About the Candidate A Veterinarian Who Heals Communities
Dr. Barbara Kahl, DVM, has spent over 30 years serving Oregon communities. With a century of family roots in the Northwest, she understands what District 1 needs — not ideology, but results. Practical solutions built from real experience.
Oregon Native
Barbara Kahl is an Oregon native whose career spans business, military family service, charitable work, and veterinary medicine. She earned a Bachelor of Animal Science with a Minor in Chemistry from Oregon State University, Alpha-Zeta Honor Society, multiple Dean's List honors, and her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the OSU/WSU combined College of Veterinary Medicine, graduating in 2006.
Two Decades in Business
Her professional life began in retail, then expanded across 20 years in business: accounting with a world-leading frozen food manufacturer, years supporting her husband's U.S. Navy career and serving as a Navy Volunteer Ombudsman — the official liaison between command families and leadership — giving her firsthand insight into federal service, logistics, and community support systems. She then built a high-tech industry career at Intel Corporation in finance and purchasing administration, supporting multi-million-dollar budgets, establishing a global communications team, and managing a team of financial analysts and buyers.
Houston SPCA & Expert Witness
Dr. Kahl served at the Houston SPCA, one of the nation's premier animal welfare organizations, as one of a three-person veterinary team managing the health of an average population of 500 animals, with each veterinarian completing 10–20 surgeries daily, and serving as Interim Veterinary Operations Manager. As a court-recognized expert witness in animal neglect and cruelty cases, she brought chain-of-evidence protocols from the Houston SPCA to Oregon, implementing them through the USPCA and integrating them with sheriff departments across Marion and Polk counties.
Building Government from the Ground Up
In 2022, the American Samoa territorial government recruited Dr. Kahl as its chief veterinarian. Operating 8,000 miles from home, she built the territory's first-ever animal control unit, modernized the veterinary clinic from paper to digital records, drafted the territory's first comprehensive Veterinary Practice Act regulations submitted directly to attorneys working with the Governor, created an after-hours emergency veterinary service still in operation today, and directly supervised, hired, trained, and managed a staff of 15.
A Voice Before the Legislature
Dr. Kahl has testified before the Oregon Legislature on multiple occasions on agriculture, fiscal policy, animal welfare, and election integrity — bringing independent research, scientific credibility, and sound judgment to real policy outcomes. During Oregon's animal welfare legislative expansion in 2011, she partnered with the Animal Legal Defense Fund to support the legal parameters around animal seizure across multiple jurisdictions.
Why Congress
Oregon's 1st Congressional District — encompassing Tillamook, Clatsop, Columbia, Washington, and a portion of Multnomah county including Portland's western suburbs — has for too long been treated as a safe seat rather than a community with complex, competing needs. Dr. Kahl enters the race as a political outsider who has worked within government budgets, navigated federal regulatory agencies, built careers across high-tech, business, and agriculture, advocated before state legislatures, and delivered emergency services under pressure.
Core Values What Drives Dr. Kahl
01 Accountability
Every dollar spent, every vote cast — transparent and accountable to the people of CD-1.
02 Evidence Over Ideology
Policy grounded in data, science, and real-world outcomes — not partisan talking points.
03 Community First
Decisions made for Oregon families, not Washington lobbyists or corporate donors.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives write and vote on federal laws, including the federal budget. Each represents one district and serves a two-year term. Tax bills must start in the House, only the House can impeach federal officials, and members oversee federal agencies through their committees.