As the GOP tries to flip Democratic Rep. Val Hoyle’s Oregon district, Republicans have high hopes for their candidate, Monique DeSpain.
The National Republican Congressional Committee named DeSpain a “young gun,” opening up access to a number of donors. Mike Johnson’s leadership PAC shelled out $10,000 to the campaign since May. And NRCC Chair Richard Hudson hosted a swanky fundraiser for DeSpain in August, when top tickets cost $6,600.
DeSpain’s campaign website paints her as a run-of-the-mill Republican, running on this cycle’s run-of-the-mill Republican issues like immigration, crime and the economy. They are presenting her as just the type of Republican who might topple an embattled, vulnerable Democrat in a lean-blue district.
But Republicans could have a problem: The Constitution Party also has high hopes for Monique DeSpain.
The fringe, conservative Constitution Party has a minor yet potent footprint in Oregon. The state party’s platform defines marriage as “a union between a man and a woman.” The party says that “all education should be private.” And it calls on Americans to “resist any attempts to recognize or enforce the legalization of abortion.”
It’s not odd that, in a battle between a Democrat and a Republican for a congressional seat, the Constitution Party would root for the Republican. What is odd, however, is that, in addition to being the GOP’s candidate, DeSpain has sought and secured the Oregon Constitution Party’s nomination.
“I’m really excited about her being our candidate,” Oregon Constitution Party Chair Roger Shipman told NOTUS, “because she’s someone who I think would do a fantastic job in a place where lots of people get co-opted right away.”
DeSpain filed for election with the Constitution Party of Oregon on Aug. 12, according to secretary of state filings. Shipman told NOTUS that DeSpain courted the Constitution Party’s nomination months prior and officially won it at their May convention.
DeSpain has kept her Constitution Party affiliation quiet — it hasn’t yet been publicly reported. And there might be a good reason for that. For national Republicans hoping to swing moderate voters in a blue-leaning district, associating with the Constitution Party’s hard-right positions very well may be toxic.
To receive the party’s nomination, Shipman said, candidates must sign a three-part pledge that addresses one of the thorniest issues for Republicans this cycle: abortion.
“God has assigned the first priority of civil government to protect innocent human life from conception to natural death,” reads the pledge that Shipman said DeSpain signed.
The party’s platform could threaten DeSpain’s standing with critical swing voters. Abortion access in Oregon is legal and widely popular. DeSpain has taken pains to distance herself from conservative calls for a federal abortion ban. Facing criticism from the Hoyle campaign, DeSpain issued a defiant statement on her abortion stance.
A DeSpain campaign spokesperson, Kevin Hoar, reiterated that position in a Saturday statement to NOTUS.
“While the Oregon Constitution Party endorsed Monique, Monique doesn’t endorse all of their positions,” Hoar said. “In the same way, Monique doesn’t endorse 100% of the Republican Party positions.”
“Monique has been clear on her stance on abortion — she will not support a federal ban, and she will defend Oregon’s laws in Congress,” he continued. “Monique is also a staunch supporter of IVF treatments — which helped her have her children, and she will protect access to contraceptives.”
With respect to gay marriage, Hoar said DeSpain “has never opposed gay marriage and considers the law settled on this matter,” noting that she has “many gay married supporters and friends.”
The NRCC did not respond to multiple comment requests.
Despite DeSpain’s comments, Shipman was bullish that she would be an ally to the Constitution Party in Congress. So firm is Shipman in his support that he canvassed for DeSpain’s campaign despite living outside of her district.
Asked about if there is a particular issue that he views DeSpain as an ally to the Constitution Party, Shipman offered a simple reply, “The ones that matter the most.”
“For me, it’s about standing for what matters to God,” he added. “That’s life, word, anti-abortion and Christian principles.”
“She stands up for the right kinds of things, and that is the kind of thing that puts God on your side,” Shipman said. “And even if she wouldn’t say it that strongly, I think that people who stand up for those principles like that strongly still get his backing.”
The Constitution Party operates well beyond Oregon, though the state’s chapter is helmed by Shipman. Ultraconservative, anti-abortion activist Randall Terry is currently running for president under the party banner.
According to Hoar, the Constitution Party is just one part of DeSpain’s voting coalition. The campaign is also reaching out to Independents, Democrats, Working Families and Libertarians.
People, Hoar said, “who want safe neighborhoods, a secure border, an affordable economy, and a representative who listens to them and fights for them, not the party bosses in Washington D.C.”
With just weeks until Election Day, DeSpain, the GOP and the Constitution Party will need all the help they can attract as they face a bruising road to flip Hoyle’s seat. Although Hoyle has been dogged by corruption allegations, she’s well positioned to clinch her second term in Congress. The district has a four-point Democratic lean, per Cook Political Report ratings.
For now, DeSpain’s strategy appears to be labeling Hoyle — and the Democratic Party broadly — as extreme and out of touch.
And for her part, despite boasting the nomination of two parties, DeSpain vowed in the final words of a recent ad, “I’ll be an independent voice in Congress.”
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Riley Rogerson is a reporter at NOTUS.