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Mae Rafferty, running for governor on the GOP primary ticket, wants to give incentives to business that produce something not already being made in Oregon.

(Harry Esteve/The Oregonian)

Mae Rafferty doesn’t hesitate to rank herself along the political spectrum of Republican candidates running for governor of Oregon.

“I believe myself to be the most conservative candidate running,” Rafferty told The Oregonian. And she didn’t mince words on the issues.

Same-sex marriage: “That would be a sin just the way murder is a sin.”

Abortion: "It's murder." Rafferty, who has never run for political office, said she decided to get into the race mainly in response to front-runner state Rep. Dennis Richardson's support for Oregon's trade with Chinese businesses. Richardson, of Central Point, is widely considered the front-runner in the six-way GOP primary.

“It’s the wrong way to go. We need to encourage Oregon businesses” and American-based manufacturing, she said.

In a campaign flier, Rafferty says she would "error on the side of freedom," and "resist infiltration of communist businesses."

Rafferty, 52, hails from Selma, a small town south of Grants Pass, where she runs a hardwood products business with her husband. She said she wants to go further to encourage businesses to set up shop in Oregon.

“I call it my self-sufficiency plan,” Rafferty said. It would work like this: State officials would come up with a list of products that aren’t already being made in Oregon and offer incentives, including no income or property taxes, for companies to move and build plants here.

Rafferty also believes that Oregonians are subject to far too many state laws. And she offered a unique approach to changing that.

“Pull a 1950 lawbook off the shelf and change the date to 2014,” she said. That would be the starting place for reducing the number of laws, she said, adding, “You might have to add some back.”

-- Harry Esteve