Republican challenger Monique DeSpain (left) and Democrat incumbent Val Hoyle (right) are running for the Oregon U.S. House 4th District. Pictured in undated images provided by the campaigns.
Staff / OPB
the fate of the nation seems to ride on which of the major party presidential candidates will win the November election, the stakes are arguably as high for Congressional races around the country. The result of a couple dozen of them — including a few in Oregon — will determine whether Republicans or Democrats control the House. In the 4th District, Val Hoyle is a first-term incumbent Democrat who’s fending off a challenge from Republican candidate Monique DeSpain. They join us for back-to-back interviews outlining the defining issues of their race and why voters should send them to Congress to represent the Oregonians in District 4.
Note: The following transcript was transcribed digitally and validated for accuracy, readability and formatting by an OPB volunteer.
Dave Miller: This is Think Out Loud on OPB, I’m Dave Miller. We start today with Oregon’s 4th Congressional District. It includes most of the Oregon Coast, as well as Eugene and Corvallis and other parts of Lane, Benton, and Douglas counties. The Democrat Val Hoyle won the seat for the first time in 2022. She is a former Oregon labor commissioner and state lawmaker. She’s running for re-election against Republican Monique DeSpain, an Air Force veteran and attorney. We’ll hear from DeSpain in about 15 minutes, but Val Hoyle joins us now. Welcome back to the show.
Val Hoyle: Thank you so much. Appreciate you having me on
Miller: You put reproductive healthcare at the top of your list of issues. What exactly would you push for, if you were reelected?
Hoyle: Well, what we need to do is restate the protections that we had under Roe v Wade. Now, I know people are saying, and certainly my Republican opponent is saying, that we should leave it up to the states. But women in Texas, in Georgia, in Idaho, are dying. OB/GYN’s are leaving these states because they don’t want to be subjected to a 99-year prison sentence for performing necessary care on pregnant women. So this does affect us all.
For those who want to be complacent and say, “Well, we already have protections in Oregon,” we had protections before Roe v Wade and we were told, “Don’t worry about it, that’s settled law.”Well, that was overturned. And with Republican administrations, they could use the FDA to make it difficult to get Mifepristone and other drugs. I mean, the bottom line is, the only protection against a national ban against abortion and reproductive healthcare is to reinstate, through Congress, signed into the president, the protections we had under Roe v Wade. And that is what I will fight for.
Miller: Given the political realities of Congress and the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, in particular, how likely do you think it is that any kind of nationwide abortion law – a ban or the codification of Roe that you want to see – that either of those would ever get close to passing?
Hoyle: Well, we have to keep trying. And what we’re seeing is, in conservative states – states like Montana, states like Florida – that there are ballot measures to overturn the egregious abortion bans that criminalize abortion, make it illegal, before most women even know they’re pregnant. So it is something we have to work towards. And it’s a long shot in the Senate, but if we can keep the Senate, then we can get Supreme Court Justices approved that believe that a healthcare decision on abortion, on reproductive health, should be between a woman and their medical provider.
Miller: Sticking with other aspects of healthcare: How do you propose to help people struggling with, say, the high cost of insurance premiums, or obtaining affordable healthcare coverage?
Hoyle: Before I got into the legislature, I had a 25-year career in the cycling industry, and domestic and international trade. And then I worked with the United Way of Lane County. This is previous to the Affordable Care Act, when we had a 21% uninsured rate. After the Affordable Care Act, we’re in low single digits, but we still have to make sure we have access. So affordability and access are two things we have to work on.
Access means having medical providers, whether it’s through telehealth or making sure that we have housing for the workforce in our rural communities. These are real barriers. In Coos Bay, they were trying to recruit a doctor for the Bay Area Hospital. That doctor could not find housing to rent or to buy. And we’re seeing this throughout the state and throughout the country. So there are a number of things we can do.
One is calling out people in the healthcare industry that are not operating in good faith. I think we saw with United Health Care, when you have investment firms that are buying up healthcare to make money and not focused on making sure you’re treating people. Again, we’ve seen United Health Care, the issues we had in Eugene and Corvallis were egregious. So we need to call out bad actors. I believe that we need Medicare for All, so that everyone has a basic level of health care, that’s important.
But again, access – and access means making sure that we have the training available for people at all levels of healthcare, service providers from your medical and surgical techs up to our doctors, and that means tuition forgiveness, apprenticeship and certification programs, and training people in the communities we want them to work in. But, I will tell you, housing underlies a lot of our issues in having the availability of healthcare providers.
Miller: Well, let’s turn to that more squarely. What role does Congress have, does the federal government have, in terms of increasing housing supply?
Hoyle: That’s an important question, and understanding the difference between the role of the federal government, the state and local municipalities is critical. What the federal government can do is work with the state and local municipalities on solutions that work for them. The solution in Portland, or down here in Eugene and Corvallis is gonna be very different than that in Brookings, Coos Bay or Roseburg. And on the coast – everywhere on the coast has half a percent vacancy or less.
So what we can do is what I’ve done, which is bring in investments for community priorities – like $4 million for workforce housing in the city of North Bend. And then also passed legislation that gives tax credits for builders who are building low-income and middle income housing. We cannot have more low-income housing without building housing at every other level.
Also expanding opportunities for first time home buyers and expanding Section 8 programs, those programs that help low income renters. But the biggest issue that we have here in Oregon, and quite frankly across the country, is there isn’t enough housing stock. So I’m working with Senator Wyden on programs that will give those tax credits and incentives to work with local communities to build more housing.
Miller: What congressional action would you support in terms of border security at the southern border, in particular, or broader changes to immigration policy?
Hoyle: I think this is a “both/and” situation. We have got to appropriately fund border security – there’s no question. I’ve been down to the border. I have talked to border patrol agents. They are working with equipment that is 10 years old, while we have cartels who are having people who legally can come through the border, bringing fentanyl, bringing other drugs, and trafficking over the border. The fact of the matter is, we need to give them the tools, the most updated tools and the resources to do their job.
We also need to update our immigration system. Right now, we have a broken system, because we have one party that wants to complain about the problem and not do anything about it. So whether that’s updating our work visa program, making sure people can apply for asylum before they come to the country, increasing the number of judges that adjudicate these asylum petitions. And again, right now, we have a very, very narrow way people can come into the country, and we need to expand that.
There’s a bipartisan bill in the House, it’s called the Dignity Act, and I have signed on to that. It does both – updates our broken immigration system and invests in border security. There was an extremely conservative border security bill that was ready to come through the Senate, written by James Lankford, one of the most, conservative Senators in the Senate. Donald Trump called and said, “I don’t want to fix the problem. It might help Joe Biden. So don’t do what’s right for America, kill this bill,” and that’s what Republicans did. And that is why I’m running in this seat and I want to make sure Hakeem Jeffries is Speaker of the House, because I know he’ll do what’s right for our country. I know that he will certify the next election if he is the speaker, and that is critical and important that we have access to our Democracy.
Miller: What congressional action on climate change would you support?
Hoyle: I think it’s everything that we can do, as soon as possible. Joe Biden was significantly helped by Peter DeFazio, who helped write the last bipartisan Infrastructure bill that was the largest investment in green energy that we have had, ever, in the history of this country. So one, it’s rebuilding infrastructure. Two, it’s addressing how we deal with the natural disasters that we are seeing because of climate change. Previously, we’d have large natural disasters once every six months or so, FEMA would come in. Four-fifths – 20,000 of their 25,000 employees – are temporary Stafford Act employees. We have not updated our systems and we haven’t updated how we pay for recovery, to address a changing climate.
So one, I have proposed and sponsored a bill for FEMA to be a cabinet level office. Two, we need to make sure that when we’re paying to rebuild, we are doing it in a resilient way. And three, we need to have every agency in the government understand that the climate crisis is real – from our wildfires here, to hurricanes that are larger than we’ve ever seen, because of overheating oceans. The fact is, this is a crisis and we have to do everything we can from every single agency, to move to green energy as quickly as possible.
Miller: One of the central themes of Monique DeSpain’s arguments against your reelection bid is her allegation that you had an improper relationship with the owners of La Mota, the cannabis company that’s been the subject of liens, and fines, and a federal lawsuit. She’s going to be on after you on this show, and I assume she’s going to bring this issue up. I want to give you a chance now to provide your side of the story.
Hoyle: Of course, she’s going to bring that up. And if the allegations that she accused me of were true, they would certainly be disturbing. She has gone around and said that I’ve gotten federal subpoenas. There is no evidence that I have gotten a federal subpoena. I would know, they would have delivered it to me. The fact of the matter is there were a lot of people that were taken in by La Mota. Yes, I had relationships with them as business owners in a billion-dollar industry in Oregon. The cannabis industry is a billion-dollar industry in Oregon …
Miller: Campaign contributions as well.
Hoyle: They make contributions to me, just like they did to many other people. And I had relationships with hundreds of business owners who came before BOLI, and lots of labor unions. But with them, a nonprofit who were affiliated with La Mota applied for a grant. That grant process was firewalled for me as the commissioner, both the decision process that was overseen by the Multnomah County Auditor. I wasn’t able to weigh in on what grants were brought forward, and I did not vote on the grant. I chaired the apprenticeship council, which is a public body of employers, union reps and employee reps who made decisions on those grants. They unanimously voted for it. I did not vote on that. But again, we put in very, very clear barriers between me and the process, because to do otherwise wouldn’t have been appropriate.
Now, she’s just gonna keep going, saying I’m under federal investigation, because you can’t prove you’re not under federal investigation. But I assure you, I would know if I was under federal investigation and had gotten subpoenas. And I have not.
Miller: I want to end with a big picture question. How would you describe your philosophy of the purpose of government? And, I should say that you have been in government for a number of terms in this legislature, and then the Bureau of Labor and Industries, now in Congress, for a big chunk of your life. What is, in your mind, the purpose of government?
Hoyle: Just to take a step back, I came into public service after coming up as a union member, working my way through school with a union job, 25 years in the private sector, as I said, manufacturing, distribution, international and domestic sales. So I have had a solid 30-plus year career in the private sector, and again in the labor movement, before I came to public service. I see government as very, very, very, very important, but government is not the same as business.
Government should be there to make sure we’re investing in infrastructures to have an appropriate safety net. I do not believe that we should have the government involved in every aspect of our lives. But the role of government is to assist society. Again, my role, I believe, is to make sure that I’m listening to my constituents and that I’m bringing our federal taxpayer dollars back to this community to work on the projects that are our priority.
This district, over 17,000 square miles, has very, very rural communities, urban communities, has two universities, has a lot of people who want housing and jobs, and are concerned about affordability of everyday things. So what I focus on is making the investments that can help us build our economy, help people find a path to a middle-class lifestyle.
That is why I’m working so hard on the Port of Coos Bay Intermodal Project that will bring 8,000 jobs to the South Coast, and that is not a small thing. When we lost the timber industry, the economic engine here on the South Coast got undermined. And what I’m going to work on is making sure that we have these investments so that we can help private industry and the government come together to provide the pathway, so that people can have these good jobs.
Miller: Val Hoyle, thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it.
Hoyle: All right. Thank you so much, I appreciate you.
Miller: Val Hoyle, Democratic Representative for Oregon’s 4th Congressional District.
I’m joined now by her Republican challenger, retired Colonel Monique DeSpain. DeSpain had a 30-year career in the US Air Force, the Air Force Reserve and the Oregon Air National Guard. For 20 of those years, she served as a lawyer with the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. She has also had a private legal practice. Monique DeSpain, welcome to Think Out Loud.
Monique DeSpain: Hi, Dave. Thanks for having me.
Miller: Thanks very much for your time. You put border security and immigration reform at the top of your list of priorities on your website. What would you push for at the southern border, and in terms of immigration reform more broadly?
DeSpain: Well, I have it at the top of my list of priorities because the people who live in the 4th District in Oregon, and all of Oregon, have it at the top of their priorities. In fact, that’s polling as the number one concern across the country. So I would support anything we need to do, all the above solutions to securing our border, which is a separate issue from immigration reform. We’ve needed immigration reform for decades – 30, 40 years. And I’m all about working with anyone who wants to improve that slow, plodding, costly system that just is almost inhumane in how slow and expensive it is. So that’s one thing.
But border security is a national security function. It’s a primary function of the federal government, and there was a border bill, House Bill 2, that our current Congresswoman voted against. That bill would have restarted physical barriers, restarting the building of the wall. I saw piles of portions of the wall just waiting to be installed, new equipment that the executive order halted. The Biden administration halted the installation of new, up-to-date equipment for surveillance, for lighting – I saw that with my own eyes.
The bill would have ended the Biden catch-and-release policy that is currently allowing millions of illegal immigrants to be arrested at the border and then released into our interior. It would have stopped the 650,000 criminals that are in our country now, arrested and released. That came out in a very recent ICE … Director of Ice Report – 650,000, either convicted, about 400,000 convicted murderers, rapists, the whole … terrible crimes, and another 200,000 that are pending criminal charges. Anyway, I would have supported that bill that did pass the House and sits collecting dust in the Senate. So that is just a primary function that is causing mass problems across our country.
Oregon, this district in particular, is the victim of a lot of fentanyl poisoning and major drug addiction problems … which a good portion of our homeless have either drug addiction problems, mostly fentanyl, and also mental health conditions, often that are rooted in drug abuse. It’s just we’re feeling it right here in our communities and it starts with a secure border, because that is where the fentanyl is coming from. It’s where the humans that are being trafficked are coming from, and we need to put a halt to that. At the same time, of course, we need to address immigration reform.
Miller: I want to turn to housing policy, one of the issues I talked about with Val Hoyle. What do you see as the proper role that the federal government and Congress, in particular, could play in increasing housing stock in this district you’d like to represent in Oregon, in the country, as a whole?
DeSpain: That’s a great question. The federal government sends hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars to the state of Oregon, in the form of HUD, or emergency housing, FEMA. Now, one of the major priorities of my campaign is to bring transparency and accountability of our federal and state government to the people. We deserve to know what our tax dollars are being spent on. And so the money is coming into the state, but it’s not … we all know the houses are not being built. My opponent says she’s been working on it for her career. We are in a dearth of housing. The state of Oregon is not delivering on the promise of housing.
We have abundant natural resources, and it’s really notable that our current congresswoman voted against Fix Our Forest Act, which, the intent of it is to have a … that passed, thank goodness, it was a bipartisan act that is the most transformative piece of legislation to address the wildfires that are just decimating our beautiful forests, that are essential to keeping our climate clean and preserving all the wildlife that lives there. It includes accessing the timber in a responsible way, and that way we could reduce all the importing of timber. There’s more wood for building being imported into Oregon, while we just let our timber burn, while we let mills close. Anyway, that’s one solution, is to pass bills like Fix Our Forest Act. And it’s just inexplicable that our current congresswoman voted against this.
Miller: But just to go back to housing – you’re saying that you see that as part of the solution to housing production?
DeSpain: Accessing the materials to build houses, yes. But the main thing is to get the government out of the way, to reduce the permitting. I speak to builders who are having a hard time accessing money. The federal government could step up and help builders access loans to build, to invest in building, and also remove the regulations and permitting. I hear stories all the time that $100,000 has to be spent, and long stretches of time, just to be able to break ground on a $400,000 house.
Miller: What’s the federal regulation that you’re talking about, there? Because, when we’ve had many conversations over the years about zoning, and, for example, the Portland requirements, these are often at the municipal level. So what’s the federal red tape that you’d like to get rid of?
DeSpain: Well, Congress is about the purse and the strings, not just the purse. I feel like our current representative thinks her job is done to just deliver money to the district, and she’s not even very good at that. But there need to be policies associated with the money, and then follow-up and accountability.
So we need to pay attention to what the money is sent to Oregon to do, and then hold Oregon elected officials and agencies accountable to deliver. I don’t know that that’s happening right now. The money is coming in, the housing is not being built, and you bring up a good point about the zoning restrictions. Right now, all the human beings of Oregon are restricted to 7% of the state, roughly 7%. You know, as our population grows, at least the housing need grows, we need to reconsider this and get more creative, and common sense about how we’re approaching this problem.
Right now, we just have elected officials stating the problem repeatedly. I’m a candidate. I get to point out the problems that I see and that the people across the 4th District report to me. But the solutions are to get the government out of the way, reduce the restrictions to building, and inspire growth and building.
Miller: Post Roe v Wade, as you know, there’s been a lot of talk of congressional action in two very different directions in terms of abortion: a federal ban on abortion, and the establishment of nationwide abortion rights, essentially the codification in federal law of Roe. Would you support any federal legislation on abortion?
DeSpain: I don’t think it’s the federal government’s role to be involved in the regulation of a woman’s body, or any person’s body, anyone’s medical decisions at all. I support the laws it is now … the people of Oregon have spoken. It’s a pro-choice state and district, and I promise to represent the people of the 4th District and stand with them on that Oregon law, and protect it from encroachment of the federal government. Our elected congresswoman forgets this is representative government. I am running to represent the 4th District, which is currently not heard in Washington, D.C., on the issues that are important to Oregonians. I’m not running to be a representative for Alabama, Florida or Texas. I believe Oregon’s 4th District doesn’t have a voice in Washington, D.C., and that’s why I’m running.
Now, I’ve promised, despite the lies, that millions of dollars in advertising to tell a lie to her constituents just so she can get reelected and continue to fleece her constituents. That’s what Val Hoyle is doing. I’m on record saying numerous times, I do not support a ban on abortion. I will protect the IVF and contraception. All of this is just not in the wheelhouse of the federal government.
The federal government is to secure the nation. It is to provide for common defense, promote the general welfare, and ensure individual rights for ourselves and for prosperity. That’s what the Constitution is about. And that’s what the oath of office is for a congressperson. Anyway, as the representative of the 4th District, I promised that I will support Oregon’s laws. I’m the only Republican who’s run for office in this cycle who was not endorsed by Oregon Right to Life. And that’s because I’ve held strong on this position from day one, a year ago, when I launched my campaign. I am not running on a pro-life agenda. This is where I depart from my party. I am not going to provide a rubber stamp. I am going to represent the 4th District and we are all clear that Oregon’s laws are clear, and I’m going to protect them.
Miller: You mentioned the forest bill earlier. What other congressional action on climate change would you support?
DeSpain: Well, much like border security, I want to work with anyone who wants to secure our nation’s border and provide for our common defense. It doesn’t matter what party you’re with or what president you are. If that’s the task at hand, let’s work together to do it and consider all options and solutions. So, on the border, we talked about that, and the same is with climate. There’s no doubt that humans are having an impact on planet earth, and there’s so many things that we could do to improve what our activities … You know, I think of the islands of trash that are floating in our ocean, that we can physically see. We should be removing those ...
Miller: But specifically, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions – as opposed to trash in the ocean – what policies would you support?
DeSpain: Well, obviously I would have supported this Fix Our Forest Act. These forests are essential. They’re like one of the greatest air filters on earth. Right now, our current elected are just letting … This year, it was…2 million acres of forest in Oregon burned. And that’s a huge pollution problem, emissions problem on planet earth. I mean, in 2020 the pollution here was worse than it was in Beijing. Right now, we have a congresswoman who voted against one of the most bipartisan bills. Even Nancy Pelosi supported this Fix Our Forest Act, along with 55 other Democrats and all the Republicans. I will be someone who will be working at the table with anyone who wants to bring solutions, and consider all kinds of opportunities for clean energy, but not at the expense, always, of the American ratepayer. I think it’s essential that everyone on planet earth has to step up and do their part to keep our planet clean, safe and preserved.
Miller: The current Congress has been, in some ways, more notable for infighting within the Republican caucus than disagreement between Republicans and Democrats. I mean, there has been that, as well, but it was also a notably fractious internal caucus. Where do you put yourself within the Republican Party of 2024?
DeSpain: Well, I want to put myself right in the middle of it, because I am just as frustrated as everybody else with this dysfunction in Washington, D.C. We need common sense leaders who are used to leading groups through conflict and producing results, and that’s what I’ve been doing for 30-plus years as an attorney – helping bring people together that are never going to agree on some things. But we have to get through it and come up with a resolution. I mean, when you listen to Val Hoyle, she wants to blame everything on the Republicans, doesn’t take any personal responsibility. But if you just look at her votes, she has a vote and she’s not voting for Oregon, and she’s not voting for America.
So you’re gonna have somebody in me that knows what’s important to the 4th District. And that will be my playbook. What is important to Oregonians, what do we need? And that’s public safety and the economy. We have so many opportunities to develop a prosperous economy right here in the 4th District, particularly along the coast – that two-thirds coastline – all the stagnant projects that nobody in the federal government has committed to. So I’ll be a spokesperson and stand up for what Oregon wants, and find commonalities with those people who were there. We all want a secure border. I don’t think anyone should be a representative of the American people who doesn’t believe that we need a secure border …
Miller: Let me ask you a concrete question about the Republican Caucus. Last month, Congress passed another stop-gap measure to avoid a government shutdown – 82 Republicans voted against keeping the federal government funded till December. Would you have voted to keep the government running, or with the 82 Republicans?
DeSpain: You know, I am campaigning mightily and I don’t know all the details of that one, but I know that the record is replete with dysfunction all year long. And what you can count on for me is, I will report back to my constituents and explain my vote. We don’t have that in our representative now. It’s not going to be easy, but that doesn’t mean you just go into the fetal position and say that it’s hard and blame it on other people. I will be working vigorously every day to get consensus. So I can’t answer that specific question, because I don’t have all the information here.
Miller: You have one minute left for this, the same question I ended with, with Val Hoyle: How would you describe your understanding of the purpose of government?
DeSpain: Well, the Constitution is our blueprint and the United States came together to form a perfect union, to establish justice. We have a federal justice system to ensure domestic tranquility, to provide for the common defense. That’s what’s most important to me, is common defense and general welfare. That’s the economy. That’s my second platform. And to ensure liberty. And that is the job, to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution. And they are very limited powers that the federal government has, very important and broad, each area. But we need to keep it simple and we need to be sure that we’re delivering on that federal promise that’s in the Constitution.
And Val Hoyle is dishonest in her representations that she’s not under federal investigation. She was the ringleader that ensured La Mota would get that over half-million dollar grant of federal dollars that was later deemed illegal. It has been deemed illegal. And by the way, it has not been returned to the people of the United States.
Miller: Monique DeSpain, thank you very much for joining us today. I appreciate it.
DeSpain: Thanks.
Miller: That’s Monique DeSpain, a Republican candidate for Oregon’s 4th Congressional District.
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