Chris Beck

Chris Beck graduated from Jackson High School. He earned a bachelor's degree from Brown University in 1985 and graduated from Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government in 2005. His career experience includes working in public service.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I was born in Portland, attended public schools, and grew up in a family which valued Oregon's outdoors, civics, art, music, and education. After college I began a life in public service which included being staff in the Oregon Legislature and eventually being elected State Representative for six years. Later, I spent six years as a rural economic policy advisor at the USDA headquarters in Washington D.C. In the middle of these policy experiences I worked as a land conservation real estate negotiator with a leading national non-profit, the Trust for Public Land, helping conserve scenic and natural lands throughout Oregon and the Columbia Gorge.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Quality Health Care is a Human Right.

Health disparities in Oregon are vividly aligned not only with disparities in wealth and education, but with geography as well. Hospital cutbacks and the closing of community clinics are making it harder and harder for people in rural areas to find even basic wellness care, not to mention reliable emergency services.

The current administration, with the blind support of our Congressman, has made matters worse with drastic cuts to Medicaid and no plan for comprehensive health care reform. This reckless action has jeopardized access to health care for the most vulnerable among us.We must build more housing—it’s that simple.

The free market alone has never led to more affordable housing. It takes public assistance and incentives—it always has. Low-cost housing should be folded into our existing Main Street neighborhoods, not scattered into the outer fringes on our farms and forest resource lands.We must uplift our agriculture and natural resources economy.

The careless and haphazard trade tariffs imposed by President Trump, not to mention masked ICE agents targeting our nation’s migrant communities, have hit rural economies hard, whether it’s the loss of wheat and fruit markets abroad or the absence of workers and their families who have gone into hiding. The damage won’t be undone quickly.

In addition to repealing the tariffs and seeking a sensible, bipartisan approach to legal immigration, I will put forward ideas that refocus federal programs.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Rural health care access. Rural Economic Development. Addressing affordability, including housing, higher education tuition. Supporting working farms, forests, and grazing lands. Investments in arts and culture.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber

Former Ashland Mayor Cathy Shaw

Indivisible Sisters (Deschutes County)

Land conservationist James Monteith

Former Harney County Judge Steve Grasty

Elgin City Councilor Tiffany Lambert

Community activist/land conservationist Jean Pekarek