Jo Rae Perkins

Jo Rae Perkins (born May 9, 1956) is an American perennial candidate who was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for both the 2020 U.S. Senate election and 2022 U.S. Senate election in Oregon. Perkins lives in Albany, Oregon, and has received national attention for her belief in QAnon.

Personal life Perkins was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. She graduated with an Associate of Science in business management from Linn–Benton Community College in 1998 and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Oregon State University in 2013. Perkins attended accounting and financial planning classes at Golden West College and the University of Portland.

Perkins and her husband, George, a carpet installation contractor, have been married since 1978, and they have two children.

Perkins attended the protest at which the January 6 United States Capitol attack occurred, saying she attended because she did not believe the election vote tally was accurate. Perkins says she did not enter the Capitol building. Perkins also made unsubstantiated claims that Antifa stormed the Capitol.

Career Perkins previously worked as a financial advisor. She also served in a variety of roles with the Linn County Republican Women, and as an elected precinct committeeperson in Albany. She first filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy along with her husband in 1997, although the records about that filing were destroyed in a fire. Perkins again filed for bankruptcy in 2009 to settle $335,000 in debt, for which she was stripped of her Certified Financial Planner title in 2010 by that organization's board.

Perkins was arrested in December 2005 on charges of harassment and hindering prosecution, according to a 2013 article in The Oregonian. She was allegedly covering up for her son, who had evaded law enforcement after being stopped for speeding. Perkins later pleaded no contest to the charges.

Political campaigns Perkins was described as the "definition of a perennial candidate" by KOIN.

Perkins ran unsuccessful campaigns for Albany city council in 1994 and Albany mayor in 2010.

2014

Perkins was the first Republican challenger to enter the 2014 Oregon Republican U.S. Senate primary, entering the race on August 16 in her first federal election attempt. Perkins said she decided to run in large part out of concern regarding erosion of states' rights. As of February 2014, she had raised just under $4,600 (~$ in ) in campaign funding for the year, the least out of the four eventual Republican candidates. Perkins lost the Republican primary, coming in fourth place with 3% of the vote.

2016

In 2016, Perkins ran for Oregon's 4th congressional district and finished in second place with 32% of the vote in the Republican primary behind Art Robinson.

2018

Perkins was again a candidate in 2018 in Oregon's 4th congressional district, placing third behind Robinson and Court Boice in the Republican primary. However, she dropped out of the 4th District race when she filed instead to run for the U.S. Republican Senate primary, saying she was inspired by what she described as incumbent Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley's focus on "sham impeachment trials." Perkins later received an endorsement and $5000 in donations from former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee's political action committee. Perkins won the primary on May 19, 2020, and opposed the Democratic incumbent Senator Jeff Merkley in November for the general election. She finished with nearly fifty percent of the vote in the primary, well ahead of her three challengers. Perkins ran an underdog campaign to unseat Merkley, and her efforts were supported by party leaders. In late 2020, Perkins sued to remove the Libertarian candidate Gary Dye from the ballot. Her legal argument asserted that a 2011 ruling by the secretary of state allowed improper voting behaviors supporting one libertarian faction, and that she would be the main candidate who would otherwise have received the votes that would go to Dye. A judge dismissed the lawsuit in mid-September.

Perkins lost against Merkley, garnering 39% of the vote to Merkley's 57%. She won 24 less populous counties out of the 36 in the state, her wins largely in the rural Southern and Eastern parts of the state. Though Perkins received less institutional support from the GOP and donors, she received votes comparable to other Republican candidates in the election.

2022

Having been secretary of the Oregon Republican Party, Perkins again ran for U.S. Senate in 2022, vying to unseat longtime Democratic incumbent Ron Wyden. She announced her campaign at a November 8, 2020 Stop the Steal rally in Salem, Oregon, five days after her loss to Merkley. She won the Republican primary, held on May 17 2022, with 33.3% of the vote. Perkins had raised $38,800 by June, and $92,000 by the conclusion of the campaign. She lost the general election to Wyden, garnering 41% of the vote.

2026

Perkins once again ran for the U.S. Senate in 2026, attempting to challenge Jeff Merkley for a second time and become the Republican nominee for U.S. Senator in a third consecutive election. However, she lost the Republican primary to State Senator David Brock Smith, placing second and losing by approximately two percentage points.

Political positions Perkins identifies as pro-life. She supports accepting permanent residency for undocumented immigrants as long as further measures are taken to secure the Mexico–United States border. Perkins advocates for the DREAM Act. Perkins supports repealing the Affordable Care Act and abolishing the Federal Reserve. She supports replacing federal income taxes with federal consumption taxes. She supports privatizing Medicare and Social Security.

In 2014, Perkins signed the Tea Party movement-affiliated Contract from America. Perkins supports the QAnon conspiracy theory In this victory video, which was subsequently deleted, Perkins said, "I stand with President Trump. I stand with Q and the team. Thank you Anons, and thank you patriots. And together, we can save our republic." Perkins said she had removed the video under advice from a campaign consultant, that she regretted the removal, and that she continued to view the QAnon forums as one source of information among many that she valued during an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting a few days after the video was taken down. Larry McDonald, Perkins's campaign manager, stated in May 2020 that Perkins only believed in certain facets of QAnon. In June 2020, she took a 'digital soldier oath' inspired by QAnon promoter Michael Flynn.