WARRENTON — Oregon’s first two declared Republican gubernatorial candidates, William “Bud” Pierce and Bob Niemeyer, stopped by the Lighthouse Christian Church Saturday for the North Coast Conservative Barbecue and to make pitches to replace Gov. Kate Brown.

Brown was appointed governor in February, after John Kitzhaber resigned amid an influence-peddling scandal. In November 2016, Oregonians will elect a governor.

Both Pierce and Niemeyer struck a tone of needing to bring an out-of-touch, one-party state government back in line.

Pierce, a Salem oncologist who announced his first run for office Thursday, described Oregon’s ailment as its one-party, Democratic rule. No Republican has won a statewide office since 2002, and Victor Atiyeh left office as the last Republican governor in 1987.

“If you’re a leader in your profession or your community … and you’re Republican, in a representative democracy, it’s time to step forward,” Pierce said.

Oregon has a $69 billion 2015-17 budget. Pierce said 17 percent of the budget is administration, compared to 1.5 percent at his employer, Hematology Oncology of Salem. Reducing administration, he said, will provide another $10 billion in revenue and tax savings. Oregon has more than 250 commissions, he added, and needs to eliminate many of them.

“Money’s being stolen. It needs to end. We need to get rid of a lot of these useless programs,” he said.

Pierce said Oregon needs government to help businesses grow and pay great wages; create an educational system that helps teachers and provides technical training; expand infrastructure; and appropriately use natural resources.

Niemeyer, a mechanical engineer from Tualatin, first ran for office in the 2014 Republican primary against Jason Yates and Delinda Morgan to see who would face U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore. Niemeyer took 17 percent of the vote in the primary. Yates lost to Bonamici in the general election.

“Congress is hopeless,” Niemeyer said of his run for the House. “One person out of 535 isn’t going to accomplish anything.”

As governor, Niemeyer said he hopes to attend a Convention of States, an effort to gather support from at least 34 states under Article V of the U.S. Constitution to make amendments without needing the approval of Congress.

Niemeyer said government needs to stop bullying and get out of the way of business, adding he would give a full pardon to Sweet Cakes by Melissa, a Gresham bakery fined for refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding based on the owner’s religious beliefs.

Kitzhaber’s plan to phase gillnet fishing off the main stem of the Columbia River all but handed Clatsop County last November to his Republican challenger, Dennis Richardson.

Pierce said Oregon needs to let commercial, recreational and native fishing stakeholders create an equitable way to share fish, with the government as a mediator.

Pierce added he needs to research the issue more. Niemeyer said he doesn’t know much about the current situation, adding he was totally against the previous plans to move gillnetting into select areas, calling them unenforceable.

“I’m personally against gillnetting in the river,” Niemeyer said, adding commercial fishermen should go out in the ocean.

On another big issue, the proposed liquefied natural gas terminal in Warrenton, Pierce said the issue should have been decided years ago.

Countries that are more successful than the United States with infrastructure projects put time limits on decision-making, Pierce said, and the LNG terminal proposals should have been decided within two to three years.

“If the citizens don’t want it, and the locals don’t want it, it doesn’t happen,” he said. “But, again, at least you can tell people that ‘the project can’t happen; go do it somewhere else,’ so you don’t get this digging in mentality.”

Niemeyer said the terminal should have been done by now, adding that natural gas is used for a lot more than people think.

Niemeyer so far has no account set up on the state’s website that tracks campaign contributions. Bud Pierce for a Better Oregon, meanwhile, has gathered $318,000, including $253,000 of his own money.