Dave Stauffer on running for secretary of state, top issues, what’s going right

KOIN 6 News contacted candidates who are running for Oregon secretary of state in 2024, asking them to respond to these four questions:

• Why are you running for secretary of state? If elected, what would be your top priorities?

• What is your prior government/civic experience?

• Sometimes, the secretary of state has to decide whether to remove candidates from the ballot. How would you have handled the decision whether to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot and the decision to remove 2022 gubernatorial candidate Nick Kristoff?

• In 2023, Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade joined the nationwide #TrustedInfo2024 campaign to increase trust in election officials amid the spread of misinformation surrounding elections and voter information. If elected, how would you build trust in Oregon elections?

• A Reed College study, published in 2023, found county election offices in Oregon are struggling to retain and recruit workers amid a “toxic” political landscape, inadequate funding, and a rapidly changing workload. How will you support Oregon election workers?

• What do you think is going right in the secretary of state’s office? How would you build on it?

• What changes do you want to bring to the Oregon Secretary of State’s office?

Dave Stauffer is running as a Democrat. Here are his responses:

Why are you running for secretary of state? If elected, what would be your top priorities?

The Secretary of State is also the Chair of the Board of Sustainability and Environment. See ORS 184.421 et seq. I am the best person to fulfill this role because I have five practical, workable, affordable, profit-making, politically correct patented inventions that can greatly improve Oregon’s environment. One of my inventions can heat your house, and air condition your house (or building) and heat your water so that you can have hot running water—all without burning fossil fuels that pollute the air. If thousands of houses and buildings quit polluting the air, we would have fewer environmental problems with global warming, breathing illnesses, and air pollution. I have one patented invention that can generate electricity from pollution-free (and inexpensive) wind power and another to generate electricity by pollution-free (and inexpensive) wave power. I also have a solution to greatly decrease the air pollution from the morning and evening “rush” hours for traffic going into Oregon cities in the morning and out of the cities in the evenings. You may find these environmental solutions spelled out in the videos on the Facebook site of Dave Stauffer for Secretary of State.

What is your prior government/civic experience?

I was the Securities Analyst for the State of Oregon, Division of Finance and Corporate Securities. I am a retired attorney that practiced law in Oregon and dealt with the state, county, and local governments.

Sometimes, the secretary of state has to decide whether to remove candidates from the ballot. How would you have handled the decision whether to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot and the decision to remove 2022 gubernatorial candidate Nick Kristoff? 

I would follow the court’s decision to keep Donald Trump on the ballot and to keep Nicholas Kristoff off of the ballot.

In 2023, Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade joined the nationwide #TrustedInfo2024 campaign to increase trust in election officials amid the spread of misinformation surrounding elections and voter information. If elected, how would you build trust in Oregon elections? 

I would ensure that all the county voting places have adequate physical security and that the vote-counting electronic programs are safe from any malware.

A Reed College study, published in 2023, found county election offices in Oregon are struggling to retain and recruit workers amid a “toxic” political landscape, inadequate funding, and a rapidly changing workload. How will you support Oregon election workers? 

I will be happy to recommend pay increases for all workers that are in line with the current minimum wage laws.

What do you think is going right in the secretary of state’s office? How would you build on it?  

The Secretary of State’s Office is very active in auditing all the government’s programs to ensure that funds are being spent in accordance with the legislature’s intent. I will bring my legal and accounting experience to continue the good work of the Office of the Secretary of State.

What changes do you want to bring to the Oregon Secretary of State’s office? 

As stated above, the Secretary of State is also the Chair of the Board of Sustainability and Environment. Oregon, and the United States as a whole, are facing significant environmental problems that are so large that most people cannot think large enough to solve those problems. The State of Oregon must implement my five large environmental inventions to solve Oregon’s environmental problems and be an example to the rest of the States.

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