Primary election 2022: 4 GOP candidates want to face Michelle Emmons in House District 12

Four Republican candidates are running in the May 17 primary to become an Oregon House of Representatives member for District 12, an area that had been mostly within District 7 prior to the redistricting that goes into effect in 2023. District 12 Rep. John Lively, D-Springfield, is moving to District 7 due to the state's redistricting. There is no incumbent in this race because District 7 Rep. Cedric Hayden, a Republican, is running for Oregon Senate instead.

Because Michelle Emmons from Oakridge is the only Democrat who filed, there is only a primary for the four Republicans.

House District 12 serves the eastern portion of Lane County including Dexter, Lowell, Cottage Grove, Creswell, Pleasant Hill, Jasper, Leaburg, Blue River, Marcola, Coburg, Junction City, Cheshire and a portion of southeast Eugene.

Charlie Conrad

Charlie Conrad, who lives in Dexter and works as the operations supervisor for the Lane Events Center, said he has wanted to run for state office for 30 years.

For much of his career, Conrad has worked in law enforcement, first as a corrections officer at the Lane County Sheriff's Office, and then as a an officer for the Springfield Police Department for 14 years.

Main issues Conrad wants to work on in the Legislature include improving public safety, ensuring there are a sufficient number of patrol deputies at any time and securing funding for the jail and District Attorney's Office. He also was interested in bolstering education in the district and helping out local businesses.

He noted it's important for Republicans to be able to work across the aisle with Democrats since they are the minority, but emphasized a desire to return the state to more conservative policies.

"The regulations on smaller businesses and some of the other regulations that have been imposed on us over the last few years, those need to go by the wayside," he said. "We need to bring that process, that philosophy back to more of a conservative approach."

Nicole De Graff

Nicole De Graff, a former farmer and current business owner, said she wants to run for office because she sees "unprecedented problems within society; education and a lack of credibility in government, and feel I can offer good solutions."

"Public safety, homelessness, overreaching government mandates and education" were all topics De Graff said she wants to focus on, and noted she would like to be assigned to the state's Education Committee.

Impasses between parties in the state government were another issue she said she wants to address if elected.

"Restricting personal liberties, prioritizing a woke agenda over fundamentals in education and overtaxing Oregonians, is not working," she said in an email to The Register-Guard.

De Graff, who resides in Springfield, is a former school board member and has political experience from involvement in the local Republican central committee and was executive director of a nonprofit and political action committee that worked to ensure parental and medical rights. She noted she thinks her past work in real estate and volunteer experience have given her the skills "necessary to fight for my community."

"I've already been doing the work of advocating for good policy and I'm good at it," she said. "I have a heart for families and love helping my community stay informed."

Jeff Gowing

Cottage Grove Mayor Jeff Gowing said local businesses were the first that suggested he run for state government, and while he laughed at the idea at first, he said he then saw issues he wanted to fix in the Legislature such as the housing crisis, a need to improve economic growth, and tackling homelessness.

"There's a real lack of representation of local government in the Capitol, the people that are in office don't know how local governments work, and they pass policies and procedures, that are one-size-fits-all for everywhere, and I just don't like that," Gowing told The Register-Guard. "What works in Portland doesn't work in Klamath Falls."

Gowing first joined the Cottage Grove City Council in 2009 and was elected mayor in 2016, now having served for three terms. He has worked for Weyerhaeuser in Cottage Grove since 1989 and currently works as a millwright.

If elected, Gowing said he would make government his fulltime job, and that he would prioritize visiting different communities to listen to constituents. He added he thinks experience as a mayor will help him in state government, having developed connections and knowing how to connect with communities.

"It's about getting to know the people, and that's how I've been successful as a mayor is I sit down most weekend nights, I go to the local breweries, and the people know me, and they come and tell me what's on their mind," he said.

Bill Ledford

Bill Ledford, who is retired and lives outside Coburg with his wife and daughter, said he considered moving away from Oregon because he thinks the state has gone downhill and was tired of the government being dominated by Democrats, but instead decided to stay and run for office.

Ledford said some main issues he wants to address are homelessness and perceived government overreach. One change he wants to pursue is making the state pay to help cities address homelessness instead of putting the burden on cities.

"The state has laws now that forces cities to (address homelessness), and I think the state should be responsible for paying for it," Ledford said. "Cities don't have the money to pay for that."

Ledford said he also has a problem with the amount of free services and goods being given out by cities and organizations, noting he thinks there should be a requirement people attend treatment programs with anything given out if they suffer from drug addiction.

"I think with any any freebie that homeless person is given, there has to be some program to get them off the drugs, and I think drugs are the biggest thing with homeless people," Ledford said.

Ledford also mentioned combating gun restrictions and said he opposes recent state policies he sees as government overreach, such as having to pay farm workers one and a half times their pay rate for overtime hours.

Louis Krauss covers breaking news for The Register-Guard. Contact him at lkrauss@registerguard.com, and follow him on Twitter @LouisKraussNews.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Primary election 2022: 4 GOP candidates in Oregon House District 12