Senate · District 16 candidate · Oregon Legislature · November 3, 2026
Courtney Bangs
Clatsop County commissioner and educator.
Reach the campaign
- courtneybangs.com (opens in a new tab)
- Contact form (opens in a new tab)
- Facebook (opens in a new tab)
- Instagram (opens in a new tab)
As published in their campaign site.
In their words
Said: Portland Politicians always seem to find another way to threaten our values.
Voters’ pamphlet
Candidate statement · Filed for the November 2026 state voters’ pamphlet; extracted September 21, 2026
Oregon Secretary of State · filed candidate statement · PDF page 72 ↗First complete sentence of the filed statement; an opening quotation attributed to Betsy Johnson and a heading are skipped.
The verbatim opening of their voters’ pamphlet statement, the same rule for every candidate. We chose nothing.
What they say they would do
Our summary of their platform, in our wordsProposes tax and regulatory restraint, support for natural-resource industries and greater local control over growth.
- Oppose new taxes and fees; support predictable timber harvests.
- Reduce housing and childcare barriers and improve roads and levees.
- Support law enforcement and parental involvement; protect children before birth and support prenatal and adoption services.
Our reading
Our interpretation, not their wordsShe ties public services to timber revenue and existing tax dollars, would cut state housing rules in favor of local control, and back law enforcement; the site names no cost for the road and levee commitments.
Where they stand
Housing and homelessness
Cut state red tape- What
- Said: Cut state-level red tape that makes home building slower and costlier, protect local control over how communities grow, and expand childcare providers as she did in Clatsop County.
- How
- Not in their sources
- Measured by
- Not in their sources
Crime, drugs and who responds
Police and school officers- What
- Said: Fully back deputies, police and sheriffs with support and resources, and encourage school resource officers.
- How
- Not in their sources
- Measured by
- Not in their sources
Taxes, the kicker and the budget
No new taxes, fees- What
- Said: Stop new tax hikes and hidden fees, cut regulatory burdens that raise fuel and energy costs, and demand accountability for state spending; she cites helping defeat the $4.3 billion gas-tax package.
- How
- Not in their sources
- Measured by
- Not in their sources
Roads, transit and climate
Roads, levees, no tolls- What
- Said: Fight for the district’s share of existing tax dollars for Highways 30, 6 and 101, oppose tax schemes that hit commuters without fixing roads, and get levees studied, accredited and upgraded.
- How
- Said: Work with the Army Corps, the federal delegation and local partners to get levees studied, accredited and upgraded, and fund roads from the district’s share of existing tax dollars.
- Measured by
- Not in their sources
The choices this office faces
Every candidate in this race is asked the same 8 questions. Courtney Bangs is on record on 2, with 6 still open. A question without an answer is a research gap, not a position.
No answer we could findLet the state keep part of a future kicker refund for wildfire or other one-time needs?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Make data centers pay their own way: separate power rates, an end to tax breaks, or a pause on new ones?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Keep paying for state-funded shelter beds and the homelessness emergency after June 2027?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Keep the 2024 approach of recriminalized possession plus county deflection programs, and fund them in 2027–29?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Spend more state money on wildfire prevention and firefighting?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Keep adding state limits on federal immigration enforcement, on top of Oregon's sanctuary law?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Vote for a 2027 transportation package that raises the gas tax and vehicle fees again?
Said: Says she helped defeat the $4.3 billion gas-tax package and will fight new taxes and hidden fees, seeking the district’s share of existing dollars for Highways 30, 6 and 101.
Close the 2027–29 budget gap with new revenue, or with cuts alone?
Said: Will fight to stop new tax hikes and hidden fees and demand accountability for state spending.
A question the evidence leaves open
Which regulations would you change, and how would you finance the infrastructure commitments?
Sources (5)
- Bangs · prioritiesCandidate statement · Undated campaign page; reviewed September 18, 2026
- 2026 qualified filing · RepublicanElection authority · Checked September 18, 2026
- Bangs · prioritiesCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
- Bangs · aboutCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
- Oregon Secretary of State · filed candidate statement · PDF page 72Candidate statement · Filed for the November 2026 state voters’ pamphlet; PDF printed September 9, 2026; reviewed September 21, 2026Written by the candidate or campaign for the state voters’ pamphlet, which is not published until September 29, 2026.