A farmer and a local mayor are competing for an open legislative seat in Linn County

The race to represent a rural Oregon House district made up primarily of Linn County features the mayor of Lebanon and a family farmer from Scio vying for an open seat.

Oregon House District 11’s current representative, Republican Jami Cate, chose to run for the State Senate rather than seek a third term in the House. She lost in the primary to Jack Tibbetts of Cottage Grove.

Taking Cate’s place on the Republican ticket is Ken Jackola, the current mayor of Lebanon who has also worked in management roles at Albany & Eastern Railroad Company and Rick Franklin Corporation.

His opponent, Democrat Ivan Maluski, is a farmer and rancher who has also worked as a policy director for Friends of Family Farmers, ran against Cate in 2024 as a nonaffiliated candidate.

A major issue for Jackola is making Oregon more business-friendly so it can thrive economically. Doing so, he said, could help the state grow revenue and close a budget gap.

"Liking a big government or liking a small government doesn't matter,” he said. “What we need is a strong economic base within the state, and we don't have that currently."

He thinks that repealing the state’s Corporate Activity Tax would help do that.

“I understand the theory behind [CAT],” he said. “And I understand it was done in good faith and it was done to correct some financial shortcomings within the state for education. However, it has a byproduct of chasing business out of the state.”

He said repealing the tax would also decrease the cost of goods in Oregon.

“What it actually does is just raise the cost of living within the state of Oregon because no business absorbs taxes,” said Jackola.

Maluski said closing the budget gap should fall on large companies and wealthy Oregonians.

“We may need to shift around how upper income earners in the state are paying into that, and in particular our individuals in that super high category of income,” he said.

Maluski said a top issue for him is finding a way that Oregon can begin work on a universal healthcare plan.

“It's going to be a top tier issue that the legislature takes on in 2027. I'm committed to making it happen as long as it's more affordable for working class folks, for middle class folks,” he said.

He said federal cuts will likely mean such a plan would go into full effect years down the line, but removing the profit motive from health insurance would go a long ways in making it a reality.

Maluski thinks Oregon should follow in the footsteps of North Dakota and become the second U.S. state to operate a state-owned bank.

He said that would create a second industry where Oregonians would benefit from a lack of a profit motive.

“Getting out low-interest lending is very key to helping businesses start and grow and [allowing] folks to refinance and bring their homes or finance a new home and get their costs down,” he said.

On education, Jackola said the state needs to cede more control to local elected authorities.

“When I have a complaint about my schools, who do I talk to?” he said. “When it's a local school board, they're held accountable by being local. Okay, who do I go at the state and talk to? I have no idea.”

For Maluski, a major issue in schools is the 900-990 hours of required instructional time in Oregon schools, placing it among the lowest in the nation.

“I think we need to lengthen the school year and get more classroom days, more instruction time, and we're going to have to figure out how to make that happen,” he said. “But I think it's absolutely critical because I really do believe that kids are falling behind when they have so much time away from school.”

The largely-rural district covers much of Linn County–not including Albany–as well as a small portion of Marion County.

38% of voters in HD 11 are registered Republicans, 17% are registered Democrats and 37% are unaffiliated.