EXCLUSIVERepublican running in liberal Oregon slaps down push by conservative residents wanting to secede and join non-woke Idaho: 'We must stay and fight'

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A Republican running for Congress in Oregon advises voters against their push to secede the eastern portion of the state to conservative Idaho, saying residents need to seek change at the ballot box. 

At the end of May, 13 counties in eastern part of the state voted to begin negotiating terms on how to secede from liberal Oregon and join the more red neighboring state of Idaho. 

This 'Greater Idaho Movement' has been ongoing for years because conservatives there feel underrepresented due to Oregon's populated liberal bastions in the west such as Portland. 

Monique DeSpain is a retired Air Force colonel running for Oregon's Fourth Congressional District - including the liberal college town of Eugene. She is encouraging residents to stay in the state and elect her so she can clean up the progressive area's problems. 

Republican congressional candidate Monique DeSpain speaks during an election watch party

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com DeSpain highlighted how she plans on tackling those issues head on should she be elected - and why disillusioned Oregonians should not secede but stay in the fight to improve the state. 

'I'm encouraging people to stay and fight,' DeSpain told DailyMail.com. 

'We have to stand our ground and fight for America. It's not just for Oregon. The problems of California moved to Oregon, there's a lot of resentment around that.'

'This is our problem, and we need to stand our ground and address it.'

She said that voters in her area have had enough of Democrat's decades-long control over the state and that has lead to an explosion in fentanyl deaths and homelessness.

'Portland does not represent the majority of Oregon ... just as Eugene doesn't represent the majority of people in the fourth district, which is why we're gonna win because these issues are resonating all across the district.'

'I understand the sentiment like we are not being represented that's what this whole fight for me and this congressional seat is about.'

'Ultimately, America is the only free nation on Earth and so we can't start by leaving Oregon going to Idaho.' 

At least a dozen conservative counties in eastern Oregon approve ballot measures for secession vote that would see them join non-woke Idaho

Fentanyl, a highly addictive damaging drug is causing crisis on the streets of Portland, Oregon. The drug readily manufactured in Mexico is flooding across the porous southern border in pill form

Fentanyl deaths and homelessness have been a persistent issue in her hometown of Eugene, DeSpain said

She told DailyMail.com about the efforts to address homelessness throughout the state. 

'We have over 2,000 nonprofits serving this homeless addiction community, which is just unbelievable, given the fact that we're the worst still in the country,' she said. 

'So there's no progress but there I don't believe there's a shortage of money coming in to these these issues.'

'I would demand audits and that anyone involved in that space of recovery and addiction, homelessness has recovery in their mission statement, because I know that many of them do not.'

And despite the massive influx of funds to treat addiction and homelessness, her communities are still peppered with users and unhoused, saying the problem has continued unabated. 

'So it would be to bring transparency and accountability to the money that from Congress,' she said, adding she would focus on appropriately doling out 'the federal dollars that are supposed to be used to solve the problem, not perpetuate it.'

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., operates EPAC - an organization that backs GOP women candidates for Congress. The group held an event Tuesday near the Capitol highlighting candidates like DeSpain 

At the event in addition to Stefanik were Republican candidates (from left to right) Mayra Flores, Texas, Yvette Herrell, N.M., Alison Esposito, N.Y., Laurie Buckhout, N.C., Monique DeSpain, Ore., and Caroleene Dobson, Ala.

Republican congressional candidate Monique DeSpain eyes election results during an election watch party hosted by DeSpain's campaign Tuesday, May 21, 2024

DeSpain was one of several female House candidates this week at an event hosted by House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., on Capitol Hill earlier this week.

This EPAC 'Rising Stars' event highlighted female candidates from across the U.S. that Stefanik has endorsed and that Republicans believe have good chances of flipping seats red in November. 

At the event DeSpain was joined by fellow Republican candidates Yvette Herrell, N.M., Mayra Flores, Texas, Alison Esposito, N.Y., Laurie Buckhout, N.C., and Caroleene Dobson, Ala.

'I entered this race because I'm not one to shy away from a worthy fight,' DeSpain told the crowd of around 50 people. 

'I served for 30 years, most of it as a [Judge Advocate General's Corps]. I am a single mother who raised twins in Eugene right in the fourth district and I am a lawyer who has advocated for victims rights, business owners rights and have been advocating for public policy.'