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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 2021)
LOW COST OR FREE BREAST CANCER SCREENINGS ARE AVAILABLE. FIND YOURS AT KOMEN.ORG EIZER times Future of summer concerts & KLL Park coming in November $1.00/ ISSUE Volume 43 • No. 2 OCT. 29, 2021 Courser to run for Congress in Oregon’s new 6th District By JOEY CAPPELLETTI For the Keizertimes It’s almost November in Keizer. Which means it’s time for pumpkins, apple cider, and . . . RFPs. The city of Keizer uses RFPs, short for Request for Proposals, to solicit bids from groups that are interested in pro- viding a particular good or service for the city. Once proposals are submitted, a committee of city councilors and staff members grades them and makes a sug- gestion to the city council. The Keizer City Council will be decid- ing on two disputed RFPs in the month of November. They will have the option to either sign the contract proposed, restart the RFP process or push the decision Republican candidate Amy Ryan Courser during this year's KeizerFEST parade in August. See RFPs, page A4 FILE PHOTO, Keizertimes NEWSTAND PRICE: $1.00/ ISSUE SUBSCRIBER ADDRESS : By JOEY CAPPELLETTI For the Keizertimes Republican candidate Amy Ryan Courser announced Friday that she will run for Congress in 2022 in Oregon’s new 6th Congressional District. Courser challenged Democrat Kurt Schrader in Oregon’s 5th Congressional District in 2020 and lost by seven points, the closest race of Schrader’s seven terms in offi ce. Courser lives in Keizer, which moved during this year’s redistricting from the 5th District to the new 6th District. She said the only thing preventing her from making a decision earlier was the uncer- tainty of Oregon’s newly redrawn districts, which are still being challenged in court. “I can’t control everything and the real- ity is we are fi ghting for Oregon as a whole. So moving forward taking that approach is going to be the winning approach for us and for everyone. So we are excited and ready to go for the 6th,” Courser said on a phone call with the Keizertimes. Oregon gained a sixth congressional district following the 2020 U.S. Census and as a result, many of the other congres- sional districts were drastically altered as well. “They’ve taken my 5th District that I ran for, it was six thousand square miles, and divided it into four districts. So we had to take a step back and really evalu- ate and discern what makes sense on all of these levels,” said Courser. Courser could have chosen to run in the 5th District, which is predicted to be more conservative than the 6th, as mem- bers of Congress are not required to live in the districts they represent. Former Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith and state Rep. Andrea Salinas have both indicated that they plan to run as Democratic candi- dates in the 6th District even though they don’t live there. Schrader lives in the 5th Sen. Thatcher calls for 50-state election audit, A6 District and has served as its represen- tative since 2009 but has not indicated where he will run in 2022. Courser was a city councilor in Keizer from 2014 to 2019 and in 2020, she received the Republican candidacy in the 5th District after defeating G. Shane Dinkel with 53% of the vote. She received 45% of the vote in the general election compared to Schrader’s 52%. “I don’t believe that everyone’s voice is being heard because we are being repre- sented by elite politicians who are com- pletely disconnected. I think that’s all of Oregon,” said Courser. “Our issues, every- thing from infrastructure to agriculture to forestry, we have not had a strong voice working side-by-side in the community, which is my passion, to go be a voice in D.C.” Courser said some of the issues she See COURSER, page A2 Celts blank Mountain View on Senior Night, A20
