Know Your Candidates 2022: Kerry McQuisten (R), running for Oregon governor

Throughout the 2022 election, KATU News is helping you “Know Your Candidates” with a series of interviews with people who will appear on your ballot.

We are asking local candidates running for the same office the same series of questions, so you can compare their answers.

Candidates for Oregon governor were given questionnaires to answer.

Read the responses from Kerry McQuisten, a Republican, below.

IN THREE OR FOUR SENTENCES, TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF.

I’m a business owner, not a politician. In 2007, I left my career as a corporate executive behind and started my own small publishing house, building it from the ground up. I was raised on a cattle ranch in Baker County where my family ran cattle and managed our timber. I’m a 7th generation Oregonian; my daughters are 8th generation, so my roots run deep in this state. I currently serve as mayor of Baker City where I earned national media attention for my stand against the mandates that resulted in a statewide coalition of elected local officials who then did the same.

WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?

I remember what it used to feel like to live in Oregon. I remember the freedoms we had here as a child. I want that pioneer spirit back. Oregon is upside down in almost every category due to four decades of Democrat-led mismanagement. We spend the most on education with the least results. We have the greatest need for mental health services, but the least available. We have the highest drug use, skyrocketing crime, catastrophic wildfires and more. I’m running to break the establishment mold and flip Oregon right-side-up again.

WHAT MAKES YOU UNIQUELY QUALIFIED TO BE GOVERNOR?

I’m the only candidate with years of hands-on experience in the natural resources industries – ranching, mining, farming and logging – and we need those industries to thrive if we want a healthy economy. I’m a business owner, and those private industry skills are essential to knowing how to operate an efficient organization, including the state. As mayor, I am part of the legislative branch of city government. I routinely handle issues related to public safety (police and fire), statute interpretation and implementation, budgeting, water, wastewater, infrastructure, collective bargaining, homelessness, and then some. Finally, being from rural eastern Oregon but with a degree from Willamette University in Salem, I understand every single county in the state. This combination makes me a truly unique candidate.

WHAT IS THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE FACING OREGONIANS AND WHAT WILL YOU DO, AS GOVERNOR, TO ADDRESS IT?

There is no solitary issue at this point. All issues fall under the umbrella of two categories: correcting gross mismanagement and restoring the loss of constitutional freedoms. My decisions, whether it comes to fighting crime or supporting our ag industry and everything in between, will come from a new perspective of increasing local management, cutting wasteful spending, and preventing government expansion into the lives of Oregonians.

HOW WOULD YOU BRIDGE THE PARTISAN DIVIDE IN OREGON?

All three branches of our government are controlled by the Democrat party. There must be a separation of powers if the voters in both parties are to feel represented. As governor, I will provide a conservative check and balance to the liberal legislature.

AS GOVERNOR WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY ABOUT THE HOMELESS CRISIS IN THE PORTLAND METRO AREA?

Nearly everything. My experience as Mayor of Baker City, and my interaction with various organizations that deal with homelessness issues on a daily basis, have shown me loud and clear that failed state policies have created this situation. This is NOT just a Portland Metro problem; it has spread to every area of Oregon. We need to reverse bad legislation that prevents city police, councils and city managers from handling homeless camps at the level they are best handled: locally. This will prevent the segment of the homeless population that chooses this lifestyle from being enabled to continue doing so at the expense of the rest of our people. We can’t paint all homeless with that brush, though. No one wants people to suffer, and that is the case with the other section of the homeless population – those who are trapped by mental health issues and addiction, which are intertwined. Housing-first does not work. We need to stop simply resourcing supplies, and redirect the budget toward independent programs with hard timelines and goals to treat the homeless briefly during crisis, get the person whatever individual help is needed, and then follow up as he or she establishes a household of their own. We will know we have success when Oregon’s homeless population shrinks and those programs in turn shrink. A growing homeless population and bigger programs are failure. The goal is to give the homeless an off-ramp from their current circumstances, not create an industry filled with jobs related to handling homelessness.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST DRIVER OF HOMELESSNESS STATE-WIDE AND HOW WOULD YOU ADDRESS IT?

Please see my previous response on the same topic. In a nutshell: failed legislation, misplaced resources, misplaced mercy, and lack of mental health services. The legislation needs reversed. Resourcing as enabling would be stopped. Mental health facilities would be properly funded, starting with a focus on the needs of our veterans.

AS GOVERNOR, WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY TO ADDRESS GUN VIOLENCE IN THE PORTLAND METRO AREA? WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE BIGGEST FACTOR DRIVING THE RECENT SPIKE IN GUN VIOLENCE IN PORTLAND?

There is no “gun violence” any more than there is “knife violence” or “fist violence.” Violence is violence. Firearms are simply tools. Why violence has spiked is not rocket science. We have a governor creating a pro-crime environment. Our police are not supported or allowed to adequately do their jobs. Criminals are caught and released, not prosecuted. Prisons are closed, or kept at partial capacity, resulting again in that “catch and release” system. Finally, we have the governor herself pardoning violent rapists and murderers with no regard to victims or their families. Criminals are keenly aware that if they want to get away with crimes, now is the time to do it. I’ve personally heard criminals say exactly that.

By the way, I’m a fierce supporter of our Second Amendment rights. In 2018, I helped wordsmith and get my county’s Second Amendment Preservation Ordinance on the ballot; it passed. This past year, I helped pass a similar protection as a resolution at a city level, as mayor.

HOW WOULD YOU, AS GOVERNOR, HELP OREGONIANS DEAL WITH INFLATION?

I would help Oregonians “deal” with inflation by not enacting policies that contribute to the creation of more. So let’s look at just some causes of inflation: Growth in public spending. I will cut administrative waste out of my proposed biennial budget, and out of daily operations.

Monopoly of trade unions. Unions have a time and place to protect workers in many positive ways, but due to over-protection legislatively, these days, negotiations are resulting in wages that far exceed what normal market circumstances would create. Then cities, states, etc. are forced to also raise the wages of nonrepresented positions if they want to keep employees. To make up for that expense, the cost of goods and services must be raised, and that puts a tax burden on our citizens.

Reduction in supply when demand remains high. We see this situation in housing – and we all know housing prices are through the roof. I will work to see the reduction of the length of permitting processes and the associated fees whenever possible. We are also seeing this in our food supply. I will veto legislation that hurts our farmers, ranchers, miners, fisherman and loggers. I will implement programs like a CIS system for ranchers to specially market and ship Oregon beef, for example, and advocate for establishing more local processors. When our producers can’t produce because there’s no money reaching their own pockets, demand drops and prices rise. This is the opposite of what we need.

Increased taxation. I will veto new taxes.

Rising labor costs in general. Minimum wage laws do not work, except to create inflation. Forced overtime bills, like the one we just saw pass in agriculture, are damaging to the workers and the employers.

HOW WOULD YOU HELP OREGONIANS WITH HIGHER GAS PRICES?

First, I would join a coalition of other conservative governors to push back against the Biden administration’s abysmal failure and creation of the gas price situation. I will remove fringe-environmental OARs and government programs that add related tax and fee burdens, and veto any new fuel taxes. I would also like to see Oregon follow the trend of other states that have issued a moratorium on their state fuel taxes.

DO YOU SUPPORT MAKING THE HEAD OF OREGON SCHOOLS AN ELECTED POSITION?

I preferred it when this position was an elected position, yes.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST LESSON FROM THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC?

The biggest lesson was a wakeup call on how fragile freedom truly is. We have a rogue governor who took advantage of the COVID situation in order to implement severely overreaching mandates that damaged our citizens. We also have citizens who no longer remember that the power of the government is derived from the consent of the governed. Oregonians have forgotten it’s our duty to stop consenting when our government is doing things like using a pandemic to tell us where and how we can worship, and even if we are allowed to keep our businesses open in order to earn a living. Oregon’s reaction to the pandemic was a clear lesson in how necessary it is to reinstate the principles that were foremost in the minds of our founding fathers, before those principles are lost. We need a governor who will not abuse her own powers or seize powers she never was intended to have in the first place.

PEOPLE IN SEVERAL OREGON COUNTIES HAVE VOTED TO LEAVE THIS STATE AND JOIN IDAHO. IT’S UNLIKELY TO HAPPEN, BUT WHAT WOULD YOU DO, AS GOVERNOR, TO MAKE THEM WANT TO STAY IN OREGON?

I’m the only candidate sitting here in eastern Oregon on the side of the state that wants to leave the state. I hear that sentiment almost daily. Think for just a minute how bad things have to be in Oregon for so many people to reach this level of frustration. My solution is to elect a qualified candidate from rural eastern Oregon, but who has also lived in western Oregon, and actually understands the ENTIRE state. My knowledge and understanding of our state are coming from a unique point of view that will be reflected in all my decisions, which will bridge that rural-urban divide very quickly.

WHO IS YOUR HERO, AND WHY?

I think the term “hero” has become watered down over the years. To me, a hero is someone like the police and firefighters who ran into the towers during 9/11, or our military men and women who put their lives on the line to preserve our freedoms.

Read here: Know Your Candidates 2022: Kerry McQuisten (R), running for Oregon governor