Press Release
*For Immediate Release*
“Friends of Jesse Smith,” a registered Oregon PAC, is pleased to announce that Jesse S. Smith is running for the Oregon State House of Representatives to represent House District 18. The district includes Silverton, Molalla, Mt. Angel, Hubbard, Donald, Aurora, Scotts Mills, and Colton.
Smith, a Democrat, has been a resident of Silverton since 2012. He has two children who attend public school in the Silver Falls School District. His wife is a respected local professional.
“Winning this campaign will require building a broad coalition,” says Smith. “We hope to unite the hardcore party base, who are the most reliable Democratic voters, with a sizable voting bloc of more moderate Democrats and unaffiliated voters, who together outnumber all the registered Republicans in this district.”
Smith hopes to build that winning coalition by listening to constituents with empathy.
“I believe that the people of House District 18 are proud of their moderate sensibilities, their sense of community, and their deeply held core values of compassion, dignity, and respect,” Smith says with a smile. “By uniting these broadly shared ideals of tolerance and empathy, together with the progressive policies and passion of the party base, we hope to bring the people of House District 18 together in a sense of shared purpose.”
Asked why he’s running, Smith admits to a competitive streak. “In some past elections, the Republican incumbent in this district has run unopposed! And that ain’t right. We’ve got endemic poverty in this district – you know, the poverty rate in Hubbard is around 15% – and we could change that, if we paid the workers a living wage. I have always believed, if someone works for a living, they should be able to live on their wages. And if the system is broken, then we gotta bust out the toolkit, put on our work clothes, and fix it!”
Smith says he will be writing most of the campaign’s promotional materials, website content, and announcements himself.
“Yeah, we’re runnin’ this thing on a shoestring,” he chuckles. “We can’t afford staff or anything like that. Eventually we’ll be asking for volunteers to help us knock on doors and get out the vote, but for now it’s pretty much just me, a beat-up old laptop, and some accountants to help with the campaign finance disclosure requirements.”
Interested parties are invited to visit the campaign website at https://www.smithfororegon.org (note the o-r-g) to learn more, donate to the campaign, and get involved.