Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: April 29, 2026

Contact: Jason Faler  |  [email protected]  |  (971) 385-6750

www.FalerForCongress.com

 

Combat Veteran, Healthcare Leader Launches Independent Campaign for Oregon’s 6th Congressional District

“The largest registered voting bloc in this district isn’t Democrats or Republicans. It’s the nearly 40% who answered ‘none of the above.’
They’ve never had a truly viable candidate. Until now.”
       — Jason Faler

[Tigard, OR] — Jason Faler, a multi-tour combat veteran with nearly 27 years of military service, a healthcare leader, a fourth-generation Oregonian, and a professor at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, has announced his independent candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in Oregon’s 6th Congressional District.

Faler is running with no party affiliation, no special interest funding, and no caucus obligations. He is the only candidate in this race whose sole obligation is to the voters of OR-6.

"The People’s House has been captured by corporations, parties, and special interests," said Faler. "Oregon’s 6th District deserves a representative who answers only to them — not to a party, not to donors from outside Oregon, and not to the machinery of Washington D.C. that has failed working families for decades. I have no party. I represent you."

A Resume Built in the Real World

Faler brings four distinct lived experiences to this race — credentials that no other candidate in OR-6 can match:

  • Nearly 27 years of military service — including multiple combat deployments to Iraq and East Africa, including service at US Embassies in challenging environments, a Bronze Star Medal, and service as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. Not a single member of Oregon’s current congressional delegation has served in the military. Faler would be the only one.
  • 20+ years as a healthcare leader — leading large and small Oregon healthcare organizations through the most turbulent period in American healthcare history. Faler has fought insurance companies, navigated regulatory complexity, worked with families simply trying to access care, and has seen from the inside what needs to change.
  • OHSU-PSU School of Public Health professor — teaching healthcare law & regulation, and occasionally strategic management to master’s and PhD students since 2007.
  • Fourth-generation Willamette Valley farm family — the son, grandson, and great-grandson of Oregon farmers. He has moved irrigation pipe, milked cows, and picked marionberries. When he talks about protecting Oregon agriculture, he is drawing from memory and lived experience – not theory.

Faler also founded The Checkpoint One Foundation in 2007, successfully bringing approximately 150 Iraqi and Afghan interpreters and their families to safety in the United States. The organization was commended on the floor of the U.S. Senate by Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Faler was nominated by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) for the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s Above and Beyond Citizen Honors Award, becoming Oregon’s state finalist in 2009. Bipartisan recognition — before he ever ran for office.

The Structural Case for This Campaign

OR-6 voter registration makes this campaign structurally viable in a way that independent campaigns rarely are:

  • 38.52% of registered voters are unaffiliated — the largest single voting bloc, more than either party
  • 29.75% Democrat / 24.78% Republican — neither party holds a majority
  • The incumbent, Andrea Salinas, raised $3.3 million in her last cycle — 93% from outside this district, from national PACs, financial industry donors, and D.C. lobbying organizations
  • Salinas votes with her party 95% of the time — not with OR-6, with her party

"If the 38% of unaffiliated voters in this district vote their actual interests — not the lesser of two evils — we win," said Faler. "The math works. What has been missing is a credible, serious, well-qualified independent candidate they could actually vote for. That’s what’s different this year."

Practical Solutions Over Ideology

Faler’s campaign is built on what he calls “practical solutions over ideology” — finding what actually works regardless of which party thought of it first. His platform prioritizes:

  • Government Reform — overturning Citizens United, term limits, campaign spending limits, radical transparency on campaign finance
  • Affordability & Economy — addressing the rigged economy, housing, small business competition, and policy stability for Oregon businesses
  • Healthcare — patients over profits, prohibiting private equity ownership of healthcare organizations, supporting the bipartisan Hawley-Warren vertical integration bill
  • National Security — restoring congressional war powers and oversight, strong NATO support, full-spectrum response to narco-terrorism
  • Oregon Agriculture — protecting farmers from trade policy whiplash, addressing Iran war fuel costs, realistic agricultural labor policy
  • Mental Health — dramatically expanding veteran mental health resources, a personal commitment informed by the loss of fellow soldiers to suicide

"I don’t start with a party platform and work backward," said Faler. "I start with the problem and find what actually works. Oregon’s 6th District doesn’t need more ideology. It needs practical solutions."

About Jason Faler

Jason Faler grew up in Salem, graduating from South Salem High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Oregon State University, a Master of Healthcare Administration from Seton Hall University, and a Master of Science in Jurisprudence from Seton Hall University School of Law. He is a board-certified Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He has lived in Tigard since 2006 with his wife, Caroline Zeller, DDS, MPH, and their three children.

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Media Contact:

[email protected]

(971) 385-6750

www.FalerForCongress.com

 

*Reference to Jason Faler’s military service or depiction in uniform does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Defense or any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Paid for by Jason Faler for Congress.

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