Medford's Al Densmore running for state representative

MEDFORD, Ore. – A former Medford city councilor is running for a seat in the Oregon State House of Representatives, District 6.

At the age of 24, Al Densmore was elected as a Democrat to the Oregon House of Representatives. He represented Jackson County until 1976. While he wasn’t serving in the legislature, Densmore taught at Medford Senior High School.

In 2007, Densmore won a seat on the Medford City Council. He was re-elected in 2010 and stayed with the council until 2013.

On February 21, 2017, Densmore announced he is once again running for state representative, this time as an Independent candidate. He released the following statement on Facebook:

When I moved to the Rogue Valley many years ago as a young high school teacher, I did not know what the future held, but I knew that I loved the area the moment I arrived. Over the years, Southern Oregon and specifically, Medford, became more than my home, it became part of me. I have been honored to serve the public as an elected official many times and in many capacities during my 33 years of service, including at the Oregon House of Representatives in the 70’s. However, 27 of those years the offices, (Medford City Council, Mayor and Education Service District Board) were nonpartisan.

As a non-partisan serving in elective office, you are expected to focus on solving problems and looking at the big picture, rather than serving your particular party. As I throw my hat back in ring once again to serve the people of the city I love and call home, I would like to lead that way back to that ideal of service, that we are elected to serve our entire community, not our parties.

There are good men and women on both sides of the political spectrum and we cannot be expected to agree on everything, but I would like to think we can agree that what is most important is addressing the challenges we face in a positive and inclusive manner. Failing to do that has only gotten us where we currently are on the national scale, digging further and further into our ideological bunkers, serving no one.

I want to change that and I want to start in Medford by becoming the first Independent elected in many years to serve in the Oregon Legislature..

My goal is to serve ALL of Medford, not just the people who voted for me. I want to go to Salem to show the rest of the state what Southern Oregon values are all about and how we can get past our political differences to find long-term solutions.

I want to challenge both parties to look within, to live within our means and find areas of compromise so that we can address the biggest issues that challenge our state like affordable housing, education, PERS, transportation, health care and climate change.

However, solutions will only come if we can find common cause and common ground. “Compromise” cannot be a dirty word never spoken by each party. We need people willing to step up, listen and work with both parties to bridge differences and start making progress. We also need people who have the experience and skills necessary to find these solutions.

I believe I am that person. As an independent voice, I will strive to give voice to Southern Oregonians who have not been heard by Salem and want badly to make progress on the challenges we face.

I ask for your write-in vote for State Representative District #6 Independent Party of Oregon. Please check my website www.aldensmore.com for more information.

Sincerely Yours,

Al Densmore