Governor candidate Betsy Johnson talks independent campaign

Former Oregon State Rep. Betsy Johnson is running for governor of Oregon as an independent in the November election. Her campaign is focused on improving public schools, affordable housing for workers and make Oregon appealing to job creators.

Johnson served in the Oregon House and Senate for more than 20 years, retiring as chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee to run for governor. She has a reputation as an advocate for her constituents. Johnson has also served on the boards of numerous local, regional and national organizations, including the Oregon Health Sciences University Foundation, Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Oregon Public Broadcasting Foundation and the High Desert Museum.

She also ran a commercial helicopter company for 20 years. She is currently on the Board of Visitors of Northwest School of Law and serves as president of the Samuel S. Johnson Foundation, named after her late father.

Johnson said she decided to run for governor because she has had a front row seat to the deterioration of the state she loves. There are issues of homelessness, crime, lawlessness in Portland, the education system lowering standards for students, lack of affordable housing, and more. “I believe we cannot continue in this way,” Johnson said.

“And nothing is more disruptive to the status quo than having a nonaffiliated governor. ” Johnson is running as an independent. She left the Republican party because she felt they became too extreme.

As a Democrat, she felt the party went too far to the left, especially with issues such as defunding the police. She said she is running as an Oregonian. One of the main things Johnson plans to do as governor is support law enforcement and make them accountable.

“They have to be responsible and professional, but we need to augment the amount of sworn officers that we have,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to get a hold of the lawlessness that has plagued Oregon. ” Johnson said she has maintained that Oregon cannot succeed if Portland fails.

She said something must be done to get people off the streets and into affordable homes. “Lincoln City is probably not atypical of what we’re seeing all up and down the coast where people that work in the hospitality industry especially are being forced to go farther and farther away from their job and commuting longer and longer distances,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to get more housing in the pipeline.

” Johnson believes there needs to be more accountability in Oregon’s schools. Oregon is graduating students who do not need to demonstrate competency in core subjects, Johnson added. When kids are not meeting the state’s standards, Oregon lowers those standards, she added.

She plans to take the issue on and demand performance out of schools. If elected, the Johnson administration would value jobs and job creators. She wants Oregon to be a welcoming place for job creators and retain the established jobs as well.

For Johnson, the important part is getting Oregon’s maverick spirit back and for people to be proud to be part of Oregon. Johnson wants people to imagine a governor who would be willing to reject the paralytic partisan politics that have caused the state not to move forward on finding solutions to some of the big problems. She’s willing not to sign budgets or sign legislation unless there is bipartisan support.

“It’s all too often, in my experience, we start at no,” Johnson said. “I want us to be a welcoming place for jobs and job creators. I want us to get our economy back in play.

I want us to be responsive to the needs of the businesses that are here. ” While she was in the Legislature, Johnson was a budget writer. “I know a lot about the state’s budget and would be very enthusiastic to comb through those budgets and make sure every taxpayer dime that’s being spent is yielding results that are accountable and audible,” Johnson said.

There is currently a petition to put Johnson on the ballot in November. Her campaign needs around 25,000 signatures by mid-August. She believes she will receive more than that, as the response has been overwhelming.

People can download petitions for her campaign website. For more information on Johnson’s campaign, visit https://www. runbetsyrun.

com/.