Castle Country Radio sat down with the independent candidate for Utah State Senate District 26 Oran Stainbrook to discuss his platform, goals and ideas for the Utah state Senate.

Opening our interview with Stainbrook, the candidate first discussed what inspired him to run for office. “ I’ve lived in Utah most of my life. I’ve seen how the issues affecting our communities, like housing costs, declining public health, and a lack of job opportunities that pay a living wage have become more challenging over time. Living in a small rural community for the past five years where I’ve been working to develop a community center, I’ve seen firsthand the struggles of working families and the frustrations of younger adults who are working hard to try to gain an economic foothold by becoming homeowners, and many of them, I think, wanting to start families, but feeling so financially strapped that they feel they can’t.” 

Stainbrook continued,” I’m running to bring new ideas and energy, a fresh perspective, and a nonpartisan independent voice to the state Senate, one that prioritizes regular working people over special interest groups and focuses on real meaningful solutions.”

We then moved on to Stainbrook’s platform, first starting with his emphasis on housing and community development. “I think that people having stable, secure housing and the opportunity to become homeowners is just really essential to building strong, safe communities. But with rent prices soaring and homeownership becoming inaccessible for many, the middle class is being hollowed out. So I want to help create policies that protect tenants from excessive rent increases, make homeownership accessible again, and promote real estate development practices that are based on the needs of existing communities rather than just the profits of corporate developers.”

The next major emphasis for Stainbrook is creating jobs and industry for District 26,” I think Southeast Utah is really fertile ground for a range of industries and educational and economic opportunities. I think having that diversity is part of what makes us resilient to change, like what’s coming fast with new artificial intelligence technologies. So I want to help bring a wider variety of high-quality jobs to rural areas and also promote entrepreneurship.” Stainbrook explained,” Southeast Utah has always been a leader in energy and manufacturing, and I want to see us continue to excel there and help meet the state’s rapidly growing energy demands with the most affordable, reliable, and clean energy possible.”

The final talking point of Stainbrook’s campaign is substance abuse and mental health,” substance use and mental health challenges obviously can go hand in hand for a lot of folks. And we’ve been particularly hard hit by the opioid and suicide epidemics where we live.” he continued,” I want to see expanded access to mental health services and programs that focus on prevention, treatment, and recovery at every stage. But I also would like to work to address some of the root causes of these issues, such as economic despair and social isolation. I honestly believe that developing our communities in such a way that regular physical activity and social interaction is built into the design would do a lot to improve public health and curb substance use and addiction.”

Moving onto the topic of experience, we asked Stainbrook how he believed his work and life experiences would aid him if elected to the state Senate. “My background in architecture, real estate, and community development has given me hands-on experience in preserving historic buildings, revitalizing neighborhoods, and creating public spaces that support healthy, vibrant communities. Running small businesses has taught me how to get the job done on a fixed budget, balancing efficiency with quality,” stated the candidate,” My experience in local government advisory boards and working with our local elected officials has given me experience in navigating bureaucracy and collaborating with people that have different political ideologies … I think that my diverse resume will be really valuable to working in our legislature.”

Running as an independent candidate poses a unique set of challenges that one must overcome, we asked Stainbrook how he thinks that these challenges would aid him if elected. “I’ve always been just a common sense moderate that avoids extremist thinking and I tend to see balance and compromise as the most productive way forward. I felt called to step up and run for office this year to in part push back against the toxic political division that has been creating a huge rift in our country for years.” Stainbrook also shared,” Gaining visibility is especially challenging when running against an incumbent that has been in office for 16 years. But I’ve also seen my being independent as an opportunity to connect directly with people who feel underserved or ignored by the current system. You know, throughout my career I’ve always focused on grassroots efforts and in order to get on the ballot as an independent, I had to spend weeks going door to door in the dead of winter collecting signatures and meeting voters face to face, listening to their concerns.”

Stainbrook also touched on campaign funding on this point,” from the very beginning I committed to not accepting any money from political parties, PACs or special interest groups. And that was so that I can be held accountable to the people and only the people. I’m willing to bet that a majority of voters out there will want to support an independent who can maintain that kind of autonomy and be unaffected by greed and the corruption that has undermined so much of our political discourse. So I can promise you that if I’m elected, I won’t be beholden to any party’s agenda.”

Closing out our conversation, Stainbrook shared one final message for voters,” regardless of the outcome of this election, I want everybody to know I’m here to stay and will continue to serve and advocate for you however I can. Whether in government, business or community, I want us all to stay positive, optimistic and collaborate to create a future where we can all thrive together.”

For more information on Stainbrook’s campaign, you can find the candidate on Instagram, Facebook or his website.