SALEM — Senator-elect Mike McLane will begin his first term in Oregon’s highest legislative body with the goal of continued advocacy for rural Oregon while bracing his constituents for potential federal budget constraints.

After winning the Republican primary, McLane ran unopposed during the November general election, securing the Senate District 30 seat with sparse write-in opposition. The district is vast, encompassing all of Grant, Lake, Malheur, Harney, Baker and Crook counties in addition to parts of Jefferson and Deschutes counties.

A former Crook County Circuit Court Court judge and House minority leader who currently serves as a colonel in the Oregon Air National Guard, McLane brings a diverse set of skills and experience to the job.

McLane stressed the importance of building relationships and understanding the legislative process in addition to highlighting three key issues he hopes to address during his time as a senator: upholding the rule of law, ensuring food security and managing the state budget.

Experience and relationships crucial

McLane is no stranger to the Oregon Legislature, having served as the representative for House District 55 from 2011 to 2019, including six years as minority leader.  McLane said the relationships he built and experience he gained will help him in his current role as a state senator.

“Relationships matter, and I had a lot of good relationships with both Republicans and Democrats who are … still in service,” he said.

As a Republican in Oregon, the ability to reach across the aisle to get legislation passed is simply a way of life, according to McLane.

“Remember, no bill can pass in the House without some Democrats voting for it,” he said. “The same is true for the Senate.”

One of the relationships that will be key during McLane’s tenure as a state senator will be with Rep. Mark Owens, whose House District 60 encompasses much of the same territory as McLane’s Senate district. Owens and McLane’s predecessor, Lynn Findley, worked closely with one another and became known as fierce advocates for Eastern Oregon.

McLane said he hopes to continue that advocacy, noting that he and Owens have already done a number of town halls together with plans for more. McLane said his experience in the House taught him a lot about the needs of rural Oregonians, although his Senate term will be his first experience representing Eastern Oregon.

“Advocacy is understanding your client or your constituency, you know, wants and needs, and I think Mark is really good at that,” he said. “While my advocacy for East Oregon will be new, my advocacy for rural Oregon is not.”

Critical issues facing constituents

One of McLane’s top concerns is hunger, as the rate of food insecurity in Senate District 60 and throughout rural Oregon continues to rise.

Two things McLane said can help promote food security is the protection of the food chain, which means ensuring an adequate supply of nutritious food, and ensuring the infrastructure for food banks and pantries is healthy.

Another issue affecting food security is the resistance to modern agriculture, which McLane said makes growing crops in the state more burdensome than it needs to be.

McLane has also been sounding the alarm about what he believes is a coming budget reckoning due to years of deficit spending at the federal level.

“Unless someone believes that deficit spending by the federal government can continue forever, there’s going to be a reckoning — a collision between financial reality and what seems to be a focus on trying to spend money and claim credit for solutions that never really materialize,” he said.

He anticipates the federal government will be forced to tighten its belt, narrowing the flow of cash to every state in the union. McLane said he doesn’t know when that reckoning will come, but work should be done to prepare for that eventuality.

McLane is a former circuit court judge and currently works with the Oregon Air National Guard’s Office of the Staff Judge Advocate. As a result, McLane described himself as a stickler for due process and said the law should never bend to the will of the mob.

“What I mean by that is that political views and what is fashionable can lead decision-makers to make poor decisions when they run past process,” he said. “And so whether it’s in a courtroom or in the legislature, people have to have an opportunity to be heard, and they have to have meaningful input.”

McLane said he’ll also fight against the diminishment of citizens’ rights while working to protect those same rights within the legislature.

“They need to be protected in the legislature. We swear, as a legislator, an oath to the Constitution, (the) same Constitution that judges swear oaths to, or the governor,” he said. “Whether you’re in the executive branch, legislative branch or judicial branch, we all should be focused on maintaining constitutional authority, and that includes making sure that people enjoy the freedoms that are guaranteed by the Constitution.”

Defining success

When asked what he would have to accomplish to make his first four years in the Oregon Senate a success, McLane said he’s of the age where he doesn’t measure success by pointing to signature legislation he’s passed.

“If you’re solving problems, that’s success,” he said. “How you do it and how you treat others, that’s success.”

McLane said he sees his job as securing “the blessings of liberty” as outlined in the Constitution for current and future generations of Oregonians. 

Ordinary citizens can advance that cause by participating in the political process when they believe they have something to add to the conversation, he said. Unlike in years past, people do not have to make the trip to Salem to testify; now they can it virtually, via Zoom.

“Showing up is half the battle,” he said. “We’ve got to show up and let the assembly, whether it’s in the House or the Senate, know what people’s experiences are and their ideas and some of the thoughts they have about current bills.”