Newly-elected representatives to Oregon House share their priorities

While some races for Oregon state legislative seats are still close to call, some candidates did win definitively. Virgle Osborne is one of them. He’s a newly elected Republican representative from the state’s 2nd district. He’s a small business owner in Roseburg, and his core issues, according to his campaign website, include a tough-on-crime approach as well as lower taxes and ensuring forests are “properly managed.”

Travis Nelson is a registered nurse and was appointed in January to serve out Tina Kotek’s term in the 44th district when she declared her candidacy for Oregon governor. He says health care and equity issues among his top priorities. This is his first election, and Nelson is the first LGBTQ Black man to win a seat in the Oregon House. We talk with him and Osborne to see how they’re feeling after their decisive wins, how they plan to approach governing and what their priorities will be in the 2023 legislative session.

The following transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer:

Dave Miller: This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller. Many of the Oregonians who won office in this election have been in politics for many years now. People like Governor-Elect Tina Kotek or Congresswoman-Elect Val Hoyle. But this cycle, like every cycle, also has some newcomers and we’re going to hear from two of them today, a Republican and a Democrat, each elected to the Oregon House of Representatives for the first time. We start with Virgle Osborne. He is a Republican who will represent Roseburg and surrounding areas. He also owns a company that accessorizes and builds four wheel drive vehicles. Virgle Osborne, congratulations and welcome.

Virgle Osborne: Hey, Dave. I appreciate that.

Miller: Why did you decide to run?

Osborne: I grew up here in Douglas County and it’s kind of a small town down here, a small area, and I just really have been keeping an eye on what I see going on in Salem and I wasn’t sure that I felt that we had a voice in Salem, who was representing us before. And I felt like it was time for me to step up and do it for the community here, for the 70,000 or so constituents that are in this district. I felt like I could make a difference.

Miller: Had you ever run for elected office before?

Osborne: No, I have not. I am the chairman of the Douglas County Planning Commission here locally and I also chair the Oregon State OHV Oversight Committee in Salem, now. I’ve been doing that for quite some time, but that’s an application process, not necessarily, you don’t get voted into that, you have to apply for it and win the position.

Miller: What was campaigning like for you?

Osborne: So my intention with campaigning early was to stop any other Republicans from challenging us in the primary. We started roughly two years ago and we spent a lot of money and we spent a lot of time. I have the greatest campaign team in the world, in my opinion. And they all worked super hard for me too. They believed in me, so they worked super hard for me as well as myself. We did a lot of door knocking and we did a lot of social media work and it was actually a fun learning experience that I don’t look forward to doing again. But I’ll be doing it again in two years.

Miller: A lot of running for office is actually fundraising. What was it like for you to go hat in hand to ask for money?

Osborne: In Oregon of course, campaign financing has been kind of a topic of discussion, especially down here, and it was at first a little difficult. I am a former timber employee. I spent a lot of my life in and around mills, either selling to them or working for them, that type of thing. So of course that’s a big part of what we do down here, to grow trees. We’re good at it. Of course I went to the timber companies and had some discussions with them first and once the dam kind of burst and people started making donations, it just really blew up for us and it worked out great. We had a consulting company that we paid monthly to help us make sure we stayed on track. But we raised a fair amount of money, enough to finance the entire campaign.

Miller: It was not at all close, this is a heavily Republican district. When the results came in, was there any part of you that went, oh man, what have I gotten myself into, this thing I’ve worked for two years, I’ve now gotten it?

Osborne: It’s funny you ask that because you’re not the first person that asked me that question. I’ve had people go, ‘are you crazy?’ I’m one of those people, I put my mind to something and if I feel like I can make a difference, I’m gonna just go ahead and go through with it. I expected to win from the day we started and nothing less would have been acceptable. I’m not afraid of the challenge. I’m used to dealing with the public. I’ve been in sales as well for over 20 years. So, no, I felt good about it. I was just hoping for the biggest margin I could get, which made a big statement.

Miller: So, speaking of the challenge, when Republican hopes were high nationally for a big red wave, there was talk in Oregon of flipping one or both of the chambers in the Oregon legislature. It was going to be a heavy lift the whole time. I think even the most red county Republicans saw it as a challenge. And it turns out that it looks like, while Republicans did make gains in terms of seats, Democrats are still in control. Not only that, but voters overwhelmingly said yes to a constitutional amendment aimed at limiting walkouts, one of the more effective tools that Republicans had in recent years to stop Democrats from passing various bills, especially about climate change. Given what’s happened, both Democrats still in the majority and walkouts more challenging now, how do you plan to approach being in the minority?

Osborne: Yeah, that’s gonna be the challenge. I think in the house, they may not have a supermajority anymore. I think we picked up a few seats and I think there’s still maybe a couple that are in question. We’re gonna have to negotiate, obviously. I don’t like the bill that was just passed that eliminates the walk out. Honestly, those types of major changes, I don’t think are ever a great idea because at some point in the future, the Democrats may not hold the majority. We may hold the majority and now they’ve limited themselves to the same issue by the laws they passed. But all you can do is negotiate with the other side, try to come to a center and hopefully, common sense prevails.

When it comes to climate change, that doesn’t seem to be much middle ground on that. There’s either, you are all about it or you don’t believe in it. I’m a little bit towards the middle. I don’t really like electric cars so much, but I think a hybrid car is a great car to have, because I think it utilizes both fuel and electricity. So you know, that’s, that’s where I’m coming from, and I’ll do my best to negotiate down the middle on those things. Hopefully we can keep some form of common sense.

Miller: What do you most hope to accomplish over the next two years, given that you will be one vote among 60 and in the minority? But you will have two sessions, a long one coming up and the short one following that. What do you hope to be able to say to your constituents that you accomplished?

Osborne: Coming from small town Oregon - I grew up in a town of, when I was a kid, like 500 people and I think it’s up to 4500 now, so we haven’t changed much down here - my total goal is to take care of Southern Oregon folks. Obviously every decision that I think the legislature makes should be for everybody. But for me, my intention is, we see the crime, we see the homelessness, we see the problems that the drugs have caused and obviously that’s part of the homeless problem as well. We’re not seeing it down here quite like you see it in the bigger and more urban areas. My goal is to hopefully find some common ground to pass some laws, change some things, perhaps even change Measure 110, maybe even repeal it, to get us back in line and hopefully answer some questions on the homeless issues that we have and some of the crime issues as well. That’s probably the number one thing on my agenda. The reality is if you’re not safe in your own home, nothing else matters. So, my goal is to help make Oregon safe.

Miller: Virgle Osborne, congratulations again. And thanks for giving us some of your time.

Osborne: Thank you. I appreciate it. Take care.

Miller: That’s Virgle Osborne. He is a Republican who was just elected for the first time to represent Roseburg and other parts of the surrounding area, especially going north and east in the Oregon State House of Representatives.

Travis Nelson joins us now. He is a nurse and a democrat from District 44, that’s North and Northeast Portland. He was actually appointed to this seat in January, but just like Virgle Osborne, he won his first election this week. Travis Nelson, congratulations and welcome.

Travis Nelson: Thanks, Dave.

Miller: Unlike Virgle, you do have one short session’s worth of experience under your belt. You were appointed in January to finish out Tina Kotek’s term when she stepped down to run full time for governor. Did she give you advice, her own personal advice about being a lawmaker?

Nelson: She just told me to be mindful of the needs of the folks in the district and to always listen to the citizens. And that’s something I’ve kept in mind since being appointed.

Miller: How did it come to pass that you were appointed?

Nelson: How did it come to pass? Well, I didn’t expect to get an appointment going into this. Tina, when she announced she was running for governor, I made the decision to run to replace her in House District 44. I thought that I would be running for the general election this November, but then she made the decision to step down and then the appointment process then ensued. Along with my opponent, I appealed to the precinct committee persons in our district. I got the overwhelming majority of the votes of the precinct committee persons. And then when we went before the county commissioners and the Multnomah County Commissioners overwhelmingly appointed me to the position.

Miller: Why did you want to run in the first place? As you noted, your plan was just like Virgle Osborne, to run for a seat the old fashioned way. What was driving you back then?

Nelson: No one like me had ever run for the Oregon Legislature. And I also felt that my experience was something that was really needed: my experience as a nurse, my experience as somebody who’s been very involved in organized labor and a union rep and a union leader and also somebody who has my life experience. I don’t believe there’s anyone in the legislature who has the type of life experience that I have. And I felt that I had something valuable to contribute.

Miller: When you say nobody like you has, has been in the legislature before, what exactly do you mean?

Nelson: First of all, I am the first openly LGBTQ+ African American to ever serve in the legislature. And I’m the first Man of Color who is LGBTQ+ to ever serve in the legislature. And so, that means something. I think it’s important to send a message to our youth that who you love and your race may be barriers, but they’re not barriers that can’t be overcome.

Miller: You actually noted this on election night, pointing out that tonight history was made. You also say this: I look forward to breaking more glass ceilings and continuing to fight for the people of North and Northeast Portland. What are the other glass ceilings you had in mind?

Nelson: There are doors that still need to be opened, right? We’ve never elected a trans person, for instance, in Oregon. I’m gonna be the only Black man in the House of Representatives, a body that has 60 members. There are a lot of doors that need to be opened, for folks who haven’t always felt like they belonged or have had a voice and I want to be mindful of that and do all that I can to open pipelines.

Miller: I’m curious what it was like for you to run for office, because even though you were appointed for that short session, just like Virgle Osborne, you then had to run for this two year seat. What was that like for you?

Nelson: It was interesting, because I started off running and then Tina stepped down and then I got the appointment. So I essentially served out the short session and wasn’t really able to run an active campaign during that time. After the session was over, I had to pick up where I left off and did my best to finish the primary season strong, which I did. And after the primary, it was mainly just getting to know my voters and getting to know people in the district, and the small business owners in the district.

Miller: And what about raising money, an aspect of running for office that can take up a lot of a candidate’s time? What was it like for you to ask for money?

Nelson: It was weird at first. It was really strange at first, but as you do it, like most things, you kind of get used to it. And so I got better and better at it over time. Luckily, I have an amazing family, amazing friends and a really wide network that I was able to draw on in fundraising.

Miller: What do you most hope to accomplish in the coming session?

Nelson: My personal legislative agenda will be one that’s pro-worker, pro-people. There’s a lot of work that we’ve got to do on health care in this state. Like I said, I’ve been a nurse for nearly 20 years. We are in a crisis when it comes to retaining nurses in this state. And so I really want to put a strong focus on retention. But I’m also aware that folks in my district really care about the homeless crisis, the housing crisis, public safety, public defense, supporting schools and teachers. There’s a lot we’ve got to do and there’s a lot of areas that need my focus.

Miller: As you heard from Virgle Osborne, and obviously you come from very different sides of the political aisle, but he was saying he hopes that he and his colleagues can find common ground with Democrats. Where do you see the possibility for that in terms of specific policies right now?

Nelson: Yeah, I really think that there are things we’ll be able to do on health care. I’m a pretty progressive guy, but I think housing, houselessness, mental health. No matter where you go in Oregon, I’ve knocked on a lot of doors, talked to a lot of citizens across the state, people are concerned about those issues everywhere. So I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to work with my colleagues across the aisle to find solutions for Oregonians.

Miller: Travis Nelson, thanks very much for joining us and congratulations to you.

Nelson: Thanks so much, Dave. Have a good afternoon.

Miller: You too. That is Travis Nelson, Democratic State Representative from North and Northeast Portland, representing District 44.

Contact “Think Out Loud®”

If you’d like to comment on any of the topics in this show, or suggest a topic of your own, please get in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter, send an email to thinkoutloud@opb.org, or you can leave a voicemail for us at 503-293-1983. The call-in phone number during the noon hour is 888-665-5865.