s not working. All the centrists are just being dragged to the right.”
The 35-year-old has for years been active as an organizer in the Eugene-Springfield area since moving to Oregon from California in January 2020. They also helped lead employees’ push for a union at a local Eugene Starbucks, which made headlines in 2022 for being the first of the company’s stores in Oregon to unionize as part of a nationwide trend.
Recently, the Springfield resident has spent their time in the middle of a debate many Oregon cities have found themselves confronting: the use of a controversial license-plate reader software that critics warn will be used to collect information about immigrants without permanent legal status and abortion seekers from out-of-state. The matter is currently up for consideration by Oregon lawmakers, with Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, suggesting at a mid-November hearing that legislators may use the 2026 short session to regulate the technology.
Fireside testified at that hearing as co-founder of another community group, Eyes off Eugene, that aims to protect local residents’ privacy rights. They are also a member of a working group lawmakers are consulting on the issue, they said, and the group’s first meeting is set for next week.
“At this point, Prozanski is leaning more towards putting up some guardrails that will make it safe,” Fireside said. “But the fact of the matter is, there’s not anything you can do to make this kind of technology safe. It’s just designed to be abused.”
Fireside pointed to a recent victory in Eugene, where a local credit union recently agreed to pause their cameras using the technology for private security. Cities such as Springfield and Eugene have paused their license-plate reading cameras operated by the Atlanta-based Flock Safety, a vendor of the technology, amid concern about a lack of serious firewalls for data-sharing with federal immigration authorities.
The company and some law enforcement say that its protections have evolved to include filters for sanctuary states, and that local contracts ensure data is only accessed by police seeking to intercept serious crime.
Aside from data privacy, Fireside said their other priorities as a lawmaker would be addressing access to health care and employee conditions, stronger regulations targeting unfair labor practices and civil rights. Describing what makes Springfield stand out, they recalled a Monday Springfield City Council meeting where residents opposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and surveillance.
“I’ve been fighting all these things at the local level,” Fireside said, “and I want to take that fight to the state.”
