Program date: Oct. 16, 2026
Air date: Oct. 19, 2026
From the City Club of Eugene:
In the upcoming election, voters in Congressional District 4 will have the choice of three candidates for representative. Running against incumbent Democrat Val Hoyle are Monique DeSpain, Republican, and Justin Filip, Pacific Green Party. In this forum, all questions are asked by KLCC moderator Rebecca Hansen-White.
Speakers:
Monique DeSpain served our nation for 30 years in the U.S. Air Force, Air Force Reserve, and Oregon Air National Guard, retiring as a Colonel in 2019. A Willamette law graduate, she spent 20 of those years as a Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps attorney at home and overseas, handling investigations, developing policy, and advising senior commanders on military justice and ethics.
In private practice at the Kevin Mannix Law Firm and as legal counsel for Common Sense for Oregon, she has advocated for crime victims, businesses, government transparency, and commonsense policy reform.
An Oregonian since 1995, she raised her twin boys in Eugene as a single mother. Monique is running for Congress in Oregon’s 4th District to bring an independent voice to Washington and fight for policies that reduce crime, tackle homelessness, secure our borders, stop the flow of deadly drugs, and restore a prosperous, affordable economy for Oregon families.
Justin Filip is a different kind of candidate, running a different kind of campaign. He is running independent of the two major parties that have let us down time and time again.
His working background is diverse – a former factory worker, baseball coach, and educator, Justin has a unique perspective and an ability to relate to folks from all walks of life.
Justin recognizes that our rural communities, smaller towns, and big cities alike have been left behind by a government that prioritizes the needs of the donor class over the needs of the people. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can do better, and you deserve better representation.
Congresswoman Val Hoyle has built a career fighting for working people. Before entering public service, she worked in the private sector in retail sales and international trade for 25 years. Val then served as the Majority Leader in the Oregon Legislature and as Oregon’s Labor Commissioner, where she fought to expand apprenticeship and job training programs and ensure workers were paid the wages and benefits they were owed.
In Congress, Val worked to pass critical funding for rural schools, protect Social Security, save Newport’s Coast Guard helicopter, and is fighting against the Trump administration’s cuts to healthcare, education, SNAP food assistance and attacks on vote-by-mail. Val successfully had part of her housing legislation included in a congressionally passed bipartisan housing bill, and continues to be a champion for reproductive healthcare and abortion rights.
Biographies are provided by the speaker and edited for length/proofreading by City Club of Eugene.
About the City Club of Eugene:
The mission of the City Club of Eugene is to build community vision through open inquiry. The Club explores a wide range of significant local, state, and national issues and helps to formulate new approaches and solutions to problems. Membership is open to all, and Club members have a direct influence on public policy by discussing issues of concern with elected officials and other policy makers. The City Club’s mailing address is PO Box 12084, Eugene, OR 97440, and its website is cityclubofeugene.org.
Video and Broadcast
This program will be live streamed, and the videotape will be made available on the City Club of Eugene’s Facebook page and You Tube Channel, in addition to our website. It will be broadcast on Monday, Oct. 19 at 7:00 p.m., on KLCC 89.7 FM.
Contact: For more information, visit CityClubOfEugene.org.
