CCCNews Podcast: Bassett brings business background, calls for a new approach in Oregon Senate District 26 race
The Dalles, Ore., Oct. 6, 2026 — Nicole Bassett says years spent building businesses, working with major companies and finding ways to turn waste into economic opportunity have shaped how she would approach some of Oregon’s most difficult problems if voters send her to the state Senate.
Bassett, a Hood River Democrat who also carries nominations from the Working Families and Independent parties, is running against Republican state Rep. Jeff Helfrich, also of Hood River, for Oregon Senate District 26.
The seat is currently held by Republican Sen. Christine Drazan of Canby.
During a recent CCCNews interview, Bassett described herself as a political newcomer frustrated by polarization and what she sees as government’s failure to solve problems. She said her experience in business — from working for established outdoor companies to launching her own venture — could bring a different perspective to Salem.
“I got into this race because I had a deep frustration at the way politics was happening in our state and our country,” Bassett said. “It’s very divisive. It’s very partisan. It’s not solving problems.”
Bassett grew up in British Columbia and began working in sustainable business through Patagonia before working for Prana. She later moved to Hood River and co-founded The Renewal Workshop in Cascade Locks, a company designed around repairing and reselling clothing and other products that otherwise might have been discarded.
The business operated in Cascade Locks for seven years before being sold to a global logistics company. Bassett stayed with the company for several years after the sale as the concept expanded into other facilities.
Her career also included consulting work involving companies such as Target, Nike and Adidas, as well as experience raising capital, dealing with lenders and working with an investment firm focused on the circular economy.
Bassett said those experiences convinced her that economic growth and environmental concerns do not necessarily have to work against each other.
The concept she calls the “circular economy” seeks to generate additional economic value from materials and products already in circulation instead of continually relying on new resources.
Bassett pointed to the automobile industry as an example, where companies can generate revenue through new vehicles, used vehicles and services rather than relying solely on new-product sales.
“How do we run an economy on a finite planet?” Bassett said. “How do we use what we have better?”
Agriculture and small business
Senate District 26 stretches across communities with significantly different economies, from the Columbia River Gorge toward the Portland metropolitan area and into Clackamas County.
Bassett said she sees a common thread among the district’s smaller communities: agriculture, access to the outdoors and a desire to preserve the character of small towns.
She pointed to cherries around The Dalles, pears in Hood River and hazelnuts and other agricultural operations farther west as industries facing some of the same pressures despite producing different crops.
Bassett said Oregon needs to examine how state policies affect specialty agriculture, particularly when regulations designed for larger industries do not fit smaller farms.
She said worker safety and fair wages remain important goals but argued policymakers also must consider whether regulations allow agricultural businesses to remain economically viable.
“We have to make sure that we allow our industry to exist,” Bassett said.
Oregon producers do not operate in isolation, she said, and increasing the cost of producing food locally can leave farmers competing against products coming from other countries.
“If we do all these things here to make Oregon really hard to do business in, well, unfortunately there is a big world out there,” Bassett said. “People could go buy the thing from Chile or China or wherever.”
Bassett said similar concerns apply to small businesses.
Costs have increased while consolidation has left independent businesses competing with larger corporations, she said. Bassett argued Oregon should review tax filing requirements and regulations to determine whether they accomplish their intended purposes without creating unnecessary burdens for smaller employers.
“A lot of the rules go in place because of bad actors or really big corporations that need policing,” Bassett said.
She said she wants Oregon to make it easier for entrepreneurs to turn ideas into businesses.
“I would love to see anyone with a creative idea to be able to execute that,” Bassett said. “That’s the entrepreneurial spirit, and I think Oregon’s really good at it.”
Data centers, power and water
Bassett also addressed an issue with particular significance in The Dalles: the rapid expansion of data centers and the growing electricity and water demands associated with artificial intelligence.
She said concerns about the industry's effects on the electrical grid, water supplies and surrounding communities are legitimate.
Bassett said Oregon has a relatively short window to establish rules governing the next generation of data center development.
“For me, we have a small window here to take a pause and write really good regulation that protects us as Oregonians,” Bassett said.
She said that could include greater transparency about water and electricity consumption and requirements that facilities use the best available technology.
Bassett also suggested communities could look for ways to capture economic value from resources data centers otherwise discard. Heat generated by computing equipment, for example, could potentially be used by another nearby business.
“We have to think bigger and broader and more creatively,” she said.
Bassett expressed both concern and optimism about artificial intelligence itself.
She said government needs to consider the potential consequences for workers, security and the economy while also recognizing AI's potential to lower barriers for entrepreneurs.
Bassett recalled paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for an Oracle software contract while running her business. She said she later built a much simpler AI-assisted version serving a specific purpose for about $200.
“It wasn’t as powerful, but it served the very specific purpose I wanted,” Bassett said.
She said that type of access could open opportunities for new businesses that previously could not afford sophisticated technology.
“But we don’t get to have the good part of it if it’s not regulated in a way that protects us,” Bassett said.
A newcomer to politics
Bassett draws one of the clearest distinctions between herself and Helfrich around political experience.
Helfrich currently serves in the Oregon House, while Bassett said this campaign is her first run for political office.
Bassett said she entered the race partly because she was dissatisfied with political polarization and the influence of money in politics. But she said the economy and affordability ultimately are among the biggest issues driving her campaign.
“How do we make our economy work for us, like the average person?” Bassett said.
She argued that her business career required her to look at problems from different angles rather than simply following established approaches.
“I’ve worked inside of business for my whole career, and it wasn’t just like grow a business,” Bassett said. “It was like, how do we solve hard problems?”
She said that problem-solving experience is what she hopes to bring to the Senate.
Campaigning itself, Bassett said, has exposed her to circumstances far removed from her own experience.
She recalled knocking on the door of a woman who invited her inside and explained that both she and her husband were disabled and relied on state resources.
“That’s not my experience,” Bassett said. “Seeing that really changed the way I thought, like, ‘Oh, these services are really essential,’ which is helpful because when you make budget decisions, they have real impact on people’s lives.”
At another home, Bassett said she met two sisters in their 60s who had disabilities and could not work. Their mother, whose Social Security income had helped support the household, had recently died.
The encounters put abstract debates over government spending into more human terms, Bassett said.
She said door-knocking also has shown her that political disagreements do not necessarily prevent people from finding common ground.
Bassett recalled being invited inside by a woman on a 95-degree day after running out of water. The two ended up discussing the war in Iran and found they viewed the issue differently.
Bassett said the conversation did not change that disagreement.
But, she said, it demonstrated something she believes has been lost in an increasingly polarized political environment.
“We didn’t have to agree,” Bassett said. “But we could still see each other as humans.”
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