‘Rick Gray

Frederick “’Rick” T. Gray Jr., the nonaffiliated state House District 32 candidate who hoped his run contained the seed of an eventual third party, has withdrawn from the race.

The Cannon Beach resident said on Wednesday he believed he could not build a competitive campaign in time for the November election.

Gray had gathered enough signatures in July to qualify for the ballot.

“It’s hard to find the people to run a successful campaign. It’s hard to get on the ballot by the signature method. It’s hard to persuade the media that you’re credible. Everything builds on everything else, and you’re just running to catch up,” Gray said in an email.

He would have competed against Republican Cyrus Javadi, a dentist from Tillamook, and Democrat Logan Laity, a community organizer also from Tillamook.

The North Coast district’s state representative, Suzanne Weber, a Tillamook Republican, is giving up her seat to run for state Senate District 16. The Senate seat’s longtime occupant, Betsy Johnson, resigned last year to campaign for governor, quitting the Democratic Party and, like Gray, going the nonaffiliated route.

Gray had been endorsed by Deborah Boone, a Democrat who represented the House district for 14 years.

His goal was to show that a political party that does not cater to the two major parties’ extremes — the anti-democracy movement on the right, identity politics on the left — could bring moderates together and appeal to a large swath of the electorate.

A centrist political party, Gray believes, could tackle an urgent moral issue: preventing ecological disaster and building a sustainable economy. He is inspired by Australia’s “teal independents” — a cohort of candidates from different parties that has made addressing climate change a top priority.

“I’ve devoted the last six months of my life to this campaign, and — for the most part — it’s been a lot of fun,” he said in a statement. “I’ve met hundreds of people, and gotten to know some of them pretty well. I’ve learned a lot about what Oregonians — especially on the North Coast — are concerned about. And I’m delighted to say that the climate crisis has finally broken through as a major issue with many citizens.”

He made many mistakes of a first-time candidate, he said.

His decision to run came fairly late — in February. Without party infrastructure, he said, he had to assemble a team from scratch.

His biggest problem, he said, was finding a campaign manager — a role he essentially ended up filling himself, while doing the candidate work of gathering signatures, writing position papers and other tasks, he said.

A campaign needed to be “firing on all cylinders” by Labor Day, he said. “Otherwise, you’re just wasting your own time — and the time and money of the people who support you.”

Gray’s initial goal was to run in 2022 and, if he lost, run again in 2024, having established name recognition and credibility for his cause. He said his plan to run again in two years has not changed. He said he would start searching for a campaign manager this winter and have a full-scale operation — website, funding, volunteers and so on — in place for the next campaign.

Gray hails from Virginia, where he served as secretary of the commonwealth under Gov. John Dalton from 1978 to 1981. He taught history in the state’s high schools, wrote a local newspaper column and toured as a professional actor. On the North Coast, he has appeared in community theater productions.

After November’s election, he plans to tour the district, and the state, to make his case for a third party, he said.

Gray’s party does not have a name, he said, but he believes he has found a symbol: the hummingbird.

“We’ll be small — at least to start with — but we’ll be active, aggressive, agile, audacious — and green,” he said.