SPOTLIGHT RACE: Denise Krause for OR-SD03

With five generations of my biological family in Oregon, my roots run deep. I was adopted at four days old, and that is how I came to grow up in a small Kansas town. My adoptive parents owned newspapers and were Republicans – fiscally conservative with a strong social justice foundation, and they respected others with views different from theirs. I found my birth family when I was 23 years old, so I’ve been blessed to have two loving families. Sadly, my adoptive parents have passed, so wanting to live closer to family, I moved to the Rogue Valley. My birth mother lives in Merlin, so my son was able to be close to a grandma again!

I went to college and graduate school, then started a career at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi. I earned a Ph.D. in preventive medicine and eventually became a full tenured professor of population health. I taught evidence-based practice, conducted cutting-edge research, and developed a software platform to improve population health. After 25 years with the University, I retired and set off for the Rogue Valley with my family.

I am the single mom of a wonderful son who’s now a sophomore in college. In addition, I am a small business owner, a small family farmer, a shelter volunteer, a land steward, a master climate protector, and an outdoor enthusiast. I love this beautiful place and am so grateful to live here. I feel a strong sense of responsibility for caring for the world we live in and firmly believe we should leave it better than we found it. Together, we can do great things.

I’m not one to sit on the sidelines and complain or wait for someone else to take action. I get involved quickly, engaging in causes where I feel I could make a difference.

At the University of Mississippi Medical Center, improving access to care and health outcomes, especially for our poorest citizens, became a passion. I fought Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi to gain access to internal radiation therapy for breast cancer patients. I won the case making it possible for all women in Mississippi to get access to care that had been unavailable before.

I designed and developed a software platform called Mississippi Mapper — a web-based, custom mapping population health application that provides real-time data to health providers and citizens alike, highlighting trends, identifying gaps and barriers in care, and suggesting solutions. It is still in use.

In response to threats to public health and safety, I organized a citizens’ group concerned with actions taken by a pig farm south of Ashland that involved zoning, land use, and permitting violations, improper waste management, unpermitted excavation causing destruction and erosion of a steep hillside, as well as contaminating waters of the state.

I created the Jackson County for All ballot measure campaign to restructure the Jackson County Commission, organizing over 200 volunteers to collect 35,000 signatures. Through that experience, it became clear that many issues our taxpayers care about need to be addressed at the state level. And that has led me to where I’m at today, a candidate for Oregon’s State Senate District 3.






https://www.denisekrause.com/