Richard Ojeda II's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
On The Ballot: Running, Democratic for U.S. House (NC) - District 9
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Issue Positions
For Presidential and Congressional candidates who refuse to provide voters with their positions, Vote Smart has researched their public records to determine their likely responses. These issue positions are from 2020.
- "I am Pro Life! I do not agree with the recent decision made by our governor vetoing the bill to ban abortions at the 20 week mark." (www.facebook.com)
- “I'm not for abortion but don’t think that a woman who is raped should have to carry the seed if she chooses not to. I also think that incest and the life of the mother matters." (twitter.com)
- "The true handouts today are not $650 a month to the poor! They are the tax breaks and giveaways to those who are the wealthiest in this country who have more money then they could spend in a lifetime." (twitter.com)
- "We live in one of the wealthiest nations in the world and yet we prioritize millionaire's tax cuts over average working families" (twitter.com)
- "Working families need a lot more from us as public servants. One thing they don't need? Tax breaks for our nations most wealthy." (twitter.com)
- " I support Medicare for all!" (twitter.com)
- "Medicare for ALL. No more gold packages, sweetened deals or easier access for members of Congress." (twitter.com)
- "We cannot allow these greedy politicians to continue to stick their hands in the cookie jar of Social Security, take from our elderly, disrespect our veterans, make cuts to Medicare all the while sitting in their offices collecting corporate checks that keep them elected." (twitter.com)
- "I won't take a single check from a corporate PAC because I refuse to be bought." (twitter.com)
- "Overturn Citizens United." (votesmart.org)
- "What does campaign finance reform look like? It starts with a convention for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, the max donation allowed being $250 and donor vouchers so that working families can be just as influential in elections as millionaires." (twitter.com)
- "We have infrastructure issues and a military machine that needs rebuilt." (twitter.com)
- "Ojeda will fight to increase infrastructure jobs that will not only boost our economy but provide better roads, bridges etc to the country." (votesmart.org)
- "We have infrastructure issues and a military machine that needs rebuilt." (twitter.com)
- "Because of Paul Ryan’s gutless inability to stand up to this president, thousands of Americans are going without a paycheck. Meanwhile he will go and cash in on the billions he gave out in corporate tax cuts." (twitter.com)
- "It sounds like OK has consistently put corporate welfare ahead of the wellbeing of their children and education system. Time to VOTE THEM OUT." (twitter.com)
- "Republicans in West Virginia think money is best spent in corporate tax breaks than by investing in our teachers and the future of our children. Show them you disagree." (twitter.com)
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- "A Green New Deal and the union jobs that come with it will keep working families from ending up in the unemployment line. It is the ONLY way to both fight climate change and guarantee that we don't leave entire communities behind in the process." (www.facebook.com)
- "What does a Green New Deal mean for me? It means not leaving entire communities behind in the process. It means millions of new UNION jobs. It means that any higher energy costs are not put on the backs of our working class people." (twitter.com)
- "A Green New Deal and the union jobs that come with it will keep working families from ending up in the unemployment line. It is the ONLY way to both fight climate change and guarantee that we don't leave entire communities behind in the process." (www.facebook.com)
- "What does a Green New Deal mean for me? It means not leaving entire communities behind in the process. It means millions of new UNION jobs. It means that any higher energy costs are not put on the backs of our working class people." (twitter.com)
- "I believe in the 2nd and if I have done nothing wrong and have no mental issues leave my guns alone." (twitter.com)
- "Nobody is wanting to take home defense capabilities but you don’t need assault rifles and 100 round clips for that. A short barreled shitgun is best. We need stronger background checks to deny mentally ill, ties to hate groups, gang ties and violent histories access." (twitter.com)
- "The Affordable Care Act, as it stands, is insufficient. Today, national healthcare expenditures are $9,523 per person in the United States. Even more devastating, out-of-pocket spending is $329.8 billion." (votesmart.org)
- "And you support a racist 14th century wall that can easily be defeated by a shovel or a ladder." (twitter.com)
- "Let me tell you something. A wall is the easiest thing to defeat. They already tunneled El Chapo out of two different prisons. If you don’t think the drug cartels already know how to tunnel under your wall you’re a damn fool." (twitter.com)
- "I'm glad to hear him speak about protecting our DREAMERS, offering a pathway to citizenship for immigrants with clean backgrounds and strengthening our border security against illegal drug trafficking." (www.facebook.com)
- "We can live in a country where we not only welcome immigrants but embrace them AND we can ensure that border security is a top priority" (twitter.com)
- Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
- "Two more US Soldiers killed in Afghanistan. How many for families will get the knock on the door before we pull out of that forever war. Let the contracting companies pay for their own security. They are making money hand over fist. Bring our troops home." (twitter.com)
This candidate has responded to a Political Courage Test in a previous election. As a continued effort to provide the American public with factual information on candidates running for public office, these archived responses are made available here.
| Pro-choice | Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| I want Free access to all contraceptives. I support Planned Parenthood. | |||
| Yes | In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| Yes | Do you support expanding federal funding to support entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare? | ||
| I would raise the cap on Social Security. | |||
| Yes | Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| I want to overturn Citizens United. Money is NOT Free Speech. I support unions and support their capabilities to endorse and support financially those candidates that best represent the values of those in Unions. | |||
| No | Do you support increasing defense spending? | ||
| We already spend more $$$ that the next ten countries on defense. As a person who has served multiple combat deployments I have seen the cost of fraud, waste and abuse. There are many other issues that need to be addressed in our country. | |||
| Yes | Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Its time for us to stop bailing out corporations and start supporting our people. We bail out banks, we bail out Wall Street and we bail out corporations. We do very little for our citizens. I think we need to start finding ways how we can boost our economy by supporting those who spend their money on the economy. The filthy rich put $$ in offshore accounts or mattresses.......The average citizen spends it on the local economy. | |||
| Yes | Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards? | ||
| I think we should have a standard that all must meet but we must also stop attacking our educators. I would like to see a national teacher and school service personnel pay scale. Poor states are losing good teachers to the neighboring states because of better pay. When this happens, we find assistant coaches with the responsibility of teaching math, science and Spanish. We must create incentives to give teachers the desire to stay. | |||
| Yes | Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| I come from an energy state and it has turned my state into a colony. They come to our state and grease the pockets of legislators to weaken regulations and lower standards. They have attacked unions and get to the point where they can do as they please (Curent situation in WV). These practices must stop. I would like to push for all lobbyists to wear body cameras while they are on Capitol properties. Politicians are less likely to sell us out if they know the people are watching. | |||
| Yes | Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| I want to stop those with metal issues from obtaining firearms. If a person has ties to gangs (To include White Supremacy groups they should be denied weapon access. If a person has a record of violence....I want them to also lose their abilities to own firearms. | |||
| No | Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border? | ||
| No | Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship? | ||
| I want to see a pathway to citizenship. | |||
| Yes | Should the United States use military force to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a weapon of mass destruction (for example: nuclear, biological, chemical)? | ||
| Yes | Do you support reducing military intervention in Middle East conflicts? | ||
| We need to stop being the police force for the world. If we must enter another country it should only be as a coalition with other countries and must have an exit strategy. Forever Wars have done nothing but kill and wound our troops, placed severe stressors on our VA system and make contractors filthy rich. We should not be in the business of providing security so contracting companies can make billions. | |||
| Yes | Do you generally support removing barriers to international trade (for example: tariffs, quotas, etc.)? | ||
| As long as trade is fair and the countries we are working with are willing to conduct honest business I have no issues. I do support sanctioning countries that we, as a legislative body agree upon for current and past actions that are seen as illegal, unlawful or immoral. | |||
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