ELECTIONS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Jason Atkinson
Cliff Bentz
Travis Fager
Knute Buehler
Justin Livingston
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Jimmy Crumpacker
Chris Vaughn
Alex Spenser
Jeff Smith
John Holm
Democratic candidates for
Oregon’s 2nd Congressional
District speak at forum
Republican candidates share visions for
Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District
By Kyle Spurr
EO Media Group
Seven Republican can-
didates for Oregon’s 2nd
Congressional District came
together Saturday for a vir-
tual forum.
The candidates included
Jason Atkinson, Cliff Bentz,
Knute Buehler, Jimmy
Crumpacker, Travis Fager,
Justin Livingston and Jeff
Smith.
Four other candidates did
not participate: David Camp-
bell, Glenn Carey Jr., Ken-
neth Mendenbach and Mark
Roberts.
A total of 16 candi-
dates, five Democrats and
11 Republicans, are running
for the congressional seat
that opened when Republi-
can U.S. Rep. Greg Walden
decided not to seek reelec-
tion. Walden has served the
district since 1998.
Each party’s top vote-get-
ter in the May 19 primary
election will advance to the
general election in Novem-
ber. The candidates repre-
sent all corners of Oregon’s
2nd Congressional District,
which covers all of East-
ern Oregon and the Medford
area.
At the forum Saturday —
hosted by EO Media Group
and livestreamed without an
audience due to the COVID-
19 pandemic — the seven
candidates shared their views
on a range of topics such as
health care, the economy and
the country’s response to the
pandemic.
Each candidate agreed
rebuilding America’s econ-
omy from the COVID-19 cri-
sis is a top priority.
Atkinson, 49, a busi-
ness consultant from Cen-
tral Point who served in the
Oregon Legislature for 14
years, said local communi-
ties should be able to decide
when to reopen businesses
and lift social distancing
guidelines.
“I believe the decisions
should be made locally, and
the governor should allow us
to do that, and people should
be allowed to go back out-
side,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson also took time
at the forum to highlight
issues facing military vet-
erans, whom he said are an
overlooked population. He
said he’s dedicated to mak-
ing sure veterans have the
services they need.
“It’s an issue that is con-
stant, and for me that will be
a priority,” Atkinson said.
Bentz, 68, an Ontario
farmer, attorney and former
state representative, said it is
important not to open busi-
nesses too soon during the
pandemic, or people won’t
feel safe visiting them.
He described the state’s
plan to reopen businesses as
a one-size-fits-all approach
that doesn’t account for the
rural counties with minimal
cases of the virus.
“They need to be allowed
to go forward more quickly,”
Bentz said.
The candidate who wins
will need to travel through
the district to find out exactly
how the virus affected resi-
dents, Bentz said.
“Let’s go out and find out
what people need,” he said.
Buehler, 55, an orthope-
dic surgeon who represented
Bend in the state House until
an unsuccessful run for gov-
ernor, said he has a set plan
to address the district’s
recovery from the virus.
He calls it the five Ts:
Trim the data to find any
areas with a cluster of cases.
Have the capability to test
people and to treat people.
Trace people who may have
contacted someone with the
virus. And toggle back and
forth between more and less
social distancing.
“I would love to go to
Washington, D.C., and help
implement that kind of plan,”
Buehler said.
Buehler said he is suspi-
cious of the virus’s origins in
the Chinese wet markets and
would support Congress call-
ing for an investigation.
“We need to hold China
and the World Health Orga-
nization accountable for
what happened here,” Bue-
hler said. “We need a full
scale international investi-
gation to determine exactly
how this virus started.”
Crumpacker, 41, a com-
modities trader from Tum-
alo, said his main goal is
to reopen an economy shut
down by the pandemic.
“We need to get people
back to work,” Crumpacker
said. “That is critical.”
An important part of sup-
porting the U.S. economy is
making sure medical sup-
plies are made domestically
and not overseas, Crump-
acker said.
“We are seeing the impact
of the last few decades of
outsourcing,” he said. “We
need to bring them back.”
Fager, 48, a La Grande
resident and manager of a
commercial radio station,
was the 11th and last candi-
date to file for the election.
Fager wanted to join the race
to support people in the mid-
dle class whom he personally
relates to, especially through
the pandemic, he said.
“We want candidates that
are fluent in middle class
reality,” Fager said.
As a former wildland fire-
fighter, Fager said he would
like to see better forest man-
agement practices that help
prevent wildfires.
“I was a firefighter,”
Fager said. “I know what it’s
like to stand on the fire line
and stand between the fire
and the resources.”
Livingston, 42, a real
estate broker and Bend city
councilor, said he is already
working on ways to reopen
the local economy in his
position as a city councilor.
“I’m the only person that
actually is an elected official
and who is making decisions
on how we are opening our
area,” Livingston said.
One way to support the
economy through the pan-
demic is to reduce federal
regulations that affect busi-
nesses and banks, Livingston
said.
“We need to support busi-
ness,” he said. “We need to
look at reducing regulations
to get business back up and
open.”
Smith, 57, a computer
programmer from the small
Union County town of
Elgin, said the main issue
he is focused on is reduc-
ing the cost of health care.
Smith said there are too few
doctors and nurses in hos-
pitals. If more are trained
and hired, then people have
more opportunities to access
health care, he said.
“The reason why our
health care costs keep going
up and up is there are too
few providers and too much
demand for their services,”
Smith said.
Regarding the COVID-19
pandemic, Smith described
the government’s response
as a complete overreach that
caused unnecessary strain on
the economy.
“We have trampled upon
people’s civil liberties in the
process,” Smith said.
By Kyle Spurr
EO Media Group
Four candidates seeking the Dem-
ocratic nomination for Oregon’s 2nd
Congressional District gathered virtu-
ally Friday evening for an online forum.
The candidates included: Nick Heu-
ertz, a 48-year-old Central Point resi-
dent and a business consultant; John
Holm, a 51-year-old licensed Realtor
and political strategist from Medford;
Alex Spenser, a 55-year-old writer
and performance coach from Klamath
Falls; and Chris Vaughn, a 54-year-old
Bend resident and specialty food sales
representative.
A fifth candidate, Jack Howard of La
Grande, did not participate.
They took turns answering questions
about why they are running in the May
19 primary election during the forum,
which was hosted by EO Media Group
and livestreamed without an audience
due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The media group hosted two more
forums Saturday for the large field of
Republican candidates. There are 16
candidates — five Democrats and 11
Republicans — running for the congres-
sional seat that opened when Republi-
can U.S. Rep. Greg Walden decided not
to seek reelection after serving since
1998.
Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District
is the largest of the state’s five districts
and is the seventh largest district in the
nation, covering all of Eastern Oregon
and the Medford area.
At the forum Friday, the candidates
laid out their priorities for the district,
especially how they plan to help lead
the country through the COVID-19
pandemic.
Heuertz said a way to keep the econ-
omy running through the pandemic is
to invest in infrastructure, which can
create new jobs in renewable energy.
He envisions more people working to
improve power grids as well as roads
and bridges.
“It’s about spending the money cor-
rectly, investing in the planet and the
people,” Heuertz said. “If we invest in
our society, our economy will grow.”
Heuertz, like the other candidates,
criticized the Trump administration’s
response to the pandemic.
“The national leadership seems to be
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putting a price on life in order to keep
the economy going,” Heuertz said. “It’s
wrong ethically and economically.”
Holm said the pandemic has revealed
several problems in the region, such as
unreliable internet for businesses and
students, people struggling to afford
health care and businesses worrying
about their future.
“This coronavirus showed what we
have is not anywhere close to what we
need,” Holm said.
Holm specifically wants to sup-
port local farms and connect them with
restaurants.
“We are going to have to find ways
to help the farmers that are not going to
get their produce back and sold,” Holm
said. “We are going to have to find
solutions to help these people.”
Spenser said no matter the topic,
COVID-19 or otherwise, her top prior-
ity is addressing the division in politics
between Republicans and Democrats.
“The very most important thing is
to end the divisiveness we all feel on
a visceral level,” Spenser said. “Until
we have healed the divide, nothing else
can get done.”
Spenser said the pandemic has cre-
ated new opportunities for certain
businesses, such as internet provid-
ers and companies that connect peo-
ple remotely. She said it is important to
support businesses as they adjust to the
pandemic.
“There are businesses that are grow-
ing,” Spenser said. “New businesses
are learning and growing through this
process.”
Vaughn said he sees other ways the
pandemic can make positive changes.
Specifically, he points to the slaughter-
houses that he said spread the disease.
“Let’s get away from these big fac-
tory farms,” Vaughn said. “Let’s get
back to family farming. It’s better for
the animals. It’s better for not spread-
ing disease.”
Vaughn’s top priority as a member
of Congress would be to support work
related to climate change.
He and the other candidates believe
in climate change, and see it as one of
the biggest issues facing the world.
“Planet Earth does not need humans,”
Vaughn said. “But if humans want to be
a part of the Earth we need to fix our
environment.”
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