Glad to enter race for open House seat

Another Republican is poised to enter the race for Donna Nelson’s District 24 house seat, which Nelson has said she plans to vacate.

Ed Glad, a former carpenter union lobbyist, will officially announce his candidacy Wednesday, joining fellow Republican Jim Weidner, who announced his candidacy last month.

Glad said that he had flirted with the idea of running in the past, but conceded his labor background made him apprehensive.

“It’s been a long time since there’s been a labor Republican,” Glad said, citing former Oregon House Speaker Mark Simmons as the last major labor Republican in the state.

“My opponent, (Weidner), has used language that sounds very similar to what we have had in the past, and I feel that the under-representation needs to stop. We should have some very sober and serious political conversations in Yamhill County, not only to deal with the vastly growing wine industry, but also a very important nursery industry,” he said, emphasizing the importance of the illegal immigration issue in agricultural areas.

The district is solidly Republican, with a 13-16 point registration difference, but Glad said he plans to run as a moderate, change candidate who is uniquely positioned to speak for the labor community.

Glad also criticized those in his party who have made illegal immigration such a heated wedge issue.

“Immigration looms large in many peoples’ minds, and I feel that Yamhill County needs to assess the way we’re talking about the issue, and I would caution against simply parroting what Lars Larson has to say about the matter,” Glad said. “If we say, for instance, that we don’t want any more immigrants coming into the country, then what happens to the labor for our Nursery and wine industries in the County?”

Despite the uphill climb a Democrat faces in the district, Sal Peralta, who has previously run unsuccessfully, said he has not reached a final decision yet on whether or not to run again, but that he is seriously considering it.