Our Approach
Nick (Nik) Heuertz
Bold, Honest Leadership
2020 Democratic Candidate, Oregon US House District 2 (ORD2, CD2)
I am a proud Democrat, running to represent you, the people of Oregon's Congressional District 2. Although it might not seem like it, on almost every issue, the majority of the American people agree. I am running to turn those agreements into law. I will not shy away from what I believe in, and luckily that just happens to line up with the majority of American's beliefs at this time in history. I will not shy away from fighting hard and saying what has to be said. Political calculus will not rule my decisions. We are at a crossroads in our young democracy, and we need leaders who are bold to inspire more of the American people to be involved in their future and vote. We will not do that with political cowardice and half measures that helped to get us into this mess.
Our Story
A local Country Boy, Small Business Owner
I grew up in Southern Oregon, on the outskirts of Sam's Valley, about fifteen miles from the closest mini-market, and the Rogue Valley has been my home ever since.
My family had some land with a small cattle farm and a small vineyard. My youth was spent largely weeding the vineyard (yes, mostly by hand), playing in our creek and exploring the woods "across the creek" (as we used to refer to it).
I went to junior high in Gold Hill and graduated high school from Crater High in Central Point. Oh how I miss those hour long bus rides to school (sarcasm).
After graduating high school, I attend SOSC (now SOU) in Ashland, Oregon, with a focus on business classes. I was always an entrepreneur at heart. Tired of (and honestly a bit bored) with the process of full time working and full time schooling, I figured I had taken all of the business courses SOSC had to offer, so I moved on from school and vowed to open my own business by the age of 25. Working full time in sales and management jobs (while tinkering with various home businesses on the side) I found myself at 26 with no real, profitable business. So, I left my job and took my $10,000 of credit card debt and made it $20,000...and my retail business was born. Due to hard work, some skill and some luck, it was an overnight success.
20 years later, I look back on a business (Chat Cat Wireless) that at its peak employed upwards of 20 people and bragged 5 retail locations and was quite profitable.
But, as a small business owner, I had to watch as things changed. Anti-trust laws became less and less enforced. Huge corporations consolidated and scaled and employed predatory tactics to not just better compete with the small business, but with the sole goal of shutting them down or buying them out. Owning the market and consolidating wealth and power seemed to be the only goal.
I find myself, having recently retired my retail business before I had anticipated, frustrated with not only the economic issues which are currently plaguing small businesses, but also with the overall state of our governance. Both on economic and social issues, we seem to be making little to no progress, and in many cases regressing.
On issue after issue, we find that we cannot legislate the majority opinion, due to dark money influences on politics. We can change that. I have a plan to fix it. The first step is for politicians to present bold, progressive ideas to motivate a large voter turnout. The second step is to pass legislation that removes dark money from our elections, as well as other legislation that strengthens our Democracy and the power of the individual vote. The third step is to legislate boldly and progressively until we have an America that embraces and builds upon the notion that we are all created equal, not an America that embraces the politics and legislation of fear and anger beckoning us to become our past.
Together we can do it. Please see my ISSUES page for more details.
