This Oregon Republican wants Kevin McCarthy unseated. He’s willing to move to California to try

This Republican is based in Oregon. That’s not stopping him from running against former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, in California’s 20th Congressional District.

Matthew Piatt, a consultant for a tech company who runs a blog about politics, lived on-and-off in a Bakersfield motel early in his career while working for Chevron.

The Beaverton, Ore., resident has launched his long-shot campaign because, he said in an interview, McCarthy cost constituents by negotiating to lift the debt ceiling and using a bipartisan deal to avert a government shutdown at the end of September.

“I’m all for a government shutdown because that’s the only way things are going to change,” said Piatt, 65. “All we get out of these bipartisan deals are more debt.”

A fiscal conservative who has not run for office before, Piatt said he would like the opportunity to move back to the deep-red district, California’s oil-and-gas hub.

Congressional candidates need only be residents of California if they’re elected. Legally, Piatt can run from Oregon so long as his primary residence is in California before being sworn into office.

“So if I had the opportunity to move down to Bakersfield and my old stomping grounds,” Piatt said, “absolutely.”

McCarthy’s speakership drew challengers

Piatt praised the eight GOP hardliners who joined all Democrats to oust McCarthy as speaker last month. Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, called for a vote to take McCarthy’s gavel after the Bakersfield native used a last-minute bipartisan option to push off a government shutdown.

After three weeks of infighting, Republicans settled on little-known conservative Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana to be speaker. Piatt said he was excited for Johnson’s speakership.

He is not the only Republican declaring a challenge to McCarthy following his ouster. Self-proclaimed “America First” Republican David Giglio, who lives in Madera Ranchos, said he would enter the primary. If Piatt weren’t running — and if he were allowed to vote in California — he said he would probably vote for Giglio.

McCarthy’s political future

McCarthy’s speakership was troubled from the start. But he has seen far more success in seeking election in California’s 20th — the three-limbed district that covers parts of Kern, Fresno, Tulare and Kings counties.

A prolific fundraiser who reported more than $10.6 million in campaign cash at the end of September, McCarthy has never had a tough electoral challenge. He first ran for Congress in 2006.

Reports after his removal fueled speculation about his plans. Many speakers who were forced out or stepped down either resigned or did not run again. McCarthy tried to shut down the chatter, telling reporters in October, “I got a lot more work to do.”

Piatt said that he would still run even if McCarthy does not. McCarthy has a handful of challengers; candidates have until mid-December to file paperwork to run in 2024.

Matthew Piatt’s political priorities

Piatt thanks his mother for his passion about politics. A formative memory was coming home from school and finding her in tears over the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

He supports relying more on American oil and gas. Piatt speculated that a threat to the United States, even nuclear, would enter through an unsecured southern border. He supports military aid for Israel to fight Hamas, but not for Ukraine as it battles a Russian incursion: “All we’re doing is poking that Russian bear in the eye.”

Piatt’s main priority would be to curb government spending. “The biggest reason we have inflation is because we keep printing money we don’t have,” he said.

Matthew Piatt on Donald Trump

Piatt supports former President Donald Trump, saying “he’s the only one that can stop this nonsense” for spending.

When asked, Piatt did not say he thought the 2020 election was stolen, rather he claimed Democrats touted interference. “I’m not going to say it was an illegitimate election. I will say that there’s a lot of ‘malarkey’ going on and that the Left wrote about it,” he said, using a favorite Biden term for “BS.” Piatt was referring to allegations that Twitter collaborated with the federal government and Biden campaign to censor a story about Hunter Biden in 2020.

There’s no evidence to support Trump’s claims that the election was stolen. In dozens of post-election cases, judges, some appointed by Trump, said there was no evidence of widespread fraud.

Piatt says that he’d be willing to work on bipartisan measures but alleged Democrats can’t meet in the middle. Key legislation passes as a result of bipartisan support, as Republicans hold a slim House majority and Democrats have slight one in the Senate.

Piatt blamed progressive Democrats for economic issues, saying, “I’ve seen them as kind of the enemy.”