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No one can accuse state Rep. Ed Diehl (R-Stayton) of inconsistency. If elected Oregon governor, he plans to govern how he campaigned: with ballot measures.
Diehl gained prominence in the Oregon Republican Party over the winter by leading—along with Sen. Bruce Starr (R-Dundee) and Jason Williams of the Taxpayer Association of Oregon—a populist revolt against a gas tax increase passed by the Oregon Legislature in the September special session.
In a matter of weeks, the barely-funded referral campaign gathered more than 250,000 signatures, derailing a painstaking compromise Gov. Tina Kotek and other top Democrats crafted to bail out the Oregon Department of Transportation.
The tax measure is going to voters in the May 19 election. So is Diehl, as one of four leading candidates for the Republican Party gubernatorial nomination. While trailing the former Portland Trail Blazer Chris Dudley and state Sen. Christine Drazan (R-Canby) in fundraising, Diehl, who first won election to the House in 2022, has galvanized the party base by showing he can shove a spoke in the wheel of the power structure, forcing a popular vote on an unpopular tax.
Wrecking other people’s agendas is one thing. Implementing your own is another. So when Diehl, an engineer who specialized in factory automation, visited WW’s office last week for an endorsement interview, we asked him how he would govern with Democrats likely to still be controlling both chambers of the Legislature.
His answer: If Democratic lawmakers don’t pass the laws he wants, he’ll refer his agenda to voters as ballot measures.
Watch his full answer below.
