Oregon House of Representatives District 31 candidate surveys, 2022

Elections in Oregon, 2022

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This article shows responses from candidates in the 2022 election for Oregon House of Representatives District 31 who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

• Click here to see candidates and election results.
• Click here to see Candidate Connection survey responses.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Oregon House of Representatives District 31

Brian Stout defeated Anthony Sorace in the general election for Oregon House of Representatives District 31 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brian Stout (R)	59.3	22,026
		Anthony Sorace (D / Independent Party / Working Families Party)	40.5	15,031
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	77

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 37,134
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

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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.

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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?

Anthony Sorace (Democratic, Independent, Working Families)

The most pressing problems in our region — access to affordable housing, addressing the gaps in our healthcare system, and ensuring our education system meets the needs of our children — are complex, but they are not bigger than our ability. We have the tools to make progress on each of these, if we address them seriously. I've been doing that today and will continue to do so.

I'll always show up for my community. This has been true during my campaign, where I've been at every community event I could and worn out my shoes going door-to-door to talk with our neighbors, and that commitment will continue during my term as your Representative.

We need to make sure our elected officials put the needs of our people first, not the desires of a particular political group or financial backers. I have a long history of working on the issues facing us independent of any political party, and have been working on our current issues across party lines today. I'll continue to put the needs of our people above all other considerations.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Anthony Sorace (Democratic, Independent, Working Families)

Affordable housing. The cost of housing and the shortage of affordable options are the issue I hear about most when talking to folks in our community. I've heard from 18-year-olds with their first full-time job trying to get their feet under them, to retirees on fixed incomes being priced out of communities they've been in for generations. It affects everyone, and while it is a complex problem, the state has many tools it should be using to keep costs under control.

Healthcare, especially mental health, addiction services, and access to primary care. Oregon has a mental health crisis, ranking 46th in the nation for access to care, and this situation gets worse for many communities; youth in rural communities, like ours, are particularly vulnerable. We must do better. This, combined with a shortage of services for people struggling with addiction and access to primary care, are my main focuses for improving our healthcare system.

Education. As the father of a three year old, I know how every parent wants to make sure our children are getting the education they deserve, to help them develop into successful, happy adults with the best chance of success they can get. And for the long-term health of our entire community, investing in our children is how we continue to have a vibrant community with a productive, competitive workforce.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Anthony Sorace (Democratic, Independent, Working Families)

We need elected officials who start by listening, honestly and empathetically, to the people they seek to serve, and then bring their intelligence, creativity, and commitment to do the hard work needed to address the concerns they've heard. And our elected officials need to be able to do this for everyone, regardless of race, creed, party, gender, or any other distinction.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Anthony Sorace (Democratic, Independent, Working Families)

I think of the job as having three main parts:

1) Crafting, reviewing, and adjusting legislation, regulation, and related activities. 2) Talking with constituents about their hopes, needs, and difficulties. 3) Helping constituents with direct service when interacting with our government.

Too often, people only think of the first when they think of legislators — after all, it's the high-profile part that gets on the news and in the papers. But it can't be done well if you haven't done the work for the second part. If a legislator isn't in their community, showing up regularly and talking to as many people as they can, they can't represent their constituents effectively. This is why, as a candidate, I've been working so hard to talk to as many people as possible about the sorts of help they need from the state government, and where we're failing today.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

Anthony Sorace (Democratic, Independent, Working Families)

At a basic level, the relationship is clear: the governor, as the head of the executive branch of state government, is responsible for enacting and enforcing the laws set by the legislature. But that surface-level description has a lot of room for variation in terms of independence, oversight, and division of responsibilities. On those questions, I don't believe there is an "ideal" relationship. At both the state and federal level, the division of power and responsibilities have shifted over time. Those shifts have not always been positive, but that flexibility has been one of the important things that has allowed our government to adapt over time, and there's no reason to believe the answers we have today will be the right answers as circumstances change. We also see this with the diversity of government structures at lower levels, from counties to municipalities, where each determines the structure which works best for them, and which can change over time.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Anthony Sorace (Democratic, Independent, Working Families)

At a policy level: we must address the gaps in our healthcare system, especially our mental health crisis and access to addiction services and primary care; we must address our rising housing costs and the lack of affordable housing; we must ensure our education system continues to improve and comes through its current transitions successfully. Our entire political system needs to seriously grapple with the effects of money allowing a very small group of people to have outsized influence. And of course the most basic challenge for our state, country, and world is addressing climate change and the impacts it's already having on our communities. More fundamentally: we have to address the growing inequality in our state — from access to services to the concentration of more and more wealth in fewer and fewer hands — and we must continue to fight against anti-democratic forces who're willing to sacrifice the fundamental principles of our society to enforce minority rule.

What are the benefits and drawbacks of a unicameral state legislature, in your opinion?

Anthony Sorace (Democratic, Independent, Working Families)

A unicameral legislature lacks the balance offered by bicameral legislatures between responsiveness to shifting needs in our communities and the ability to work on longer-term problems and projects. Unicameral legislatures are less able to preserve a long-term vision of what the state government ought to be working on and to effectively address issues which are larger than one election cycle. The main benefit of a unicameral legislature is simplicity in citizens understanding and interacting with their government.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Anthony Sorace (Democratic, Independent, Working Families)

Yes. There are many very specific technical and procedural aspects to the job which aren't present outside of government. It is important to differentiate between experience and becoming entrenched, though. Too much service in any one position makes it harder to see things being different from how they are, and, in the worse cases, gives politicians a lot of baggage in terms of debts that need repaying.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Anthony Sorace (Democratic, Independent, Working Families)

Yes, I believe it's impossible to do the job effectively without doing that. Too many of the issues before us are bigger than any one elected official's ability to address. Other legislators will also have experiences and skill that compliment my own, and vice versa. Ideally, we all work together to help all the people of our state, and we cannot do that without having good relationships with each other.

What process do you favor for redistricting?

Anthony Sorace (Democratic, Independent, Working Families)

I believe all states should be required to use independent commissions, or some similar structure. Fundamentally, voters should pick their politicians, not the other way around.

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

Anthony Sorace (Democratic, Independent, Working Families)

Serving on the Health Care committee, Education committee, Environment and Natural Resources committee, or the Agriculture, Land Use, and Water committee would be a good fit for some of the most pressing needs of my district, and fit my skill well. My professional background makes me ideally suited to the Joint Committee on Information Management and Technology.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Anthony Sorace (Democratic, Independent, Working Families)

In my district, we're fortune to have been served by both a long-time Representative and Senator with excellent reputations for constituent service and accessibility, and I strive to continue that.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Anthony Sorace (Democratic, Independent, Working Families)

This depends on the topic. On a wide range of issues, compromise is not only necessary, but desirable. When the question boils down to how to allocate some limited set of resources, or how to prioritize several things we'd all like to see happen, compromise — or really, collaboration — produces better results than letting any one person or group dictate terms. The process of getting to the "compromise" produces better understanding on all sides. There are, however, a different set of issues that come up in government, and those are a different story. When it comes to defending the rights of all people, compromise is not a good solution. When faced with the choice between protecting someone's rights or not protecting those rights, there is a clearly correct answer.

See also

More about these elections:

• Oregon House of Representatives elections, 2022

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