Jim Weidner Running Strong In House District 24

Jim Weidner was at Dorchester last weekend working the group pretty hard and it looks like he is the odds on favorite to fill the seat that is currently held by Rep. Donna Nelson.

Weidner owns a restaurant in the district and is a software developer. So he is bringing some business credentials to the race and probably the legislature.

However, it is his comments regarding some of the issues that piqued my interest the most.

For instance he had this to say:

“The Legislature just passed $620 million in tax and fee increases, and passed over $920 million in new debt. Government spending is out of control, and as State Representative, I’ll work to bring fiscal responsibility back to Salem.”

OK not bad for starters but then he hit on an issue that has been near and dear to my heart for a long time:

“The current legislature spends and borrows billions of taxpayer dollars for Portland light-rail, and ignores the problems with our major state highways, “Dundee is an example of the state’s mismanagement of our transportation system. We need to re-prioritize our transportation spending and make sure Oregon’s major highway projects are funded first.”

He has said that one of his top priorities will be the completion of the Newberg-Dundee bypass. That should carry a lot of weight in the region.

As an interesting personal side note for Mr. Weidner, he has a son who is currently serving in Iraq with the US Air Force.

I think you can count on this race as one to watch.