Monica Wehby in 2014 OR Senate debate

On Energy & Oil: Complete the Keystone Pipeline; end EPA overreach

• A top-to-bottom review of federal regulations to target and strip the mindless red tape that's killing jobs.
• An end to the regulatory overreach of agencies like the EPA.
• Tax relief and simplification so our small businesses can focus on growth and creating jobs, rather than complying with a burdensome tax code.
• Completing the Keystone Pipeline to lower energy costs and create jobs here and across the nation.

On Corporations: Gov't should encourage growth, not squeeze businesses out

A: From ranchers, to loggers, to coffee shop and hair salons owners, [Monica] hears the same thing over and over again-- that uncertainty about what the federal government is doing in healthcare, in the regulatory fields, and the changing tax climate is forcing small business to hunker down. Government should be encouraging growth, not squeezing small businesses out. As a U.S. Senator, Dr. Wehby will fight for the small businesses of Oregon so that our kids can have good middle class jobs available to them.

On Civil Rights: Paycheck Fairness Act hurts women in the workplace

Wehby's response: "Based on actual experience, I know that Senator Merkley's approach to this issue is not only wrong, but will only exacerbate the problem of discrimination against women in our economy. The bill that Senator Merkley supports adds additional regulations, documentation and other administrative requirements that will have a harmful effect on women in the workplace. Senator Merkley's answer to this issue is typical of career politicians--more regulation, more red tape, and more government interference on small businesses. A bill like this will encourage job creators to look for labor substitution. I would have voted no based on my workplace experiences and knowledge of how this legislation would have hurt women in the workplace

On Families & Children: 2007: Ex-husband filed police report, but good friends now

Jim Grant, Wehby's ex-husband, accused Wehby of slapping him with a pad of paper during a verbal dispute, according to a Portland police report from Dec. 16, 2007. "Jim said they are currently in a divorce situation and is tired of the ongoing harassment by his wife," the police report said. "Jim said over the last year Monica has pulled his hair, slapped him and thrown items at him. Jim said he had been violent with her in the past."

Wehby denied touching him with the pad of paper, according to the report. She told police that Grant had been physical with her in the past and that she had documented it with her doctors.

[When asked about] any major issues from her divorce that opponents might dig up, Wehby responded, "No, we live four houses apart. And we're good friends."

On Families & Children: 2013: Ex-boyfriend filed police report, but now regrets it

Wehby was questioned by a police officer on April 3, 2013. Miller, the wealthy owner of a timber company, had been romantically involved with Wehby but their relationship was ending at that time, they both say now. Wehby was not arrested in the incident.

Miller has helped fund radio and billboard ads slamming one of Wehby's rivals for the Senate nomination, state Rep. James Conger. Miller has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years backing GOP candidates in Oregon.

Wehby said she was unaware that a police report had been filed over the 2013 incident and downplayed the episode. Miller said he now regrets calling the police on Wehby. The couple had dated for about two years, but broke up in 2013. Miller, divorced with 4 children, said they remain friendly.

On Free Trade: Support free-trade, but wait on Trans-Pacific Partnership

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has his own somewhat more restrictive O&C plan. Conger flatly says he would vote against it if the Wyden plan came to the Senate floor. Wehby says she'd wait to see the final form.

Both lean toward supporting free-trade pacts. But neither is ready to commit on the upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership or on legislation--known as Trade Promotion Authority--that would allow an up-or-down congressional vote on any trade agreement approved by negotiators.

On Principles & Values: Declined to debate on live TV in Senate primary

KGW, in partnership with The Oregonian, has for several years held several influential political debates that reach a statewide television audience, and it's been rare for candidates to refuse offers to participate. Said KGW's Executive News Director, "I can't remember the last time it's happened" [that KGW was turned down].

Wehby's campaign manager said that Wehby had already agreed to another debate [that same day] before being approached by KGW, adding, "We have done 11-plus debates so far."

But Conger's campaign manager dismissed most of those events as joint appearances before small crowds that included other candidates in the race. [There has been only one] head-to-head debate between the two [frontrunners], and its organizers did not allow the event to be recorded.

On Principles & Values: AdWatch: Parents trust her as a pediatric neurosurgeon

"She just hugged me and kissed my forehead and she said, 'It's gonna be okay sweetheart. I've got her and I'm gonna see you in a couple hours,'" Liebelt recounts. "I gave her the most precious thing I had. I trusted her." A shot of Liebelt's daughter, now 12, flashes on the screen, with Wehby brushing her hair from her face, as Liebelt touts the candidate for Senate. "Dr. Wehby would make an incredible senator. She will always do the right thing. She will act with integrity. All of Washington needs to be full of people like Dr. Wehby," she says.

On Abortion: Abortion is a personal choice

"We already have a Democratic senator, we don't need another one," [her primary opponent] Conger said. "No Republican candidate will win by being more of a Democrat than a Democrat." Conger opposes abortion

Wehby believes she could pull women voters and independents into her camp because the "normal attacks" used against Republicans like the "war on women" would be ineffective against her.

On Civil Rights: Government shouldn't be involved in same-sex marriage

Wehby has said the government shouldn't be involved in same-sex marriage and abortion is a personal choice. Wehby countered Conger by saying she thinks "logically not ideologically," adding that "we need a little bit more of that in D.C."

On Foreign Policy: Russia emboldened in Ukraine by Obama's weak foreign policy

On Health Care: We need more MDs and fewer JDs in Congress

Wehby, whose compensation at Legacy Emanuel has topped $1 million a year, countered that Conger was the one who has been squishy on opposing the new federal health care law.

And she was quick to insist that Congress needed fewer career politicians and "more MDs and less JDs," the latter being a reference to those, like Conger, with law degrees.

Wehby said, "It sounds a lot to me like those politicians who voted for ObamaCare and Cover Oregon and who are all of a sudden leading the charge to get rid of the laws they voted for in the first place," she said. "That's not me." She was clearly referring to the votes Conger took in the state Legislature to establish a state-run health exchange known as Cover Oregon under the terms of the federal health care law.

On Health Care: I was against ObamaCare when it wasn't cool

"I was against ObamaCare when it wasn't cool to be against ObamaCare," replied Wehby, noting that she appeared in a 2009 ad opposing the health care plan before it became law. She also insisted that Wyden's plan had several important differences from ObamaCare: "It was not the same as ObamaCare," she said. "It's a free market-based approach. It had bipartisan support, and it was budget neutral. That is a far cry from ObamaCare."

On Homeland Security: Opposes reduction in size of America's military force

For the most part, both were quick to follow Republican orthodoxy. The two, for instance, both insisted that the Russians were emboldened to take the Crimean Peninsula because of the weakness of President Barack Obama's foreign policy. And each opposed the Obama administration's plans to reduce the size of America's military force.