© 2024 KLCC

KLCC
136 W 8th Ave
Eugene OR 97401
541-463-6000
klcc@klcc.org

Contact Us

FCC Applications
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Candidates for eastern Lane County legislative seat discuss issues at City Club forum

The newly re-drawn Oregon House District 12 includes eastern Lane County, along with Cottage Grove and Junction City.
Oregon Legislature
The newly re-drawn Oregon House District 12 includes eastern Lane County, along with Cottage Grove and Junction City.

The two candidates for Oregon House District 12, which covers eastern Lane County, along with Cottage Grove and Junction City, discussed the issues at a Springfield City Club forum Thursday.

There is no incumbent in the district, which was redrawn as part of the once-a-decade redistricting process. The new boundaries take effect with this year's election.

The state lawmaker who represented the area, Rep. Cedric Hayden, R-Fall Creek, is running for a seat in the Oregon Senate.

There are two candidates on the ballot in House District 12: Michelle Emmons, a Democrat from Oakridge, and Charlie Conrad, a Republican from Dexter.

Emmons and Conrad were both asked about their highest priority if elected.

"The single most urgent that we're facing, really, is how we are going to deal with climate change," said Emmons. “We have seen the impacts of fire on our communities. We have some worries around how we’re going to sustain our working lands for food security in the future...we've got carbon emissions that we need to be thinking about. We need to be thinking about policies to address that, as well as long-term strategies around sequestration and resiliency to help our communities prepare for any sort of climate disasters that are coming down the pike."

Conrad said the biggest issue, as he sees it, is what he called quality of life issues.

"This comes down to public safety, ensuring that our rural communities have law enforcement available, that our court system and our justice system work," he said. "It's looking at affordable housing: making sure that people have a place to live and the ability to purchase a place to live if that's what they want to do. And it's also looking at education for our children, so that they get better education...and that they have career opportunities when they graduate from school."

Conrad is a former police officer who now works as an Operations Supervisor at the Lane Events Center. Emmons is the Upper Willamette Watershed Program Manager for Willamette Riverkeeper.

The is the first run for state office for both Conrad and Emmons.

According to state campaign finance records, Conrad has raised just over $100,000, which is five times as much money as Emmons has raised.

Republicans outnumber Democrats by a relatively small margin: There were just 861 more Republicans than Democrats in the latest voter registration totals posted by the Oregon Secretary of State's office.

As in many state legislative districts, the largest single block of voters in House District 12 is the "Non-affiliated" category.

Chris Lehman has been reporting on Oregon issues since 2006. He joined the KLCC news department in December 2018 and became News Director in March 2023. Chris was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and graduated from Temple University with a degree in journalism. His public broadcasting career includes stops in Louisiana and Illinois. Chris has filed for national programs including “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.”
Related Content