The race to represent eastern Lane County in the Oregon legislature will likely be decided in a partisan primary.
The incumbent, Charlie Conrad, is a Republican who made headlines for supporting a bill that expanded abortion access. In this month’s primary, he’s facing a more conservative challenger, Darin Harbick, and opposition from an anti-abortion group.
House District 12 includes Cottage Grove, Junction City and most of eastern Lane County.
Conrad has worked as a sheriff’s deputy and a Springfield police officer. He also worked for the Lane County Events Center and the League of Oregon Cities.
Conrad said his career in public service has given the skills to make informed and well-researched decisions.
“If we pass this, how is this actually going to impact a police officer on the street?” he said. “Is it going to improve his ability to make decisions and keep the public safe? Is it going to improve the opportunity for a victim to receive all the services that they need? Is it going to hold somebody accountable? All of those things I get to bring to bear.”
Harbick, who did not respond to KLCC’s requests for an interview, is a business owner who lives in McKenzie Bridge. He is a former McKenzie School Board member and has unsuccessfully ran for US Senate.
Harbick has said in campaign materials that he chose to run in direct response to Conrad’s record on abortion and gender- affirming care.
“I’m tired of politicians dividing us from our kids, so why is Charlie Conrad joining them and supporting stuff like this?” he said in a video posted to his Facebook page. “I’ll protect our kids and defend parental rights.”
Last year, Conrad broke ranks with his party to vote in favor of a bill that codified more legal protections for medical providers, and expanded insurance coverage.
The most contentious aspect of the bill was allowing minors under the age of 15 to obtain abortions without parental consent. Parental consent is not required if there is evidence of child abuse, or if two independent medical providers agree it’s in the child’s best interest.
Harbick is endorsed by the Oregon Right to Life PAC and has pledged to work to roll back the law if elected.
Oregon Right to Life director Lois Anderson said her organization has been actively campaigning against Conrad for over a year.
“Charlie Conrad is the only Republican who voted for it, and we wanted to make sure that we didn’t return as a state legislator” she said. “We need to get every vote that we can to stop this kind of radical legislation.”
In addition to endorsing Harbick, she said Oregon Right to Life has sent mailers and gone door to door in the district to raise awareness of Conrad’s voting record.
Conrad said his positions on gender-affirming care and abortion are based on what he saw on the street as a police officer.
“We have youth that may not have good parents at home that support them, that are there to help them,” he said. “I always want to make sure that we take care of our youth first and foremost. And even though it’s a small number, it’s vital that even if one of them is in an unsafe situation that we enable her to have that support system, and make those decisions that are right for her.”
Conrad said being a lawmaker is about more than hot-button issues – he said he took hundreds of votes during his term.
“You hear everything, education, education funding, complex formulas, community corrections act,” he said. “Those are just a lot of things that off the top of my head that we deal with all the time, and we talk about all the time. It’s not one issue.”
If voters re-elect him he plans to focus on preserving rural healthcare access by supporting a proposal that would limit private equity investment and corporate consolidation.
He also hopes to continue efforts to make the district more resilient against wildfire and other natural disasters.
In campaign materials, Harbick has said he supports school choice and preserving Oregon’s income tax kicker. He’s also advocated for harvesting more timber from forests, arguing thinning will protect the region from wildfire.
Harbick is endorsed by the two most conservative Lane County commissioners, David Loveall and Ryan Ceniga.
Conrad has the support of Lane County District Attorney Patty Perlow as well as a handful of sitting state lawmakers.
There is no Democrat running in this race, which means that the winner of the partisan primary will likely be headed to Salem next year.
