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Albert Lee (Oregon)
Albert Lee (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Oregon's 3rd Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on May 19, 2020.
Lee completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.
Elections
2020
See also: Oregon's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020
Oregon's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020 (May 19 Democratic primary)
Oregon's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020 (May 19 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Oregon District 3
Incumbent Earl Blumenauer defeated Joanna Harbour, Alex DiBlasi, and Josh Solomon in the general election for U.S. House Oregon District 3 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Earl Blumenauer (D / Working Families Party) | 73.0 | 343,574 |
 | Joanna Harbour (R)  | 23.5 | 110,570 | |
 | Alex DiBlasi (Pacific Green Party) | 1.9 | 8,872 | |
| Josh Solomon (L) | 1.5 | 6,869 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 621 | ||
| Total votes: 470,506 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Edward Baker (Nonpartisan)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Oregon District 3
Incumbent Earl Blumenauer defeated Albert Lee, Dane Wilcox, Matthew Davis, and Charles Rand Barnett in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Oregon District 3 on May 19, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Earl Blumenauer | 80.5 | 140,812 |
 | Albert Lee | 16.8 | 29,311 | |
| Dane Wilcox | 1.1 | 1,966 | ||
| Matthew Davis | 0.6 | 1,101 | ||
| Charles Rand Barnett | 0.5 | 953 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 714 | ||
| Total votes: 174,857 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Gregory Aller (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Oregon District 3
Joanna Harbour defeated Tom Harrison and Frank Hecker in the Republican primary for U.S. House Oregon District 3 on May 19, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joanna Harbour | 62.8 | 21,114 |
 | Tom Harrison | 23.1 | 7,751 | |
| Frank Hecker | 12.3 | 4,147 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.8 | 612 | ||
| Total votes: 33,624 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Libertarian convention
Libertarian convention for U.S. House Oregon District 3
Josh Solomon advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Oregon District 3 on July 6, 2020.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Josh Solomon (L) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Pacific Green Party convention
Pacific Green Party convention for U.S. House Oregon District 3
Alex DiBlasi advanced from the Pacific Green Party convention for U.S. House Oregon District 3 on June 6, 2020.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Alex DiBlasi (Pacific Green Party) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Albert Lee completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Lee's responses.
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
The Climate Emergency Homelessness & Livability Medicare for All
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
The intersection of economic policy & system, urban planning, mass transit, education, and equity as it relates to opportunity gaps, livelihood, and health outcomes for individuals and subsets of our population and the effects of unintended consequences on the lives of our citizens.
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?
I look up to the integrity of Bernie Sanders. Neither his message nor his convictions have changed despite the lack of early support. He has remained true to his vision of equity for all citizens, fairness, and decency. I would love to follow his example and remain true to people and planet over profits.
Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?
You're More Powerful than You Think: A Citizen?s Guide to Making Change Happen by Eric Liu. We need active citizenship to solve the problems that plague us from the disease of money on politics. Together, we are more powerful than we think and we can move mountains, make dreams reality, and solve our most pressing problems.
What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?
Integrity, conviction, dedication, love, and the ability to empathize.
What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?
I have a combination of a varied lived experience ranging from middle-class to homelessness; a professional background that includes military service, international trade, project management, law, and education; and a personal background that includes the experience of an immigrant, working-class, and marginalized peoples. Together this combination of lived and professional experience provides me perspective and empathy necessary to view things from many angles and vantage points.
What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?
Be critical in analysis; careful in judgment; vigorous in advocacy; present in hearing; and kind and empathetic to friend and foe alike.
What legacy would you like to leave?
Providing real solutions to our most pressing problems of the climate emergency, homelessness, affordable housing, living wages, and universal healthcare.
What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?
The 1979 oil crisis. I remember waiting in long lines to get our gas tank filled. Hot summer days with the windows rolled down. Sticking to the vinyl seats while sweating profusely.
What was your very first job? How long did you have it?
I worked for Church's Fried Chicken as a 15 year old. I was legally only allowed to run the cash register, but the managers had all the boys cut and cook chicken and the girls ran the cash registers. I remember get my first oil scar on my right hand from illegally operating a deep fat fryer. I remember wear chain mail gloves and cutting whole chickens on an unprotected open circular blade saw. I made $3.12/hr and worked there for bout 6 months. My fist day started on a Saturday at 2pm and ended at 2am.
What is something that has been a struggle in your life?
Domestic violence in my family lead to our flight and homelessness. The experience gave me a new perspective on people and their situations. I gained empathy along with slowly healing wounds. I received compassion and care from strangers. I learned that you may hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
What process do you favor for redistricting?
Completely automated, with no political or independent bodies. Shortest-Splitline Algorithm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUS9uvYyn3A
What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?
I possess a unique background as being both a sixth generation American and an immigrant at the same time. I am mixed race and understand intimately the feelings of being marginalized and othered. I have lived in urban a rural parts of the country and have been to every State. I have traveled to over 25 different countries. I have professional experience ranging from military service, to international trade, to project management, to law, to education. I am a first-generation college and law school graduate. I have experience in local government boards, social justice boards, and internal political party work. The combination of my lived experience and professional background provide a solid background to be a well-rounded representative of the people of the Third District of Oregon.
Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?
Previous experience in government and politics could be beneficial and a detriment depending on the experience gained. For too many, they worked their way up the ladder by accepting the help that comes with strings attached and soon lose sight of what their original mission was, to serve the people.
What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?
Resolving the climate emergency; addressing peak capitalism and all the negative externalities that it produces; and providing economic democracy to go hand in hand with political democracy, while reinforcing the foundation of the political democracy.
Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?
No, i believe that representatives should have terms of 4 years and a term limit of three terms.
What are your thoughts on term limits?
I believe that because of our party duopoly and rampant gerrymandering, we need term limits because it is very difficult to provide true choice in most districts.
Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?
I am fairly enamored with the actions of Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Katie Porter, Katie Hill, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley.
Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?
I know way too many folks who have to move every year because they cannot afford the annual rent hike. We have had a living wage and affordable housing crisis for over a generation and it is only getting worse. While the rich get richer, the rest of us continue to struggle. We need to replace our multi-millionaire, out of touch, representatives with folks who truly know the struggle. It's time for a new generation of leadership.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
