Oregon state Rep. Boomer Wright is not seeking re-election to his coastal seat this year, leaving two newcomers running to fill his seat in the legislature.
The district has been represented by Wright, a Republican, since 2021, but the area was represented by Democrat Caddy McKeown prior.
According to the Oregon Secretary of State’s office, Republicans outnumber Democrats by about 2,500 votes in the district, although the largest single category of registered voters is “unaffiliated.”
The Republican in the race, Claire Lynn of Florence, thinks she could be a voice for those she would represent, just as Wright is.
“My commitment is that I will be the voice for my district, for the businesses in my district, and for the people,” she said. “And my goal is, yes, as a member of the super minority, finding places where I can help change or provide amendments to bills if the supermajority is, you know, dead set on doing something to at least make it more feasible.”
Her opponent, Democrat John Ezra Scheirman of North Bend, feels the district and the state would do better with someone who goes along with the Democratic majority in Salem.
“I think that we do need Democrats in the House of Representatives that are going to work with the Democratic majority to get things done because the way it works, you have to fish for people to join in, and then they want to modify the bill,” he said. “And by the time it gets through, it's not the bill that you wanted.”
Scheirman, who retired from the electronics engineering industry and now drives a school bus in North Bend, thinks the state’s biggest economic need is improved transportation infrastructure.
“Oregon's very attractive as a place to live, but we need to improve the transportation to the valley, to the coast, nicer places to live that aren't all bought up yet,” he said.
Lynn, who works for her family timber company and has worked in the federal and state government, thinks Oregon needs to become more business friendly, particularly with taxes.
“I hear from businesses all the time about Oregon's Corporate Activity Tax, which many businesses are having to pass down onto consumers essentially as a hidden sales tax,” she said.
Lynn also thinks the state would benefit from refocusing education back to the basics, mentioning how the legislature mandated climate change curriculum last year.
“I'm not even going there about climate change,” she said. “But I do think if our kids are struggling to read, write, and do math, why are we asking more of our teachers, of our schools, without additional funding attached?”
Scheirman said education funding needs to be a priority to ensure schools continue to improve after a large post-COVID pandemic drop in test scores.
“We're not going to fix these problems by trying to wring more money out of education,” he said. “We're going to have to try and put more back in.”
When it comes to balancing the state budget, Scheirman believes that increasing revenue to make up for a decrease in federal funds is necessary.
He is a fan of a wealth tax plan that organizers failed to place on this year’s ballot and will attempt to put before voters in 2028.
“If that was marketed better, we could get signatures and get that on a ballot,” he said. “We need to expand the tax base up to include those who can really afford it.”
While Lynn thinks the state needs to be more thoughtful with how it spends taxpayer money.
“It's not a budget problem or a money problem. It's a priorities problem,” she said. “We have a budget that's doubled in the last 10 years. We have a $140 billion state budget. It's a priorities problem.”
House District 9 stretches east to west from Elmira to Florence and south to Coos Bay, encompassing parts of Lane, Douglas and Coos counties.
