Independent Brett Smith on campaign for Oregon's 5th district

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Republican incumbent Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Democrat Janelle Bynum are not the only candidates looking to represent Oregon Congressional District 5.

The district includes the majority of Clackamas County, all of Linn County and stretches across the Cascades to Deschutes County - including Sisters and Bend.

There are four others, including Independent candidate Brett Smith. A pipe-fitter, welder, inventor and former school bus driver, he is now the maintenance director for a healthcare facility in Oregon City and lives in Molalla.

On this week's Eye on Northwest Politics, Smith voiced his displeasure with the two-party system due to a lack of representation. This is also his reason for running for office.

"I don't look at Congress or anybody in there and feel like they represent me or my family or my neighbors or my friends," he said. "It's a sentiment that I hear all across the district when I talk to people. And it doesn't matter where these people come from or their background or their political affiliation."

Non-affiliated voters (which differ from Independents) are the biggest group of voters in Oregon at 36%. That's more than a million of Oregon's three million registered voters. Democrats come in at 33%, Republicans at 24% and the Independent party is at about 5%.

For Smith, these numbers signify a couple factors.

"I think it's more important that a Republican or a Democrat try to reach out to the Independent parties or the non-affiliates," he said. "But I think it's equally important to show that the Independent and unaffiliated people have somebody else that has the same ideologies. Running as an independent, I'm not like they are."

The way that we vote in primaries now is you have to be a member of the party in order to vote for the candidates in the primary. To that end, Smith argues this method gives those running in the two-party system an unfair advantage.

"I don't even think I like the primaries in general," he said. "It's not government affiliated. It's just us deciding which Republican and which Democrat get to be running for in the general election. It's kind of an unfair advantage that they have over like an independent or non-affiliated."

Congressional District 5 is largely rural and includes cities such as Bend, Oregon City and Sisters, as well as Smith's hometown of Molalla. If elected, Smith said his priorities would involve more direct legislation involvement for issues affecting his district, such as the PGE rate hike.

"The idea that they can say that they're going to raise rates and there's nothing that our regulators can do about it is ridiculous to me. And I don't ever hear anybody talking about stuff that directly impacts our district in that manner," he noted. "I hear a lot of social issues, which are important things like that, but that's kind of what [Chavez DeRemer and Bynum] campaign on. It's like people's feelings instead of real policy."

Smith also argued that, as an independent in Congress, he would have "leverage" when a Republican or Democrat comes up with ideas for potential legislation.

"It would give Oregon District 5 leverage to say, 'What's in it for my district?' And then I would be able to go and hold companies like PGE accountable for these rate hikes," he said. "And we could look into why farming subsidies cost so much and how come local farmers can't compete with like big corporations. Things like that."

Watch the full interview in the video above.