After the Lane County Democratic Party lost the House of Representatives seat for District 12 in the 2022 election, it’s looking to come back stronger with the same nominee: Michelle Emmons, the self-proclaimed “Dirtroad Democrat.” 

Emmons will take on Darin Harbick (R) in the general election on Nov. 5 to become the Oregon State Representative for House District 12, an area that represents South Eugene and rural towns around Eugene. 

In 2022, Emmons lost the HD-12 State Representative election to Charlie Conrad. This year, she entered the race through a write-in campaign and won the Democratic nomination with 655 votes. She said she’s focusing on engaging with the voices of district members and leading the rural community through her “Dirtroad” candidacy motto. 

“My job as a legislative representative of our community is to ensure that we are leading Oregon together,” Emmons said. “I hope to ask people for what they want and help to carry that forward in the legislature. I don’t see Harbick doing that.”

In the Republican primary election for HD-12, Conrad was beaten by Harbick after earning just 1397 votes compared to Harbick’s 6709 votes. Lou Sinniger, a Eugene resident, explained his thoughts on the race.

“Conrad lost the primary because he was in the House Committee on Healthcare,” Sinniger said. “He voted ‘Yes’ for Senate Bill 1089 out of the committee and into the house.”

Where do the candidates stand on major issues?

Regarding abortion and LGBTQ debates, Emmons said many policies are already in existence like the healthcare policies of Senate Bill 1089 and House Bill 2002 that provides rights for women about their bodies, and for individuals of LGBTQ status to be treated in a fair and comprehensive way to receive their needed healthcare. 

Emmons said that these types of policies are in danger of being repealed or questioned by the Republican party in the upcoming election. She said she would be open to hearing policies that individuals may consider and making sure every voter has a voice. 

“It isn’t that I need to come up with a policy around protection of LGBTQ necessarily, but that I need to uphold the constitutional freedoms that are already in existence in our state’s constitution,” Emmons said. 

Harbick, who holds a pro-life stance, stated on his campaign website that he prioritizes protecting individual rights as free citizens while protecting the sanctity of life and upholding individual liberty. 

He said that he will work to undo Conrad’s “Yes” vote on Oregon House Bill 2002, which was passed last year. The bill states under Section Eight that minors under 15 years of age may give consent to an abortion without the consent of a parent or guardian.

Harbick did not respond to the Daily Emerald’s multiple requests for an interview. 

In an email reaching out to the Lane County Republican Party for an interview, Chairperson John Large responded, “Don’t you have something more constructive to talk about besides abortion and gays.” It was specified in the email that this story would discuss topics such as abortion and LGBTQ debates. 

David Ainsworth, a recent University of Oregon graduate, expressed what he expects from the two candidates. 

“One thing is what their policies are like. That is the most important thing,” Ainsworth said. “Are these policies that will be good for all of us? Do they represent our district well? There are certainly many policies to look at, but certainly I always look at what they believe and that their positions are on the issues, and how they can best represent our districts.”

On the issue with abortion, he said that Harbick’s website doesn’t explicitly say what his exact position is and thinks that it’s a way to win votes.

“Does he oppose all of it? Or some of it? He’s not making that clear and I think that is a way to get votes,” Ainsworth said. “Since clearly as we’ve seen the majority of the people are pro-choice. So he doesn’t want to explicitly say that he firmly opposes abortion because if he says that, that could hurt him in the general [election].”

Emmons pointed out that the Constitution values individual freedom, and said that this includes bodily autonomy. She said it scares her that “someone who claims to be a constitutionalist or a conservative wants to take those freedoms away” from the people of the district. 

“We need to have safe public spaces where people can be who they are and be accepted in those spaces as part of a community that celebrates different perspectives,” Emmons said.

How the election could change Eugene, Lane County

When asked how this election can affect students and residents in Eugene, Emmons said state resources and policy decisions can affect students’ ability to work, the available internship opportunities through funds received, reallocations of certain resources and more. 

For issues regarding affordable housing development plans, an issue prevalent for students with the increase of luxury housing around UO, Harbick said in an interview with The Register-Guard that a reform is needed regarding underlying structural cost drivers. 

He said the land use system and permitting processes “are broken.”

However, Emmons wants to allow communities to have some control over their developments based on economic plans. 

“We need to build housing in a way that provides equitable access to services and recreation, and it needs to be looked at from different perspectives,” Emmons said. 

Emmons said she hopes people will vote for her based on the fact that she wants to create transparency and a safe, respectful space to have discourse about problems and solutions that the HD-12 community has. 

“I think my voters want transparent leadership, and they want a leader who’s going to be open to a broad coalition of voices to help govern policies around our state and House District 12,” Emmons said. “That’s the story I need to tell and that’s how I think I’m going to win.”