Hicks: Oregon Democrats have shifted from ‘leadership to extremism’
By Steve Mitchell, Ashland.news
Brad Hicks, former chief executive of the Chamber of Medford Jackson County, officially announced his candidacy for the Oregon State Senate seat currently held by Ashland Democrat Jeff Golden.
Speaking to about 50 supporters outside the Southern Oregon University Higher Education Center in Medford on Thursday, Oct. 16, Hicks, who has long been involved in politics, said he is now running for an elected position after being encouraged to do so for three decades.
“I guess my answer was, ‘I’m running from office. I’m not running for office,’” he said.
Hicks said the evolution of his decision to jump into the Senate race has been shaped by decades of business, community service, and a concern over Oregon’s political and economic direction.
“I can no longer sit on the sidelines,” Hicks said.
Meanwhile, Golden has not said if he intends to run for another term. He told Ashland.news on Thursday that he would decide within the next couple of weeks.
‘Leadership to extremism’
Hicks said he has been frustrated over what he described as Oregon’s shift from “leadership to extremism” and from “balance to dominance” with the Democratic supermajority.
That supermajority, Hicks said, has ignored the voice of rural and Southern Oregon, and has put forth policies that have hurt working families and small businesses.
On the business front, Hicks said he championed free enterprise during his 30 years at the chamber. Over the years, he said, under the weight of taxes, excessive regulations, and an indifference from Salem policymakers, businesses have shuttered at an alarming clip.
Hicks told the crowd that there are about 225,000 “burdensome regulations” that businesses have to contend with.
Hicks pointed to Dutch Bros, a Grants Pass company, that moved its headquarters to Phoenix, Arizona, as an example of a business that was driven out of the state due to its economic policies.
“And people tell you ‘it’s fine here, it’s fine. Open up a new business, you’re going to be fine,’” he said. “I say, enough is enough.”
Hicks said he believes Oregon’s future is worth fighting for.
“I believe we can be the state where innovation, opportunity, and common sense can still thrive,” he said.
Hicks said simple reforms, including a capital gains tax holiday, to get “capital off the sidelines” as a way to boost the state’s economy and spark reinvestment.
He said the state’s 50-year-old land use policy needs a comprehensive review to address Oregon’s growing housing shortage. The state’s housing crisis, which, he said, is a “priority” on the agenda, is one that he hopes Democrats would work with him on should he get elected.
“I have some good friends in the Senate Democratic Caucus, and I would intend to reach across the aisle,” Hicks said. “You’re not going to get anything done in the minority.”
Hicks was critical of Golden’s support of Oregon’s 2020 wildfire map, which estimated the fire risk for every property in the state that was supposed to inform the creation of fire codes and protections around homes. The map stirred controversy when homeowners’ insurance polices were dropped. The insurance companies and regulators denied a link between the map and the cancelled policies.
While Golden voted for the 2020 map, he also later voted to repeal it in 2022. He said a misinformation campaign marred the map’s effectiveness and that insurance companies used internal maps to either drop people from their policies or raise premiums. Oregon saw an unprecedented uptick in wildfire over the past decade.
Nonetheless, Hicks said the map threw homeowners into “chaos” and damaged personal property values and “advanced a top-down system of mandates” that were personally devastating for people.
“The failure wasn’t just a policy failure,” Hicks said. “It was personal to our friends.” That harm was done by a government that “simply refused to listen to them.”
‘Data, dollars and doors’
Among the supporters who turned out for the campaign launch was newly-minted Senate Republican Leader Bruce Starr of Dundee, who assumed the role of minority leader last month. Starr told the crowd on Thursday that electing Hicks to the Senate is the start of bringing balance back to the State Legislature.
Starr said that “data, dollars, and doors” will ensure Hicks a victory in Senate District 3, which comprises the southern half of Jackson County and includes both Medford and Ashland.
“We’re going to win this campaign and other campaigns, because we’re gonna have better data, we’re gonna have the dollars, we’re gonna knock on the doors in order to win,” Starr said.
While registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 31,969 to 25,236, the party’s influence has begun to wane in recent years. According to Jackson County Elections, the Democrats saw a decline of 790 registered voters since 2022. Meanwhile, Republicans picked up 206.
Hicks said the shift in voter registration is “a big deal” and played a role in his decision to run for the seat.
“It’s an indicator of what the mood is like,” he said.
He said every “political stripe” turned out to local town halls amid the backlash to the wildfire map and expressed frustration that they were not being heard by their elected officials.
Alan DeBoer, former Ashland mayor, was the last Republican to serve in Senate District 3, from 2016 to 2019.
Email Ashland.news associate editor Steve Mitchell at [email protected].
Related stories:
Former Medford/Jackson County CEO launches bid for Oregon Senate (Oct. 9, 2025)
