Candidate Forums Don't Work

As a Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Oregon, I have spent months traveling the state, listening to Republicans who care deeply about our future. I value every conversation. But I have also come to a clear conclusion: the traditional in-person candidate forum model that dominates Oregon politics no longer works.

It is time to retire the outdated format and embrace the tools that actually let voters learn about candidates, ask real questions, and share answers with one another.Here is the reality of most candidate forums held across Oregon today. A handful of candidates are given two or three minutes each at a podium. Thirty to fifty people sit in the audience—often the same dedicated activists who attend every event.

There is rarely time for meaningful follow-up questions. Candidates race from one town to the next, burning hours on Interstate 5 or winding two-lane roads just to reach the next small gathering. The travel eats up entire days that could be spent working, raising money, or actually answering voter concerns.

Most campaigns, including mine, do not have large staffs or unlimited budgets. We cannot afford to keep chasing tiny crowds across a state as geographically vast as Oregon. The result is that voters walk away with little more than a quick impression and a flyer. They do not get the depth they deserve. They cannot easily compare positions side-by-side. And the people who could not make it to the event—because they work nights, live in rural counties, or simply have families to care for—get left out entirely.

This is not how information travels in the 21st century. Social media, campaign websites, and direct email have changed everything. These platforms give every Oregonian the chance to see exactly where I stand on the issues that matter most: securing the border, cutting wasteful spending, protecting our rural economies, and defending the freedoms that make Oregon great.

You can read my full positions at your own pace. You can post a question on my Facebook page, X account, or campaign website and receive a direct, detailed answer. Those answers can then be shared instantly with friends, family, and fellow Republicans across the state.Unlike a three-minute sound bite on a stage, digital engagement is transparent and permanent.

It reaches thousands of voters in a single afternoon instead of dozens in an evening. It lets working Oregonians participate without having to drive for hours. And it frees candidates like me to use our limited time more wisely—meeting with small business owners in their shops, talking with farmers in their fields, or sitting down with families around their kitchen tables—rather than commuting endlessly between sparsely attended forums.Seeing a candidate in person has its place.

I will always make time for one-on-one conversations and town halls where real dialogue can happen. But the old-school “stand on stage for three minutes” format is no longer an efficient or effective way to run for office. It belongs to an earlier era when information moved slowly and technology was limited. We are well past that now.

If you want to know what I believe and how I will fight for Oregon in the United States Senate, I invite you to skip the next forum and do something far more productive: go to McAlmondforCongress.org.

Follow me on social media. Send me your questions directly. I will answer them personally and publicly so everyone can see my responses. Share those answers with your neighbors. Let’s have the substantive, statewide conversation Oregon Republicans deserve—on your schedule, from wherever you live.

The future of effective campaigning is digital, direct, and accessible. I am running my campaign that way because that is how I intend to serve—efficiently, transparently, and focused on delivering results for every corner of our great state.Thank you for your time and support. I look forward to hearing from you online and earning your vote.