Five Democrats seeking Walden’s seat speak in Bend

Five Democratic candidates hoping to take the 2nd Congressional District seat of Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., in next year’s election spoke at a forum in Bend Monday evening.

Hood River resident Eric Burnette said he wants to help working families and that he did not agree with Walden’s health care decision.

“I watched him write the ‘fat and failed’ Obamacare (repeal) language and I thought ‘Okay, with full knowledge that you are going to be putting 30,000 to 40,000 of your own constituents off health care, with no viable alternative, and you went ahead and did that,'” Burnette said. “That is never okay.”

Jim Crary, who lives 20 miles east of Ashland, said he ran in 2016 because of campaign finance reform, and he wants to focus on that again. He said he believes too much money goes into campaigns and it only helps a small group of rich and powerful people.

“My idea is to give a voice to the people, and I have a campaign finance reform idea,” Crary said. “It’s basically public financing of elections, and it would get people engaged. It wouldn’t get rid of big money in politics, but it would neutralize and overwhelm it.”

Crary said hopes to also address man-made climate climate change, Medicare for everyone and Social Security issues.

Bend resident Tim White said he has four issues he would address: a lack of jobs in the district, gross income inequality, the cost of health care, and the health of the environment. Overall, he wants more employment opportunities.

“I want to build some interstates — I want a north-south interstate and I want an east-west interstate for transportation that is suitable for companies,” White said. “Once we do that, then I want to concentrate on solar farms, with 300-plus days of solar power available to us. Why don’t we create renewable energies?”

Terrebonne resident Jamie McLeod-Skinner said she believes the district needs to do a better job managing its resources, taking care of veterans and providing access to to education, among other issues.

“The district is not being taken care of, there are dollars that are not being brought to our district, and there’s not a focus on climate change,” McLeod-Skinner said. “There’s been an attack on our health care system, and all Oregonians need better access to health care.”

Parkdale resident Michael Byrne wants to address what he believes are some serious problems with the health care system.

“The biggest problem we are going to have in making this transition is dealing with the employer plans that are already in place, because they insure most of the people in this country,” Byrne said. “Somehow, we have to work a transition. It’s going to be painful, and it’s going to take 10 years, but it has to be done.”

There were originally six candidates scheduled to appear the forum, but organizers said one has dropped out of the race for personal reasons.