Rep. Val Hoyle faces critics on the right and the left in her first reelection bid

Editor’s note: Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Stay informed with OPB on the presidential race, key congressional battles and other local contests and ballot measures in Oregon and Southwest Washington at opb.org/elections.

Freshman U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle is seeking a second term, saying she’s been able to bring results despite divides in Congress.

The Democrat is facing Republican Monique DeSpain, who said Hoyle hasn’t done enough to protect Oregonians from drugs and crime, and Green Party candidate Justin Filip, who said Hoyle needs to take a stronger stance on the war in Gaza. Libertarian Dan Bahlen is also on the ballot.

The 4th Congressional District, which includes Eugene, Roseburg and much of the southern Oregon coast, was represented by Peter DeFazio for 36 years. DeFazio announced prior to the 2022 election that he wouldn’t seek another term. Hoyle won the seat, beating Republican Alek Skarlatos by about 25,000 votes.

Border security and abortion

On the campaign trail, DeSpain says she’s running to defend the state from what she calls “career politicians.”

In a recent ad, her campaign argued Democrats had done nothing to stop what she calls a flow of drugs and crime from the southern U.S. border. In an interview with KLCC, DeSpain said border security was her number one issue.

Related: What you need to know about voting in Oregon and Southwest Washington

She argued many of the state’s struggles with crime and fentanyl are caused by a lack of resources, both on the U.S. border with Mexico, which she visited recently, and in Oregon.

“Every state is a border state,” DeSpain said. “They’re coming over the border, they’re coming up I-5. There are some federal law enforcement agencies that are specifically targeting the high drug trafficking, human trafficking areas along the I-5 in our district.”

Hoyle’s team has focused on abortion, arguing that flipping the 4th District would bring the country one step closer to a national abortion ban.

She told KLCC that stopping a ban isn’t enough — women from Oregon should be able to travel without worrying about what might happen if they have a pregnancy complication in another state.

“Women are dying,” she said. “This medical care, this is life-saving care. Oregon has this protection for now, but for how long?”

Related: Issues important to Oregon voters

Housing and health care

Hoyle is Oregon’s former labor commissioner, and said if voters send her back to Congress for another term, she plans to continue to focus on workers and bringing home resources for the state. She said one of the needs she’s focused on is housing and homelessness.

“It’s making sure we have supportive services,” she said. “It’s making sure that we approach the homeless problem with the values that we as Oregonians hold, to help those who need help and also provide a pathway for economic security.”

Hoyle said she’s also also focused on the state’s health care challenges. She’s part of a group that has advocated against Optum, the organization that now owns the Corvallis Clinic and Oregon Medical Group, from enforcing noncompete agreements against doctors.

“The biggest issue that we have is the corporate investors taking over health care,” she said, “and forcing decisions to be made not for the betterment of our health and community, but for their bottom line.”

DeSpain, a retired Air Force colonel who spent much of her career as a military lawyer, said Oregon and the federal government need to show they can bring results with the resources they already have.

“Any organization that is receiving money to treat the homeless, or the addicted, if they don’t have recovery in their mission statement, or their purpose, they shouldn’t get federal funding,” she said. “The people of Oregon want to see people pulled out of these terrible states of existence.”

DeSpain also argued that burdensome regulations have hampered the private sector’s ability to solve the housing and health care challenges that the district faces.

“When I talk about prosperity, economic prosperity,” she said, “the government needs to get out of the way, and the housing crisis is such a classic example.”

Related: Listen to 'OPB Politics Now'

Accusations of misleading voters

In ads, dueling press releases and interviews with KLCC, both major party candidates have accused the other of lying to voters.

DeSpain says Hoyle misled her constituents about her role in a scandal at her former employer, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. During her time leading the agency, a grant was awarded to a nonprofit affiliated with cannabis company La Mota, which is now facing dozens of lawsuits and a federal investigation.

DeSpain has argued that just because Hoyle hasn’t received a subpoena doesn’t mean she won’t be held liable.

“It doesn’t matter if the FBI hasn’t called her yet,” DeSpain said. “I used to do a lot of investigations, and I had targets of my investigation, and I didn’t call them, sometimes ever. Val Hoyle is a proven liar. As an investigator, I’d save her for last.”

DeSpain has also accused Hoyle of lying about DeSpain’s position on abortion. DeSpain says she opposes a federal ban, a stance that she says lost her the support of Oregon Right to Life during the primary.

Hoyle justified the claim by arguing that several Supreme Court Justices told Congress that Roe v. Wade was settled law, but then overturned precedent after they were confirmed.

As far as the cannabis firm under federal scrutiny, Hoyle said she was misled by La Mota leaders and is not under investigation. She added that she fully supports the FBI’s inquiry into the company.

“They’re leaning in on a story that’s just a reach,” she said. “But they have to lie, they have to lie to win because Monique DeSpain does not have anything to run on.”

War in Gaza

Meanwhile, Green Party candidate Justin Filip said he’s frustrated by the back and forth between the two campaigns because it’s distracted from conversations about the environment, health care and military spending.

“All these ads are strictly Monique attacking Val about the Bureau of Labor and Industries scandal, and Val attacking Monique about her stance on abortion,” he said. “The conversation has been limited to that, and we really need to broaden the conversation to include more issues.”

Filip said he would do a better job in Congress protecting public land, steering resources to the most vulnerable in the district and standing up for Palestinians.

Filip said he knows winning is a longshot — but he’s hoping staying in the race will force the candidates and the media to discuss the war in Gaza and the environment.

“Winning, to me, would look like Val taking better positions on Palestine and enacting an arms embargo against Israel as they commit war crimes,” he said.

Hoyle said she does support a two-state solution and is concerned by the increasing death toll, especially children.

“The children of Palestinians in Gaza deserve to live in peace, safety and prosperity just the same as Israeli children,” she said.

A fourth candidate will also appear on the ballot in this race: Libertarian Dan Bahlen. He did not respond to an email and phone call from KLCC requesting comment. Bahlen does not appear to have a campaign website. He did not submit a statement for the Oregon Voters’ Pamphlet.

This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.