The Democratic candidates for the state House District 6 primary election are focused on a range of topics, from lack of housing, childcare and mental health resources to prescription drug costs, changes to Measure 110 and homelessness.

Lilia Caballero, the cultural outreach coordinator for the Medford Police Department and a Medford School District board member, is running against John Holm, a Medford resident caring for their elderly mother (Holm prefers they/them pronouns). The candidates are running for a chance to unseat state Rep. Kim Wallan, R-Medford, in the general election.

Caballero, 64, said in an interview with the Rogue Valley Times that she would focus on shortages in key areas such a housing, child care and mental health care, while Holm’s concerns include minimum wage discrepancies, rising health care costs and finding creative solutions to homelessness-related issues.

A 30-year Medford resident, Caballero said her experience with the school board since 2015 and the police department since 2007 has given her added perspective on the importance of supporting families.

“When residents have a steady job, when they have income and when they have saved, they should be able to buy a house. Right now, that’s not possible,” she said.

“I would also love to see working parents have access to high-quality childcare. … When we care for our youngest community members, we all benefit.”

Caballero said that increased access to mental health care — for both adults and children — is crucial.

“If we can help even one person in our community, all of us benefit,” she said. “It’s all connected, because I see excellent healthcare workers and teachers who are forced to leave the area because they can’t afford housing and there are not enough childcare providers.”

Holm, a 55-year-old Rogue Valley native, told the Times that it is important to meet the basic needs of housed and unhoused community members. A former real estate broker and grocery clerk, Holm drives for Instacart to make ends meet and cover gas and insurance costs.

Holm has served as a party precinct person for the Jackson County Democrats and ran in 2020 for Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District under the name Kira Holm.

The candidate voiced concerns about minimum wage differences between the Rogue Valley and the rest of the state, rising health care co-pays and a lack of resources for homeless community members. Holm encouraged creative solutions to difficult problems, such as using empty commercial buildings for temporary housing and as places to provide job training. They mentioned having the government pay to offset the cost of solar energy for “everyone making under $160,000” and buying prescription drugs from outside the U.S. to encourage fair pricing.

“I would like Medicare to be able to negotiate drug prices. And if we can’t get good prices here locally, let’s go to Canada,” Holm said.

“If we wanna fix things, let’s rip off the band-aid. Republicans are against social welfare, so they’re never gonna fix any of this.”

Wallan, an attorney seeking a fourth term as state representative, said in an interview with the Times that she would continue to focus on the issues she’s been working on over the past six years such as homelessness, Measure 110, cannabis policy, the housing shortage and a need for expanded mental health resources.

On Measure 110 — Oregon’s landmark drug law whose decriminalization component was rolled back during this year’s short legislative session — Wallan said she wanted to stick around to “make any tweaks we might need to and make sure that’s funded appropriately.”

Changes to cannabis policy is intertwined with Measure 110’s revisions, Wallan noted, since cannabis dollars help fund the drug treatment mandated under the controversial measure. Drug policy in general, she said, is “going to be a hot topic for quite a while.”

On the housing front, Wallan said increasing housing stock “in a smart way, by reducing unnecessary regulations,” is important. Another issue — funding shortages for the Oregon Department of Transportation — will come up in the next few years, Wallan said.

“We talk a lot about EVs and fuel efficiency. One issue is that ODOT is funded with gas tax — it’s in the (Oregon) constitution — but now people are not buying as much fuel,” she said.

“There will be a lot of discussion about tolling and moving money from the general fund over to ODOT and what that’s all going to look like.”

Another focus for Wallan is legislative funding and accountability mechanisms for nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations. The representative was recently assigned to a new bipartisan committee that assesses rules related to these issues.

“The only check and balance right now are they have to have a contract and (the state Department of Justice) reviews the contract. There is not a report back to the Legislature, not any key performance measures.”

Wallan said Southern Oregon has a reputation in the state for accountability.

“People will tell me that when we give money to Southern Oregon, we know it will go to good use,” Wallan said.

“I love representing Medford and giving our area a voice. … We have a different viewpoint on a lot of things, but we do things well, and it’s scalable.”

Ballots for the May 21 Oregon primary will be mailed to Southern Oregon voters May 3.