Rep. Val Hoyle argues that she has done well for her constituents in Oregon’s 4th district. It is difficult for any freshman legislator to have an impact in their first term. Here are some of the highlights Hoyle herself has selected.
The first federal bill Hoyle passed into law allowed the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians to amend a consent decree from 1980 that forced the tribe to give up hunting and fishing rights to have its land restored, something Hoyle called “super racist (and) really offensive.” A tribal chairperson praised the legislation in a news release as “the most significant and positive action” for the tribe since 1977.
Hoyle has since helped secure passage of four additional bills that were included in larger packages, her campaign team said, including worker safety measures and an expansion of infrastructure grants for commercial fishing ports.
Hoyle also argues that she’s brought money back to her district, including $50 million for water projects in southwestern Oregon and $2 million for a chemotherapy project in Gold Beach so South Coast residents don’t have to travel hours for cancer treatment. Hoyle also says she secured funds for emergency communications after fire officials told her they had struggled to communicate while battling deadly wildfires in rural areas.
Hoyle learned how to swim in the legislative waters in the Oregon legislature but the halls of Congress are a much trickier place to navigate. Hoyle is finding that out the hard way, as a rip current of corruption accusations threatens to sink her re-election campaign.
The question for Rep. Val Hoyle is whether or not she has the skills to survive the GOP testing the waters here.
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Val Hoyle for Oregon-4
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What’s the Big Idea?
THIS HOUSE RACE IS RATED AS LIKELY DEMOCRATIC, with a D+4 PVI
OR-04 results from 2022.
This southwestern Oregon district can act as a swing seat at times, starting with the fact that GW Bush won the district in 2000 after Clinton won it two times in his runs for President. Longtime Democratic incumbent Rep. Peter DeFazio didn’t have any close races during this period of time despite the district only narrowly supporting Kerry in 2004.
The margins improved during the Obama era, and DeFazio weathered the storm even in the bad years of 2010 and 2014 without much of a struggle. The district reverted back to a swing seat in the Trump era, with both Clinton and Biden narrowly winning it under the old lines. DeFazio himself had a serious challenge in 2020 from Alek Skarlatos, a man who helped to stop a terrorist attack. In his last race for office, DeFazio won 51.5% to 46.2%. This five-point margin was the closest of his long career.
Oregon gained a Representative from the 2020 Census and reapportionment changed this district slightly. Some of the problematic areas in southwestern Oregon were moved to the 2nd district, while Democratic-leaning portions of the old 5th district were moved to this one to shore it up. The new 4th district would have voted for Joe Biden by a comfortable 55.1% to 42.3% margin.
DeFazio retired in 2022, leaving Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle to contest this seat against Alek Skarlatos once again. It was expected to be a close race especially since the Democratic Party was split in the gubernatorial race. Hoyle won this race by a wide 50.5% to 43.1% result. 339k voters cast their ballots in the 2022 election, while 468k citizens voted in 2020. The former number is smaller due to the addition of an extra district.
In the 2024 partisan primaries, Hoyle went unopposed and still received 74k votes. Her GOP challenger, Monique DeSpain, received 31k out of 54k votes in a contested primary. There is also a Green Party candidate (ugh) on the ballot trying to siphon off leftist Gaza protest votes. These factors are why national pundits rate this race as “Likely Democratic”.
Here’s where this 4th district race will be won.
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Eugene Metro Area: This is one of two Democratic anchors found in the district. These voters will continue to support Val Hoyle in 2024. The University of Oregon is found here, so turning out the professors and students is key.
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Corvallis: This is the other Democratic anchor in the district, and it is home to Oregon State University. Needless to say, Hoyle will have to court the college students and university professors if she wants to have a second term in Congress.
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Lincoln County: This county has stayed with the blue team despite similar counties defecting to team red. This is due to a booming tourist industry in the area. Hoyle will have to maintain the Biden margins in this area to ensure success in November.
Here’s where we need to keep the margins down, or we lose.
- Southwestern Oregon: These working-class areas of Oregon are hurting, and their response has been to defect to the Republican Party, much like other working-class areas in the country. Once you get out of Lane County and head south in the district, there are few Democratic voters to be found. Support for Hoyle will be tough to find in these areas.
Rep. Val Hoyle: Swimming Against the Current
Rep. Val Hoyle is a progressive populist, which is a dying breed in our party.
In my New Faces in Congress series I wrote an article titled Rep. Val Hoyle, the Oregon Based Friend of Workers Everywhere about the freshman incumbent. Much of her background is written there so I feel no need to duplicate that work here. Hoyle is swimming against the current in the Democratic Party because she is of a dying breed - a progressive populist that centers the white working class.
Hoyle’s political background is what has led the NRCC to run advertisements against her. Her time as Oregon Labor Commissioner was not without controversy and it is here that the current against her is the strongest.
First, Hoyle had to testify in a case of workplace harassment in 2023 stemming from a complaint of racial abuse during her tenure. Thankfully, that case was found not to have criminal merit by the Oregon Department of Justice. The plaintiff in the case sought damages and received $1.7M in a blow against the tenure of Hoyle. There was also a second racial discrimination lawsuit that was settled in court.
Second and equally damaging to her record is her conduct regarding the cannabis dispensary La Mota. The owner of the dispensary, Rosa Cazares was a top Hoyle donor and wined and dined Hoyle during her time as Labor Commissioner. Cazares received a grant from Hoyle’s office of over a half-million dollars. This was at a time where Cazares faced multiple legal issues and owed much in back taxes. This scandal has already felled some Oregon politicians and it could lead to Hoyle sinking as well. Hoyle has responded in this interview to the accusations that she is corrupt.
If you browse the New Faces in Congress article you will see many of the priorities that Hoyle has in Congress including infrastructure improvements, holding Wall Street accountable, and making it easier to unionize. She is strongest on those issues and the record shows that. There are many other issues that Hoyle is working on as well.
The issue that Hoyle is aggressively attacking her challenger on is abortion rights. The incumbent is unabashedly pro-choice in a state with some of the best access to abortion and where 72% of the public agrees with abortion access. She will enshrine Roe into law and protect IVF and birth control from GOP attacks.
Another issue where Hoyle is strong is on expanding access to health care. She is an advocate for universal health care in some form. She will vote to protect Medicare negotiating prescription drug prices and would expand that negotiating power to Medicaid as well. Finally, she would vote to lower deductibles, which she calls a “shell game” that makes health insurance unaffordable.
Environmental protections are critical in a state that attracts many tourists. Hoyle is promoting her stances here as well. She advocates moving to 100% clean energy as soon as possible. She wants to halt new leasing for fossil fuels on federal land through legislation. She also is earmarking resources for fire safety and mitigation.
Given that her district contains two major universities, education is also at the forefront of Hoyle’s agenda. She calls the student loan industry “predatory” and would cancel all student debt. Hoyle would also fully fund the IDEA for students with disabilities and vote to ensure Title I is fully funded so those in poverty have quality schools.
Rep. Val Hoyle is not only swimming against the current in the modern Democratic Party, but she also faces a rip current of accusations of corruption. Hoyle will need to wade through these thorny issues or risk being swept out of Congress.
Monique DeSpain: A Sinking Feeling
Monique DeSpain was recruited by national Republicans for this race. She’s out of step.
Monique DeSpain was born in Long Beach, California. She served in the Air Force, Air Force Reserve, and Oregon Air National Guard for 30 years. She was a JAG for 20 of those years as she received a JD from Willamette University in 1998. After retiring as a colonel, DeSpain worked for State Rep. Kevin Mannix as an attorney and as a lobbyist for Common Sense for Oregon.
DeSpain claims to be an “independent voice” and is trying to obfuscate her record on the issues but doing a deep dive into her past shows what kind of politician she will be. DeSpain will be beholden to the very people that hand-picked her to run against Hoyle - Speaker Mike Johnson and the GOP leadership. She has even claimed that she doesn’t think that “she can get elected to a local office” so she is trying a run for Congress instead.
DeSpain claims to be against a national abortion ban and wants to leave the issue up to the states. This is increasingly the position of Republicans running in blue state swing seats. However, that has not traditionally been the position of Common Sense for Oregon which she lobbied for. DeSpain is trying to have it both ways on this issue by letting the Oregon legislature protect abortion for her constituents while voting against codifying Roe into law if elected.
DeSpain also claims that one of her top issues is the border crisis. She rails against “open borders” and blames Democrats in Congress for the failure to pass a border security bill. She also castigates Republicans who aren’t tough enough on the border. As a reminder, Trump was the one who made the call to tank this bipartisan effort so that he could run on the issue this election.
When it comes to climate change, DeSpain doesn’t believe that humans are causing climate change. She faults humans for a lot of problems but climate change isn’t one of them. DeSpain advocates for an “all of the above” energy approach that includes even more oil and gas drilling. Remember that this is already at a record high under the Biden administration.
Gun safety is a touchy issue in the district with many constituents who are hunters. DeSpain claims on her campaign website that she is in favor of “separating the mentally ill from guns”. As a lobbyist, she urged the Oregon legislature to vote NAY on any gun restrictions. She also spoke out against an omnibus gun safety bill that included reasonable things like background checks, permits, and more.
If you have a sinking feeling after reading this section, you aren’t alone. Monique DeSpain isn’t an “independent voice” or a “political outsider” as she claims. She’s a part of the Oregon GOP swamp and will do the same in Washington, DC.
How Can You Help?
I haven’t seen fresh Q3 numbers for either candidate yet. Hoyle hasn’t been raising the same amount of money as her other swing-seat Oregon colleagues. Hoyle raised only $356k in Q2 and has $852k on hand. Monique DeSpain has raised less than that with $279k raised and $193k on hand.
The NRCC has been testing the waters in this district with independent expenditures. At a low level of spending every week, the GOP has been running ads against Hoyle. There has been no response from the DCCC or its allies as of now so Hoyle is being left to fend for herself.
In terms of volunteering, do know that Oregon is a mail-in vote state which means that canvassing is important. There is an effort in Eugene every Wednesday and weekend canvassing is starting now too. Corvallis is another hot spot with canvassing on the weekends. Curry County is not being neglected, and neither is Coos County. There are others listed here as well!
If you aren’t in southwestern Oregon there is still a way to help out. Rep. Val Hoyle hosts a virtual phone bank every Wednesday night. If you are new to phone banking they will provide training. Help Hoyle convince those with mail-in ballots to vote!
Rep. Val Hoyle could be in trouble. If voters think that there is more to the La Mota story, she could lose even though her district has a decided blue lean to it. She sits in the 47th most vulnerable seat held by the Democratic Party, so even with this possible scandal her losing would be a stretch.
Monique DeSpain wants to swim in the deep end of Congress, but it is clear that you should have a sinking feeling regarding her candidacy. She’s just another lobbyist and aide to the Oregon GOP and would fit right into the conservative Washington, DC swamp.
Following the independent expenditures is how I’m deciding which late-breaking races I write about. The spending is at a low level showing that the GOP is testing the waters here. I’ve seen no polling for the race either, so it is hard to gauge where this race stands.
The question for Rep. Hoyle is whether she will sink or swim in her first re-election effort.
Val Hoyle for Oregon-4
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