Oregon’s 1st U.S. Congressional District serves a population of about 865,000 and encompasses Clatsop, Columbia, Washington, Yamhill and parts of Multnomah counties.
Democratic incumbent Rep. Suzanne Bonamici is running against Republican candidate Chris Mann, a first-time political candidate with a military background and conservative ideology. In the primaries, Bonamici, who won with 89% of the vote, secured 52,400 votes. Mann, who beat his opponent with 69% of the vote, received 12,665 votes.
In September 2021, Gov. Kate Brown formally signed new congressional and state legislative districts into law, raising the number of congressional districts from five to six. For the first time, voters will elect six representatives that will take their place in Congress in 2023. The winner will serve as the district's congressional representative for a two-year term. Among other duties, representatives introduce bills and resolutions, offer amendments and serve on committees. Whoever is elected will be part of the apparatus shaping national policy, including weighing in on funding allocations and policies impacting housing and homelessness.
Chris Mann (R)
Republican congressional candidate Chris Mann has “Truth and Transparency” as his campaign slogan and his website bears the phrase “Be American First.” Mann doesn’t believe candidates with political experience are beneficial and brands himself as a candidate who isn’t a career politician. He has never held elected office, and in interviews and elsewhere, Mann said he was compelled to run for office because he’s “seen our freedoms being taken away.”
A born and raised Portlander, Mann defeated Armidia Murray in the Republican primary for Oregon 1st U.S. Congressional District 1 with 68% of the vote. He served in the military for 21 years and in 2014, Mann became the executive director of the Oregon Military Support Network, a nonprofit serving veterans and their families in Oregon and southwest Washington. He is also an Uber and Lyft driver.
His website identifies just three priorities: policing, education and homelessness. Mann outlines his stance on each priority in a succinct paragraph. No details on implementation are provided. With regard to police, Mann “wants to see the demonizing of the police to stop,” and aspires to be part of a successful police reform bill. Mann’s education platform opposes "critical race theory" and “sexuality” — presumably a reference to gender expression and identity, though it’s not specified — in elementary school curriculums.
Regarding homelessness, Mann supports some amount of government spending on mental health, addiction and housing, but doesn’t present a cohesive or specific strategy.
Mann cited the closure of mental health hospitals in the 1970s as a central cause of homelessness, and said they should be “re-opened.” While the reduction of involuntary indefinite commitals in some states had a direct impact on homeless populations, Street Roots could only verify one Oregon mental hospital closed in the 1970s. It was located in The Dalles.
“Mental health hospitals, like their closure, is a contributor,” Mann said. “(In the) 1970s, I grew up in Portland, and you drive down Burnside, on the bus from school, and it was at 20 to 30 people, and maybe 40 lined up in front of the Glenn J House getting their meals every day. And now that's 40 people on a block, all around the city. There's no place for them to go.”
Mann, like many, believes the government response to the homeless crisis has been “lackadaisical” and advocates for better monitoring of how tax dollars are spent.
“I think there is plenty of money in the state and the city to support housing, to get (people) off the streets,” Mann said. “And I think we fall short and [are] not taking care of their issues.”
Mann favors funding for mental healthcare, addiction treatment and housing subsidies but emphasized mental health issues and addiction needed to be dealt with before unhoused individuals received support with housing.
Once a person is stabilized, according to Mann, job training and housing vouchers are options. This approach contradicts prevailing practices, which typically attempt to offer housing and supportive services in order to stabilize a person so they can deal with addiction and mental health issues.
When Street Roots asked Mann where people should stay when they are getting clean, he did not offer specifics or indicate if this meant congregate shelters. He did indicate mental hospitals would be an alternative.
“I think maybe some people could come in their own little housing and then be able to go to all these appointments and things that they have to do,” Mann said. “In general, things are better in a mental hospital. They have to call the mental hospitals.”
Mann’s discussion of homelessness centered around cases of addiction and mental health. Street Roots asked how he would address the many unhoused people who are homeless as a result of financial hardship. Mann said he supports government support in the form of income-based or temporary housing for people who have jobs and are functioning but can’t afford a place to live.
Much of Mann’s stance aligns with traditional Republican takes, except in the arena of housing, where he departs from common Republican rhetoric. Rather than blaming regulations for hindering landlords and driving costs up, Mann believes high rental costs stem from a combination of greed and wage stagnation, and he favors rent control.
“You lived there for a year; you paid your rent on time, every single time,” Mann said. “You're a great tenant. And then your reward is raising your rent by 50%. It's one of the things I've said about the fact that these landlords and most of the corporations are just greedy. And they don't care if people can make rent when they'll just find a different renter.”
Mann did not offer a specific plan of action for addressing housing.
He believes affordable housing is key and believes the state needs to erect affordable housing on state lands. He also said he believes senior citizens on a fixed income should not be charged property taxes outpacing what they can afford.
At the same time, Mann said he dislikes the current “welfare state” and expressed concern about people taking advantage of public programs.
“(Some people don’t) want to work hard. They want to have the easiest job,” Mann said. “And the biggest amount of money for the little bit that they do, and are always wandering around asking for a handout. And that's not how the world should work. And there's a big push for people to be entitled to a lot of things.”
Suzanne Bonamici (D)
Democratic incumbent Rep. Suzanne Bonamici is a member of the Working Families Party and identifies public education and working families as top priorities, supports unions, higher minimum wages, and deeper investments in retirement, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
While opponent Chris Mann is a first-time candidate leaning into the ethos of a political outsider, Bonamici first took office in 2012. Prior to serving in congress, Bonamici was a member of the Oregon House of Representatives from 2007 to 2008 and served on the Oregon state senate from 2008 to 2011. She is up for re-election.
Regarding homelessness, Bonamici favors investments in social services and housing and supports state, federal and local spending to address homelessness. She said there are many factors contributing to a person becoming homeless and supports tailoring support to meet those needs in a way that makes sense.
“Everyone has a different story, and we have to identify each issue, the needs of people who are needing a home and pair them with the resources and services that they need,” Bonamici said.
Other key contributors to rising homelessness, Bonamici said, are housing shortages, a lack of affordable housing and support services and stagnant wages.
Bonamici is a member of the Congressional Caucus on Homelessness and, in 2021, co-sponsored the Ending Homelessness Act, a bill expanding the housing choice voucher program for low-income families and expanding availability by 2030. The bill would also fund services for homeless individuals and families. The goal, Bonamici said, was to increase funding for housing vouchers and make it easier for people to get them.
“I hear from people about being on a waitlist, they're years long, people wait for years to get into a voucher. So more dollars to make sure that we are actually making everyone who's eligible to be able to access housing." (The bill has not progressed)
Her approach emphasizes nuance and evidence-based supportive services rather than punitive efforts. She is against policies further criminalizing homelessness.
“They're not struggling by choice,” Bonamici said. “They need the support, the resources, health care, mental health care, addiction treatment — each case is different. But increasing the penalties makes absolutely no sense. That's not the correct approach.”
In regards to sweeps, which simultaneously traumatize unhoused people and throw up barriers to them getting jobs, finding housing and stabilizing their lives, Bonamici was not explicitly opposed. She emphasized sweeps should only happen with efforts to support people and connect them to resources.
“I understand that there's an effort right now, particularly in Portland, around routes to schools, for example,” Bonamici said. “And I understand that people are now talking to people practically on a daily basis, who are concerned that it doesn't seem like there's enough being done to address the homeless population and all the people who are on the streets. (I don’t doubt) whether sweeps are traumatic for people — oftentimes, they don't have a place to go.
“And what I support is making sure that we have the outreach workers to identify each person's needs and then getting each person into a safe, supportive, perhaps a transitional home and having a place for them to stay until they can get into permanent housing."
Bonamici has a strong record on housing, including introducing, sponsoring and voting for bills to support affordable housing development, help low-income families purchase homes and provide financial support to low-income people to prevent them from becoming homeless.
She advocated and voted for the HOME program, which provides financial support for mortgages; Neighborworks America, a congressionally chartered nonprofit providing affordable housing and community development programs; The Fair Housing Initiatives Program, which provides funding for nonprofit fair housing organizations; and Community Development Block Grants, federal funds supporting infrastructure and economic development.
She co-sponsored the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, a bipartisan bill to update and increase state ability to invest in affordable housing and has supported efforts to support low-income homeowners, including the American Housing Economic Mobility Act.
“In the long term, I think it's important to realize (supporting homeownership) can really help people actually purchase property and then that's life-changing for them because then they have equity that will change things for their whole family's future,” Bonamici said. “So we need to make homeownership easier, particularly for first-generation homebuyers.”
Street Roots noted simply building more housing will slow the increase of rental rates but not lower them or ensure affordability for those already priced out.
In response, Bonamici noted efforts to address income inequality.
“One of the things that I work on on the Education and Labor Committee is making sure that everyone has a path to a good job,” Bonamici said. “And that's really critical. There are ways that we can get people into good union jobs, to apprenticeships and workforce programs.”
Bonamici did not explicitly say if she was for or against rent control, noting rent control policies are typically enacted at a local level.
In regards to balancing the rights of tenants and landlords, Bonamici expressed support for both, noting she was aware of the power imbalance favoring landlords and the response depended on circumstances.
“Well, it depends on what the issue is,” Bonamici said. “I strongly believe in the rights of tenants. That being said, we need to have rental units available, and we want to make sure that there's a system that will encourage developers to develop and have apartments so that they're there for people. So we all have to work together, get everybody around the table.”
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