House District 23

Primary Election, May 17, 2016
Oregon House District 23, Dallas, Harrisburg, Jefferson, Sheridan, Willamina
 
REPUBLICAN PARTY CANDIDATES
 
Candidates in the Republican primary are Mike Nearman of Independence, incumbent, and Beth Jones of Dallas.
 
Mike Nearman is serving his first term in the Legislature, having been elected in November 2014.  He is a strong opponent of illegal immigration.  He has served as a Board member of Oregonians for Immigration Reform for over 2 years.  He is currently a chief petitioner for these initiatives:  #51, Voters Must Prove Citizenship to Vote; and #52, Oregon Employment Protection Act.  In the 2015-16 sessions of the Legislature, he voted against HB 2177, universal voter registration, and against SB 932, giving Opportunity Grants for tuition to illegal aliens.
 
His campaign website is at http://nearmanfororegon.com/.   In the Issues section, it contains this statement on immigration:
“Upholding Immigration Laws -- Border security is so important for so many reasons.  Current policies leave us vulnerable to national security threats, and present overwhelming costs to our social safety nets, schools, and healthcare systems.  What’s really maddening is that not only are we failing to uphold the law, in many cases we openly flout the law through sanctuary cities and handouts to illegal aliens.”
 
He replied to the Oregon Abigail Adams Voter Education Questionnaire for candidates.  Here are the pertinent questions and answers:
22.  Do you support a constitutional amendment to require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in Oregon?           Of course. I'm chief petitioner on this initiative!        
36.  Do you support requiring all Oregon employers to use the federal E-Verify system to determine the employee’s work eligibility status?         Of course. I'm chief petitioner on this initiative!         
42.  How would you propose screening war refugees to prevent potential terrorists from entering Oregon with them?          I don't think this is possible -- certainly not on a large scale. I think they need to be located elsewhere in the middle east.
 
Mike Nearman can be contacted at: nearman4oregon@yahoo.com
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Beth Jones is the other Republican candidate for House District 23.  She has a campaign website at: http://www.bethjoneshd23.com/.  It does not contain any mention of immigration.  
 
However, she did reply to the Oregon Abigail Adams Voter Education questionnaire for 2016 candidates.  Here are her answers to the questions relating to immigration.
22.  Do you support a constitutional amendment to require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in Oregon?          Yes 36.  Do you support requiring all Oregon employers to use the federal E-Verify system to determine the employee’s work eligibility status?          Yes.  I think it’s important to recognize the limitations of e-verify, and have an appeals process when errors are made.          
42.  How would you propose screening war refugees to prevent potential terrorists from entering Oregon with them?          It should be the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to investigate refugees before bringing them on our soil. As of now, those departments have stated they cannot effectively screen refugees or be confident of the intentions they have. Oregon would be wise to listen to the DHS and the FBI. I believe we're putting political correctness and emotions ahead of national security. (Public safety/national security should be the #1 priority of our government)
 
Beth Jones can be contacted at:  Contact@BethJonesHD23.com 
 
THERE ARE NO DEMOCRATIC PARTY CANDIDATES IN THIS DISTRICT
 
THERE IS ONE INDEPENDENT PARTY CANDIDATE
 
Jim Thompson (James L Thompson) is running as an Independent Party candidate.  As a Republican, he was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives for 3 terms, serving from  2009 through 2014, when he lost in the Republican Primary election that year to Mike Nearman.
 
No campaign website for him was found.  He did not reply to the Oregon Abigail Adams candidate questionnaire.  
 
While in the Legislature previously, he opposed instate tuition bills and in 2013 voted against SB 833 granting driver cards to illegal aliens.  In the 2008 election cycle, he replied to OFIR’s candidate questionnaire answering Yes to the question, “Would you be willing to introduce or support a bill that would require all employers in Oregon to use the E-Verify program?” and “Would you be willing to introduce or support a bill to repeal ORS 181,850” [a law limiting  cooperation between local and federal law enforcement agencies in immigration matters].  Also he answered Yes to the question “Would you be willing to introduce or support a bill that would require individuals registering to vote for first time to show proof of citizenship?”
 
Jim Thompson’s email address from his filing paper with OR Secretary of State: Hijim3380@yahoo.com.