Oregon labor commissioner race draws range of candidates, including former Bend state rep

(Update: Adding video, comment from candidates)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Among those running to be the commissioner of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries -- a nonpartisan, statewide race that has drawn relatively little attention -- are a sports physiologist, a farmer and county commissioner, a civil rights attorney and a restaurateur and former state representative from Bend.

BOLI, as it's often called, is a civil rights watchdog, focusing on labor laws and protections for workers.

“The BOLI commissioner upholds civil rights, makes sure we have fair housing and makes sure that we have a workforce that matches our work for our labor demands," candidate Cheri Helt told NewsChannel 21 on Monday.

Added another candidate, Casey Kulla, "The Bureau of Labor Industry educates, right? Educates and enforces state laws about workplace rights.”

The current labor commissioner, Val Hoyle, is stepping down from the post to run for the Fourth Congressional District seat being left vacated by Rep. Peter DeFazio's retirement after this current term.

If one candidate in the May 17 primary election gets over 50% of the votes, he or she will win the position. If no one gets above 50%, the top-two vote getters will advance to a runoff in November.

The declared candidates are Helt, Kulla, Christina Stephenson, Brent Barker, Aaron Baca, Robert Neuman and Chris Henry. Henry has already announced he is dropping out of the race.

Helt, a Bend restaurant owner, was the former state representative for Bend and also served on the Bend-La Pine School Board.

“I want to turn around a failing agency," she said. Monday "This agency currently has a backlog of unassigned civil rights cases, and I have the right experience and the passion to change that.”

Stephenson is a civil rights attorney and small business owner in Portland.

“The labor commissioner’s job is to make sure that all the workers, small business owners and side-hustlers who make our economy run know they have someone on their side," Stephenson said in a statement provided to NewsChannel 21. "My tiny civil rights law firm has gone toe-to-toe with Wall Street’s biggest banks and companies like Walmart and Amazon, and we’ve beat them in court."

Casey Kulla is a farmer and current Yamhill County commissioner.

“I've had employees, I'd been a farm worker," Kulla said. "So I had the experience of seeing kind of both sides, both the employer responsibilities and the vulnerability of workers.”

Brent Barker is a small business owner and Coldwell Banker Oregon commercial principal broker from Aloha. He is also a nationally accredited exercise physiologist.

Aaron Baca is an electrician from Cornelius.

Robert Neuman lists himself as a "general laborer" from Greenhorn.

"People are not applying for jobs that they would easily get, because of the way that the jobs are being advertised," Neuman said in a statement to NewsChannel 21. "I have a background and helping businesses, including startups. Which means that oftentimes, many of these organizations are severely underfunded., much like BOLI has continued to be."

Barker and Baca were unable to do interviews on Monday and did not provide statements. Barker said he would be speaking in Central Oregon on Tuesday and Wednesday.