THE DALLES — Four women, one from The Dalles, are vying to be the Democratic challenger of Rep. Cliff Bentz for the District 2 Congressional seat, which only two Democrats and no women have ever held.
Dawn Rasmussen of The Dalles, Mary Doyle of Bend, Patti Snow of Rogue Valley, and Rebecca Mueller of Medford joined a candidate forum in The Dalles earlier this month. Each took two-minute turns to answer questions previously submitted to Wasco County Democrats by locals residents.
About the candidates
A professor’s daughter, Rasmussen got her degree in communications, worked in the hospitality industry, and started her own resume writing business about 18 years ago.
“If you go from talking to an IT person to a rocket scientist to social worker to a new college graduate, you learn how to listen, and most importantly, you also learn that everybody has value ... The one word for me that people use is ‘fearless.’”
Doyle grew up with an adopted family in Beaverton, attended Oregon public schools, and went to work at 14, eventually paying her own way for a degree at Portland State University for international studies (focused on political science and economics) before getting her master’s in teaching. She studied a year abroad in France, learning civics before the European Union formed, and worked in retail to fund her education, finally paying of her last student debt at 57.
She’s been an educator for 20 years, currently assigned to La Pine.
“I was raised in a very Republican, religious household, and I was expected to be a housewife ... I chose higher education as a route to speak my voice,” she said. If elected, she wants a seat on the Ethics Committee.
Raised Republican in Burley, Idaho, Snow said, “My brother and I were taught not just the philosophy of the Republicans about fiscal responsibility, but my parents also were very good about teaching us about civic duty and how we had to take care of each other, everyone in the community, if the community was going to remain strong, and that’s a lesson that’s stuck with me for life.”
Snow majored in theater, worked in business management for almost 40 years and now owns a small Ashland business.
Mueller, a physician, was educated through private and public schools and did residency training in Pittsburgh before realizing the real shortage of healthcare was in small, rural communities. She then moved to southern Oregon to raise a family.
Mueller said the Democrats need a better message to make it clear the government should work for the common people. A more moderate candidate, she believes in marriage equality and trans rights, but said “sometimes the scariest people to tell I disagree with them are Democrats.”
The questions
Asked how they would act to keep rural hospitals, threatened by Medicaid cuts in HR 1 (the “Big Beautiful Bill”), they all agreed on universal healthcare and kicking corporates out of the picture.
Rasmussen proposed eliminating the middlemen, regulating pharmacies and private equity, a single payer loan and access to safe, affordable medicine for everyone. She also noted the need to find new ways to attract, train and keep healthcare professionals.
Doyle wanted increased federal reimbursement rates for Medicaid and Medicare, more emergency stabilization money, no corporate ownership and no AI used to deny claims, and things like loan forgiveness and housing assistance for providers. “No one should ever, and I’ll say ever, have to declare bankruptcy because of medical bills, or ration medication or sick care to survive,” she said.
Mueller noted there’s no congressional committee on healthcare, and she wants one; Snow said she wants to restore the federal Medicaid funds cut in HR 1 and support small rural economies.
Asked how they’d reach the many unaffiliated voters in District 2 — the seventh-largest in the U.S. — Doyle said she’ll be present in person whenever time and weather permit, listening. “I see myself as a bridge builder,” she said. “People are tired of being talked at.”
Mueller said fair-mindedness and compassion, “not being afraid to say where Democrats have gotten it wrong, and not being afraid to say when you agree with a Republican.”
Snow said the only way any of them win is “if we can get every Democrat out to vote,” and appeal to non-affiliated voters. “I put people above party, and that’s what will make me different,” she said. All four agreed, at the end of the race, to drop out and endorse the lone winner of this Democratic primary. Rasmussen added her presence is needed in rural areas where people feel neglected, reaching those she might not meet through conventional channels.
All supported the Democrats’ demand for renewal of Affordable Care Act tax credits and SNAP funds — the candidate forum was held prior to the end of the 43 day government shutdown on Nov. 12 — though Mueller demurred that legislators should plan better to protect the people who lost money and jobs when the government ground to a halt.
“The American people deserve a government that doesn’t hide from its failures, that doesn’t delay justice, and that doesn’t use hunger, missed healthcare or lost wages as leverage,” said Doyle.
All acknowledged the importance of District 2’s vast public lands, Mueller prioritizing wildfire risk, Snow the economy and climate change, Rasmussen wildfire and tourism, and Doyle renewable energy, and that timber industry and conservation interests must work together.
None are happy with Bentz, noting he has voted for healthcare cuts after objecting to them (and for cutting SNAP, on which one-third of District 2 families depend), votes along party lines and holds no in-person town halls (his last was Feb. 19 in Baker City). Rasmussen said of her meetings with Oregonians on the campaign trail so far: “They’re not feeling represented, and they’re feeling like he is ignoring them.”
“I will be damned if my new grandson is going to study this in high school. How can his grandmother’s generation let our democracy fall? That is not going to happen on my watch,” Snow said.
Rasmussen agreed, saying, “We all have jobs. This is not a career option for us. We’re doing this because we believe this is the moral thing to do ... I believe that women can be in this seat.”
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