Oregon Republican Party Chair Jerry Cummings has been accused in the last year of failing to make payments on two bank loans totaling $93,000 and withdrawing more than $17,000 from a separate bank account that didn’t have that amount of money available.
Cummings, a pastor from Columbia County who won his seat in February, has a lengthy legal track record in Oregon. The Oregon Journalism Project first reported the financial institution’s claims as well as others in a years-long divorce and custody case that did not result in Cummings being charged with any crime.
Cummings did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment.
Sheri Brady, secretary of the Oregon Republican Party, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the party is planning to send a press release regarding the Wednesday news report, but she declined to comment further.
“I just want to encourage people to continue to pray for the Oregon Republican Party, pray for our team, pray for Chair Cummings,” Brady said.
A collections agency sued Cummings last April in Washington County Circuit Court. The agency, on behalf of OnPoint Community Credit Union, accused Cummings of withdrawing more than $17,000 from his bank account in 2023 after depositing checks that later bounced, meaning that amount of money was not headed to his bank account when he took it out.
“Despite demands from OnPoint, (Cummings) has and continues to refuse to reimburse OnPoint for the deficiency,” the agency wrote in its April 2024 complaint. “(Cummings) has been unjustly enriched by that amount.”
In September, Washington County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Erwin ordered Cummings to pay back the full amount owed to OnPoint plus interest and attorney fees.
Just three months later, Washington Trust Bank filed a lawsuit against Cummings in Multnomah County Circuit Court. The bank alleged that two businesses controlled by the pastor had signed loan agreements totalling $93,000 in December 2022 and failed to make payments on them.
The financial institution sued Cummings after he failed to make multiple minimum payments in 2024 and didn’t respond to default notices from the bank, the bank alleged. Washington Trust Bank sought more than $93,000 plus accrued interest from Cummings.
Cummings has not filed any response to either suit.
— Carlos Fuentes covers state politics and government. Reach him at 503-221-5386 or cfuentes@oregonian.com.
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