Keizer attorney Richard Walsh, state Sen. Kim Thatcher vie in Oregon Senate District 11 race

For nearly a quarter century, the people of Senate District 11 have been represented by Democrat Peter Courtney. But Courtney, who serves as Senate president, will be retiring when his term ends in January.

The departure of Oregon’s longest-serving legislator has launched one of the most competitive Senate races in this year’s election.

Democrat Richard Walsh, a former member of the Keizer City Council and an attorney, will face off against Republican state Sen. Kim Thatcher of Keizer.

Whoever is elected will represent the newly drawn SD 11, which now stretches across Interstate 5 and includes Woodburn, Keizer and north Salem.

A debate between the two candidates will be hosted by the Salem City Club at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 30, at the Willamette Heritage Center Dye House. Members can attend for free and non-members can purchase tickets for $10. Register for the event at salemcityclub.com.

Richard Walsh

After Woodburn Mayor Eric Swenson dropped out of the race, Democratic precinct committee persons in SD 11 nominated Walsh to represent the party in the district's general election race.

Walsh came in second to Swenson in the May primary with 34% of the vote. He thanked the committee for “honoring the voters."

He describes himself as an attorney who has been fighting insurance companies on behalf of injured or disabled Oregonians for the past 30 years with his law practice Walsh & Associates.

Walsh said he decided to run for SD 11 because of a desire to be part of change and solutions in Oregon. It was a decision also inspired by a couple of cases he worked on, he said.

One was the case of Leo Polehm Orchards v. Maria Hernandez, which extended workers' compensation insurance to workers who live in migrant camps.

Walsh represented Maria Hernandez, a migrant worker helping her husband who had fallen out of a tree and broken his leg. While helping him take his bedpan to a bathroom outhouse, she fell and broke her arm in four places.

The claim for compensation was initially denied because she wasn't technically working at the time, but a decision by the court of appeals got the law to change. The bunk house rule established by the decision means all seasonal workers, agricultural workers, firemen, nurses and doctors who have to stay overnight in their facilities are covered if they are hurt because of the conditions of those premises.

“I thought ‘Holy cow, one case can change thousands of people’s lives for the better,’” Walsh said. “And I thought, when I get the opportunity, I want to serve the public in a way that can make policy changes and things like that.”

Walsh served on the Keizer council for 10 years and was twice elected council president. He spearheaded the development of Keizer Rapids Park, including the added development of the dog park and amphitheater. Walsh also worked a lot on Keizer Station, the recycle program, the River Road Renaissance Program, City Hall and creation of the community center.

He was involved in more than 40 committees, resident groups and task forces to figure out all the different aspects of the society he was representing, he said. It’s an approach Walsh said he’d want to take in the Senate.

“You can’t represent people if you don’t know who they are or what they want,” he said.

There are several issues Walsh believes are on people’s minds, he said. He wants to prioritize healthcare for all, homelessness, affordable housing, the environment, accountability for insurance and pharmacological industries, income inequality and seniors’ rights.

“I think the one that needs immediate care, immediate attention right now in Keizer and in Salem and Woodburn is homelessness. That is just a crisis screaming out for a solution,” he said.

Walsh also expressed a desire to return to a cooperative legislative model where lawmakers work more across party lines.

"We've done it before," he said. "I think we can return to it."

Kim Thatcher

Kim Thatcher is a mom, grandma and owner of several construction-related businesses.

"I'm just here to try to make Oregon even better," Thatcher said.

She has lived in Oregon most of her life and said the beauty of this state is incomparable.

"It is a special place. We have special people. We have, I think, just a really good overall cohesive mindset as far as wanting to make our country better and our state better. We tend to want to work together and I think that's what I really appreciate about the state," Thatcher added.

On her website, she said she ran for the Legislature because many of her friends, family and people in the community were not happy with the way state government was being run. Thatcher added that she was asked to run when she was involved with a referendum on a legislative tax hike.

"I feel like I complain a lot and so I thought, 'Well, I'll throw my hat in the ring,'" she remembered thinking.

She said she was shocked to discover when she was first elected that the two parties did work together in the Legislature. That has shifted recently, according to Thatcher.

"The past few years have been a lot more difficult," she said. "It just felt like there wasn't that cooperation as much and it was very, very frustrating and it wasn't what I would call the Oregon Way."

If she were elected, Thatcher said, she will prioritize that collegiality and balance that she saw in the beginning of her career. It was a stability and statesmanship that Courtney brought to the capital, Thatcher said.

"But even he, in the past couple of years, could not stand up against the extreme policies coming out of his own Democratic caucus," she said.

Thatcher recognized that redistricting meant she would be running in a much more democratic district but she said the new district makes sense, finally connecting Keizer and Salem. She was excited to run in the community she works, lives and plays in, she said.

In addition to working more across party lines, Thatcher said homelessness and crime are issues she wants to focus on.

"My goals will be the same that they have been," Thatcher said.

Thatcher said she would also continue to prioritize advocating for accountable state government. She was one of the sponsors of legislation that established the state’s first transparency website and improved access to public records.

She was also the chief sponsor of Senate Bill 1584, signed into law in March, that allowed Oregon to join 37 other states in offering compensation to wrongly convicted people. Someone who was wrongfully convicted will receive $65,000 per year that they were incarcerated and $25,000 per year of parole or year that they were on a sex offender registry.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon Senate District 11 race: Richard Walsh faces Kim Thatcher