About Hank

Growing up: Rural Oregon

Growing up in rural Oregon meant running through Gaston’s thick forests, swimming in Hagg Lake, and hiking through wine country. It also meant fighting off corporations that wanted to put liquified natural gas pipelines through our ground.

Fighting off this LNG pipeline taught me a few things:

  1. There are people and corporations that stand to gain by destroying rural Oregon.

  2. When we fight back, WE WIN!

  3. Local journalism drew attention to the LNG plan, showing me the importance and the power of the pen

I want every family to have the same experiences as I did growing up in rural Oregon. Affordable, fresh produce. Fire-free summers. Winters where you didn’t have to worry about the electrical bill. That seems to be slipping away from us. Unless we make changes.

Journalism: Uncovering corruption

Motivated by local journalism that I had experienced in Oregon, I pursued journalism throughout the early part of my life. After college at the University of Chicago, I started as a political reporter for the Chicago Tribune. One day, I walked into city hall and stumbled upon a scandal. A consulting company was advising city council on where city council should spend its money AND it was also submitting bids for those contracts. I was charged with the crime of “tampering with government work” for my reporting, which became a national story.

That story gained national attention and landed me a job reporting for The New York Times where I covered more political corruption including from the Trump administration. I wrote over 150 stories in a year. I even wrote some of the most read stories about Trump, plane crashes, celebrity deaths, and more.

The Gorge: Fighting back

Trump’s second inauguration and my love for Oregon motivated me to fight back. I knew this fight began back home in rural Oregon. Living back in Hood River and working in Salem, I began meeting with community members and listened to their concerns and problems.

That’s when I started to develop my policy plan and decided to run for state representative.

We can win these fights. I know it. That’s why I am fighting with you.