W. Scott Jorgensen
W. Scott Jorgensen, who worked as managing editor of the Jacksonville Review in 2003, has become a published author.
His book, Transition, was released in July by Carlton, Oregon-based Ridenbaugh Press, and details Jorgensen’s encounters with young leaders throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Jorgensen, 33, is now the deputy communications director for the Oregon House Republican Office. He did his stint at the Jacksonville Review while studying journalism and political science at Southern Oregon University in Ashland. Woody Hunter was publisher of the paper at the time.
Transition begins in Grants Pass in May 2010, days before the primary election in which Wally Hicks sought the Republican nomination for House District 3 and Simon Hare was among those running for Josephine County Commissioner. Both men were and still are in their early thirties.
“At the time, things were going really well for me,” Jorgensen said. “I was hosting a talk show on KAJO radio and helping to run a weekly newspaper in Josephine County. But as I went to celebrate my birthday, I noticed that nearly all of my friends were unemployed.”
Months later, the newspaper Jorgensen worked at changed owners, and he soon joined the ranks of unemployed Americans struggling through the Great Recession. He and his family moved to Vancouver, Washington days before the November 2010 general election.
Hicks and Hare both won their elections that night. In Vancouver, Jaime Herrera Beutler became the only Republican on the West Coast to pick up a Congressional seat, despite being only 31 years old.
“That initial bit of optimism I had after that night quickly disappeared in 2011, as I struggled to find work,” Jorgensen said. “I experienced what so many Americans went through during those challenging economic times.”
But in 2012, Jorgensen was hired to report on the Oregon Legislature’s February session. Jorgensen then compiled a series of feature stories on all of the contested legislative primary races. He noticed that many of them had younger candidates, equally split between both major political parties, and from all across Oregon.
In August 2012, Jorgensen was hired as the field director for the statewide Yes on Measure 79 campaign. During his travels throughout the state, he met more young people who were seeking elected office. They included John Davis, who was in his late twenties and seeking a seat in the Legislature to represent Jorgensen’s current home town of Wilsonville.
By the November general election, every single one of those younger candidates was elected.
“Even though 2010 and 2012 were drastically different in terms of the national results, the one commonality was that all of the young people I know who were running for office were successful,” Jorgensen said.
The Yes on Measure 79 was also victorious, which helped Jorgensen land his current position with the Oregon House Republican Office. In that position, he works with Hicks and Davis.
“Everywhere I’ve lived in the last seven years, people my age and younger are actively taking part in their governments, at the city, county, state and even the federal level,” Jorgensen said. “It is my belief that the adversity faced by my generation in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks, the Great Recession and all the other events that will come to define us will also give us the opportunity to rise to those challenges and accomplish great things.”
Jorgensen still maintains local ties, as his father James lives outside of Jacksonville. He still visits the area and vacationed here in late July.
Transition can be ordered online from Ridenbaugh Press at its website, http://www.ridenbaugh.com/index.php/ridenbaugh-book-store/transition/, and is also available on www.amazon.com.
For more information, go to https://www.facebook.com/TransitionMovingIntoLeadershipInHardTimes?ref=hl.
Posted September 11, 2013