Putting People Over Politics

Oregon is not a red state or a blue state; it is a state of neighbors—farmers in the Willamette Valley who know the exact hour the dew lifts from the grass, loggers in the Coast Range who can read a forest like scripture, and fishermen on the Columbia who measure their lives in tides and salmon runs. From the high desert of Harney County to the rain-soaked cliffs of Astoria, from the tech corridors of Hillsboro to downtown Portland, Oregonians share one quiet demand: leaders who solve problems with common sense, heal divisions with human connection, and defend free speech and religious liberty without apology.

This is the mission of my U.S. Senate campaign: Putting People Over Politics.

I am Russell McAlmond—U.S. Marine veteran, father, businessman, Executive Director, fiscal conservative, rabbi, Republican, and founder of the Center for Human Equality (CHE) in Grants Pass. My life’s work - whether counseling families through financial hardship for Oregon military members, authoring Ethical Individualism: A Human Relational Philosophy, or being the son of a former US Senate Candidate who ran as a Democrat, - has prepared me not to play the partisan game, but to end it. We are better together. 

In the Senate, I will represent every Oregonian, from the progressive coffee shops of Eugene to the conservative cattle ranches of Baker County, with the same steady voice: yours. Common sense is Oregon’s native tongue, yet Washington speaks in jargon and gridlock. Wildfires don’t wait for environmental impact studies; they devour homes while federal agencies argue over jurisdiction.

I will champion immediate, science-based forest management—controlled burns, thinning, and grazing—that local fire chiefs and tribal leaders have begged for years. The fentanyl pouring across our southern border doesn’t respect party lines; it kills sons in Scappoose and daughters in Sisters. Common sense demands we secure the border, hold cartels accountable, and fund rural treatment centers, not endless task forces.

Housing costs in Bend and Beaverton don’t bend to ideology; they bend families. I will push to stop corporate investors from creating too much demand on residential housing by trying to increase the return on their investments and tax credits for first-time homebuyers - solutions that work whether you vote D, R, or write in “None of the Above.”

But common sense without compassion is just cold calculation. Oregon thrives when we see each other not as demographics but as unique individuals. As executive director of the Center for Human Equality, I have written a book on how to return to human dignity and respect for the uniqueness of every human being we meet. 

In the Senate, I will author a National Human Relations Act - modeled on Ethical Individualism - that funds dialogue training in high schools, veteran reintegration programs, and rural mental health hubs. Imagine town halls in every county where a Klamath Falls rancher and a Portland teacher trade ideas over coffee, not insults over cable news.

This is human relations improvement: legislating with empathy, not enmity. Free speech and religious liberty are not culture-war props; they are the oxygen of Oregon’s soul. From the pulpits of rural churches to the open-mic nights in dive bars, Oregonians speak their minds and live their faith without permission.  

Whether it’s a Christian trucker in Ontario praying at roadside rest stops or a pagan baker in Corvallis refusing to violate conscience, faith must remain a sanctuary, not a subpoena target. Freedom of religion is one of our most valuable human rights for all Oregonians. I will fight to protect it. 

“Putting People Over Politics” is more than a slogan; it is a pledge. 

I will term-limit myself to no more than two terms, because the Senate is a duty, not a dynasty. Oregon sent pioneers to the Senate who built dams, protected wilderness, and brokered peace between labor and capital. Today, we need a senator who brokers peace and understanding between neighbors.

Join me. With common sense as our compass, human connection as our bridge, and constitutional freedoms as our foundation, we will put people over politics and remind Washington what Oregon already knows: the answers are here, among us, if only someone will listen.