KOIN 6 News contacted candidates who are planning to run for Oregon governor in 2022, asking them to respond to these three questions:

  • Why are you running for governor? 
  • In your opinion, what are the top three issues Oregon is facing right now? 
  • What is something you believe is going right in Oregon and how would you like to continue to build on it?

Tobias Read is running as a Democrat. Here are his responses:

Why are you running for governor? 

I’m running for governor because I believe it’s going to take steady leadership to help us move beyond this pandemic and start building a better future. We need to stop lurching from one crisis to the next and lay out a vision for where to take Oregon, not just for next year, but for the next generation. I’m not just interested in what happens in the short-term – because we’re planting seeds for future success.

My approach is simple: I’ll measure Oregon’s progress by how well our kids are doing.Today, too many kids are going to bed hungry, dropping out of school, and don’t see opportunities left for them in the rural communities that raised them. One out of every 25 kids, essentially a kid in every classroom, is homeless. We’ve got a lot we need to do to make Oregon a place of opportunity for every child.

I’m focused on investing in our future–everything from universal pre-K, to looking at extending the school year to making apprenticeships and vocational training available to all. We also need to make serious investments in clean energy and preventing future wildfires so we can preserve the beauty of Oregon for future generations.

In your opinion, what are the top three issues Oregon is facing right now? 

Finally getting COVID-19 fully under control which means working to get as many Oregonians vaccinated as possible, ensuring our children succeed by expanding early childhood education and making childcare more affordable and growing our economy by investing in clean energy and fostering entrepreneurship. That’s the key to creating more family wage jobs in every community, rural and urban.

What is something you believe is going right in Oregon and how would you like to continue to build on it?

Small businesses are the heart of Oregon’s economy, and around the country we are seen as a place of innovation and creativity. Our policies should help entrepreneurs and small businesses succeed, and we want the next Nike or Hydroflask to be started and grown here. 

Editor’s Note: KOIN 6 News asked Read for a source for the information he stated, saying, “One out of every 25 kids, essentially a kid in every classroom, is homeless.” Read’s campaign responded and said the information came from the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, which says in the 2018-2019 school year, an estimated 23,765 public school students in Oregon experienced homelessness. Oregon state records show there were 581,730 students enrolled in K-12 public schools in 2018-2019, which confirms one in 25 of those students experienced homelessness. 

KOIN 6 News made minor adjustments to spelling, capitalization and punctuation in the responses the gubernatorial candidates submitted.