Kathleen Harder

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Kathleen Harder

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

May 17, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

University of North Texas

Medical

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 1991

Personal

Profession

Physician

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Kathleen Harder (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Oregon's 6th Congressional District. She lost in the Democratic primary on May 17, 2022.

Harder completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Harder was a candidate for Zone 1 representative on the Salem-Keizer Public Schools school board in Oregon. Harder was defeated in the by-district general election on May 16, 2017.

Biography

Harder's professional experience includes working as a physician at multiple hospitals and clinics. She earned her M.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and her B.A. in biology from the University of North Texas.

Elections

2022

See also: Oregon's 6th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Oregon District 6

Andrea Salinas defeated Mike Erickson and Larry McFarland in the general election for U.S. House Oregon District 6 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Andrea Salinas (D / Working Families Party / Independent Party)	50.1	147,156
		Mike Erickson (R)	47.7	139,946
	Submit photo	Larry McFarland (Constitution Party)	2.1	6,073
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	513

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 293,688
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Oregon District 6

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Oregon District 6 on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Andrea Salinas	36.8	26,101
		Carrick Flynn	18.4	13,052
		Steven Cody Reynolds	11.2	7,951
		Loretta Smith	10.0	7,064
		Matt West	8.0	5,658
		Kathleen Harder	7.8	5,510
		Teresa Alonso Leon	6.5	4,626
		Ricky Barajas	0.4	292
	Submit photo	Greg Goodwin	0.3	217
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	508

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 70,979
= 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

• Brian Hylland (D)
• Kevin Easton (D)
• Derry Jackson (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Oregon District 6

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Oregon District 6 on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Erickson	34.7	21,675
		Ron Noble	17.6	10,980
		Amy Ryan Courser	16.3	10,176
		Angela Plowhead	13.2	8,271
	Submit photo	Jim Bunn	10.1	6,340
		David Russ	3.8	2,398
		Nate Sandvig	3.6	2,222
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	432

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 62,494
= 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.

2017

See also: Salem-Keizer Public Schools elections (2017)

Four seats on the Salem-Keizer Public Schools school board in Oregon were up for by-district general election on May 16, 2017. In Zone 1, Kathy Goss defeated Mark Bateman, Kathleen Harder, and Ross Swartzendruber. Sheronne Blasi defeated Jonathan Baker to win the open Zone 3 seat. In Zone 5, Jesse Lippold defeated Levi Herrera-Lopez. Zone 7 incumbent Paul Kyllo won re-election after running unopposed.

Results

Salem-Keizer Public Schools, Zone 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Kathy Goss	41.35%	14,014
Kathleen Harder	38.82%	13,155
Mark Bateman	14.45%	4,898
Ross Swartzendruber	4.87%	1,652
Write-in votes	0.5%	169
Total Votes		33,888
Source: Polk County Elections, "Final Election Results," accessed June 12, 2017 and Marion County, Oregon, "May 16, 2017 Special District Report," accessed June 12, 2017

Funding

See also: Campaign finance requirements in Oregon and List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2017

The filing deadline in Oregon for a campaign transaction is typically no later than 30 calendar days. However, beginning on the 42nd day before an election day and through the date of the election, a transaction is due no later than seven calendar days after the date it occurred. The dates for the beginning and ending of the seven-day reporting period for the 2017 Oregon school board elections were:

• April 4, 2017 (Seven day campaign finance reporting begins)
• May 16, 2017 (Seven day campaign finance reporting ends)

A school board candidate in Oregon must form a candidate committee unless he or she meets all of the following conditions:

1. The candidate elects to serve as his or her own treasurer.
2. The candidate does not have an existing candidate committee.
3. The candidate does not expect to receive or spend more than $750 during a calendar year (including personal funds).

A candidate committee must file a Statement of Organization with the Elections Division of the Oregon Secretary of State within three business days of first receiving or spending money. A form including campaign account information must accompany the Statement of Organization.

Candidate committees that expect to receive or spend $3,500 or more in a calendar year are required to report all transactions. A committee that does not expect to receive or spend this much is still required to file a Statement of Organization and designate a campaign bank account, but does not have to file transactions. Instead, they must file a Certificate of Limited Contributions and Expenditures.

Endorsements

Harder received an official endorsement from Salem Weekly, the Statesman Journal, Stand for Children, and Planned Parenthood.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Kathleen Harder completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Harder's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Dr. Kathleen Harder is running for Congress to build a healthier Oregon. In medical school, she worked multiple jobs to pay for her education while raising her children. For the last 30 years she has cared for thousands of patients and been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic serving patients in Salem. She is running for Congress because she knows firsthand the problems with our fragmented health care system and how our health care system works so poorly – for patients, families and health care workers. As the former chair of the Oregon Medical Board and Board Member of Planned Parenthood Advocates for Oregon she is outraged at the constant attacks on reproductive freedom and voting rights.

In Congress, Kathleen will prioritize tackling the homelessness crisis including access to stable, affordable housing, mental health providers and substance abuse programs. This is personal for Kathleen, as her own father struggled with mental illness and addiction and never got the help he needed. Oregon recently ranked 49th in the country in access to behavioral health services. Dr. Harder knows that we need a healthier Oregon and will take the practice of establishing trust quickly and advocating for her patients to Congress to advocate for her constituents.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Health care is a right, not a privilege. I’m a strong supporter of universal health care and we must work so that every American has guaranteed, quality health care. As a first step, I support expanding Medicare as a low-cost option available to everyone. Medicare should negotiate all drug prices and ensure vision, dental, and hearing coverage is available to all enrollees. We must work towards universal coverage for all Americans.
• We must come up with strategies across our communities to mitigate this crisis from transitional housing, access to stable and affordable housing, expanded mental health services and substance abuse recovery programs, to job training and wrap-around services that help get people back on their feet.
• I’m a doctor and I believe in science. We must address climate change not only for the direct impacts on our community, but for the businesses whose bottom line is threatened, local workers whose jobs are on the line, and parents and grandparents who want to leave our children a habitable planet.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Two issues that I am passionate about are reproductive freedom and public education.

Today, reproductive freedom and the rights of women to make their own health care decisions are under attack like never before. It’s a distinct possibility that the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade later this year. As a doctor and former board member of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon, I have been proud to use my voice to stand up for reproductive freedom. We helped pass the Reproductive Health Equity Act and fought back against attacks by groups like the Oregon Right to Life on reproductive health rights. The bottom line is politicians should never have a say if and when someone decides to have a child. This is a fundamental right of the individual and ensures women can be equal and full participants in our society. In Congress, I’ll fight everyday against the attacks on reproductive freedom and women's rights to make their own health care decisions.

As for public education, it is our responsibility to ensure all young people have equitable access to a high-quality, world-class education. Teachers need to have access to further professional education and other support to learn new teaching strategies whether during or post-pandemic. We must be sure that we develop and sustain a highly skilled and diverse teaching force that are paid commensurate with their important role in our children’s future.

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.

2017

Harder stated the following on her campaign website:

“	As a school board member, I will work to: Improve graduation rates and ensure students are college or career-ready. Close the achievement gap by advocating for early childhood education. Maintain and improve our facilities, with equity and sound financial stewardship. Demand that state leaders fund public education as a top priority. Please join me as I work to ensure that the Salem-Keizer School District continues to meet the needs of our children. Together we will fulfill the promise of a quality public education for all students.	”
—Kathleen Harder (2017)

See also

2022 Elections

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Government

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Candidate

U.S. House Oregon District 6

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Footnotes

[show]

Oregon's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Jeff Merkley (D)

Ron Wyden (D)

Representatives

District 1

Suzanne Bonamici (D)

District 2

Cliff Bentz (R)

District 3

Maxine Dexter (D)

District 4

Val Hoyle (D)

District 5

Janelle Bynum (D)

District 6

Andrea Salinas (D)

Democratic Party (7)

Republican Party (1)