Joe Yetter is the Democrat candidate in Oregon’s recently revised 2nd Congressional District. Yetter is running against the Republican incumbent, Rep. Cliff Bentz. He was interviewed at Cousin’s Inn and Restaurant in The Dalles as he concluded a road trip that included an appearance at the Pendleton Round-Up.
Q So introduce yourself, and tell me what brought you into this race.
A So I’m Joe Yetter. And what brought me into this race, I was in Oregon Congressional District Four, and I got redistricted into Oregon Congressional District Two. And I found out who my congressman was, Rep. Cliff Bentz. And I found that he did not adequately represent the values and interests of the people of Oregon, and especially the interests of the people in the Second Congressional District.
So I filed to run, and I’m running absolutely as hard as I can. I’m a retired U.S. Army Colonel, physician and teacher. I was sitting fat and happy on my small farm, a little cow/calf operation, but mostly living the retired life and enjoying it.
And then I felt absolutely called to run because I thought that with Cliff Bentz in office, freedom and democracy were at stake. I just could not sit by, I felt I had a duty to run.
Q The Second Congressional District has voted Republican for many years. They are the majority. What is your message for Republicans, how will you represent them?
A Well, I will represent everyone, and I will represent their values and interests, irrespective of their party. Everybody wants clean air, pure water. They want infrastructure, jobs, housing. And they want freedom and democracy preserved. Everybody will articulate that they want those things. And I will vote for those things. I’ll sponsor legislation for those things.
It takes active intervention, active legislation, to make stuff happen. Incumbent Cliff Bentz, I think he’s a do-nothing person. He votes “no” on virtually everything, even things that are in the interests of the people of the Second Congressional District. If he votes against infrastructure, that’s infrastructure that would serve Republicans, Democrats, Independents and non affiliated voters alike — and the people who are too young to vote, and the people who aren’t born yet.
Q Early on, I read a report that comparing fundraising between you and the incumbent, and the fundraising gap was pretty significant.
A Oh, we were suffering, suffering a 32-to-1 deficit. Our money is coming from small donors, the grassroots, individuals. I’m not accepting any corporate PAC money. I would not expect to be offered any corporate PAC money. Because I wish to serve the interests of the people here in the Second Congressional District. Cliff Bentz has raised probably well over $1 million by now, I haven’t looked recently. And a lot of that money is big corporate interests and out of state money.
I’m not getting, that I’m not expecting to get that, I don’t really want that. And that’s not just sour grapes.
Q Has the Democrat party itself been supportive?
A Yes, they have given me some in-kind support, like access to computer databases. And I’ve attended multiple meetings where they’ve spoken on my behalf.
But you know, money is really tight for everyone. And our race needs to be competitive. So we need more. We’re trying to cover the territory as much as possible. And we have lots of folks who want to support the campaign and they’re writing postcards, making phone calls, knocking on doors, all those things.
What I hope is that some of the folks who consider themselves Republicans are unenthusiastic about Bentz because he’s not serving their interests. He’s serving corporate interests, with his support, in his visits. Philosophically and operationally, he’s not with the constituents here. And I think until recently, he’s been somewhat complacent because he’s in (an area) that has been portrayed as safe. I believe we’re making them uncomfortable, and I hope that we can make him untenable.
I have tried to have a debate with him, so we can be compared side by side, but so far he has refused.
Q Is there anything else that you’d like to say to our readers, that I haven’t asked about yet?
A There’s a whole lot of stuff. I would ask them to go to the website and see what our campaign is about. See what I’m about. But more importantly, what I hope to see is that the people in the District are about freedom and democracy, personal liberty and building a better future for everyone. That’s what the campaign is about.
I support lots of things that I think are good for everyone, including universal health care, combating climate change, promoting infrastructure and jobs, a thriving economy.
Q As a Democrat, do you consider yourself a liberal, moderate or conservative?
A I don’t like those labels very much. I consider myself a pragmatist, I want to get the right things done for the right reasons. I’m an institutionalist, in that I believe in science and technology, and the universities and newspapers and all the institutions, which I think are under threat from the MAGA crowd. I want to make progress as fast as possible, but I recognize that progress is made almost always on an incremental basis.
So if a conservative wants to honor the past, and protect what is good, then I am on their side. If a progressive wants to innovate, and to build and to make a better future, than I’m working with the progressive.
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