Primary 2022: Meet the Democrats running for House District 23

Democrats Elise Yarnell Hollamon and Kriss Wright, both Newberg residents, are competing in the primary for House District 23.

The winner will face incumbent Anna Scharf, an Amity Republican who was appointed to the seat last year after Mike Nearman was booted from the legislature for his involvement in a riot at the Capitol.

Scharf does not have a primary opponent.

House District 23 currently represents parts of Marion, Polk, Yamhill and Benton counties. Next year, under redistricting, it will represent parts of Polk and Yamhill counties only.

Elise Yarnell Hollamon

Hollamon, 32, is director of access strategies at Providence Medical Group.

She has been a Newberg City Councilor since 2018 and is currently council president. She also serves on the city’s budget committee and urban renewal committee.

Hollamon grew up in the Aloha area, in an evangelical, Republican family. She attended Eastern University in Philadelphia, then moved back to the Beaverton area.

Holloman is public about her struggle with addiction and mental health issues following her return home.

“At 24 I got sober, with my parents’ support,” she said. “I openly share it because I think it’s so important for people who are struggling, to have hope there is an easier and softer way and that your life can look different.”

Hollamon moved to Newberg in 2016, and said she has fallen in love with the city.

“It’s where I really learned how to live, work and serve in the same community and the power of that,” she said.

She’s held many roles during her decade with Providence, including standing up the provider’s first 14 express clinics. For the past two years, she’s led a group setting up multiple COVID-19 mass vaccination and testing sites.

“I have a lot of experience in the trenches building things quickly,” she said.

Hollamon calls her leadership style “very relational” and says her slogan is “meet me in the middle.”

“I couldn’t care less what party you’re affiliated with,” she said. “I care about how to get to our shared goal.”

She wants to work on affordable housing, public education, healthcare and environmental justice issues.

“Community members that are renting can’t afford to buy a house in the community they’ve lived in for the past 10 years,” she said. “People are going for higher-wage jobs in Portland, and coming back to sleep here. So, they’re unable to go to their kid’s soccer game or serve on a community board.

“I think we have a big task ahead of us to look at our jobs and housing as one issue,” she said.

As of April 21, Hollamon had raised $13,434 and spent $11,842, leaving a balance of $1,592, according to state campaign finance records.

Her largest donation, of $1,000, came from Will Wright, a Portland real estate broker.

Kriss Wright

Wright, 57, is retired.

She has been a research scientist, land use and zoning consultant, grant writer, health technician for the VA Medical Center in Portland, advocate, farmworker and childcare provider.

Wright currently is the chair of the Newberg Planning Commission.

She holds a bachelor’s degree and a GIS certificate from Portland State University, as well as an associate’s degree as a dietetic technician from Portland Community College and certificates as an esthetician and nail technologist from Phagan’s School of Beauty.

Wright traces her desire to run for office to injuries received in an accident many years ago, while she worked at the VA Medical Center.

“I was in an elevator freefall,” she said.

Wright fought the federal government for compensation for nearly four years.

It wasn’t until she shared her story with Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, and he promised to help, that she made headway with her case.

“He promised to help me, and he did,” Wright said.

Wright’s family can trace its history back 80 years in Dayton. She grew up in the Newberg area, Sherwood and Tigard.

She spent summers working on her grandparents' Idaho farm where, she said, she learned the power of cooperation. Faced with a shortage, farmers divided water equally. And they all pitched in to buy and share equipment that none could afford alone.

Wright said she is passionate about climate recovery, mental health services, affordable housing, jobs in rural areas and land use planning.

As of April 21, Wright had raised $5,025 for her campaign, according to state campaign finance records. She had spent $15, leaving a balance of $5,010.

Tracy Loew is a reporter at the Statesman Journal. She can be reached at tloew@statesmanjournal.com, 503-399-6779 or on Twitter at @Tracy_Loew.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Primary 2022: Meet the Democrats running for House District 23