NORTHAMPTON — While she supports cutting taxes and regulations, Keiko Orrall, the Republican candidate for state treasurer, says she tries to find common ground with her political opponents.
“My efforts in the Legislature have been about problem-solving and working across the aisle,” the state representative from the 12th Bristol District said Thursday.
Orrall met with the Daily Hampshire Gazette’s editorial board after attending a fundraiser in Northampton Wednesday evening.
Elected to the Legislature in 2011, Orrall became the first Asian-American woman in the House. A 1989 graduate of Smith College, Orrall she face off in November against Democratic incumbent Deborah Goldberg and Green-Rainbow Party candidate Jamie Guerin.
But as a supporter of President Donald Trump and a member of the Republican National Committee, Orrall may face an uphill battle in a state where only 10 percent of registered voters are enrolled as Republicans. In Hampshire County, 37 percent of registered voters enrolled as Democrats this past election cycle — the second highest percentage among the state’s 14 counties. In the latest Gallup poll, Trump holds just a 6 percent approval rating among Democrats and 33 percent approval among independents.
Orrall, 51, said she supports Trump’s tax policies, such as the $1.5 trillion Republican tax cuts last December that slashed the corporate tax rate. She said she opposes some of his policies, like stripping immigrants of temporary protected status, which offers legal status to immigrants from some countries affected by natural disasters or armed conflict.
“I’m a Republican because I believe in smaller government, I believe in personal freedom, I believe in reasonable government regulations,” she said.
Cutting back on regulations was a frequent talking point that Orrall returned to.
Orrall said she previously fought against an “unfunded mandate” for ambulances to carry IV pumps. She also spoke favorably about an exporter who recently came before the Joint Committee on Export Development, which Orrall sits on, saying that fewer regulations and taxes help his industry grow.
“We want economic growth,” Orrall said.
When asked what she would say to environmentalists in the Valley concerned about talk of rolling back regulations, Orrall talked about her role in reopening the Massasoit State Park campground in her district.
“I care about the environment,” she said. “We’re protecting the environment by allowing people to use and enjoy that park.”
Orrall’s environmental record as a state legislator has been given a 79 percent rating by the Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund and 64 percent by the Massachusetts Audubon Society.
The state treasurer oversees state offices ranging from the state Lottery to the Office of Debt Management, as well as programs like the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust.
The Massachusetts Lottery was an early topic Orrall raised, citing her recent opposition to the Lottery’s planned move from Braintree to Dorchester. She said she was against the waste of taxpayer dollars on unnecessary things, and questioned how the Lottery’s move might affect the amount of money towns and cities receive from the Lottery.
Orrall also touted her role on a statewide commission looking into pay disparity in Massachusetts, and spoke fondly of her role on the External Advisory Board of the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at University of Massachusetts Boston.
A former elementary school teacher who has a degree in education, Orrall listed one of her bipartisan accomplishments as helping in the fight against the state’s participation in standardized testing known as PARCC.
“This was an issue where I found myself on the same side” as lawmakers with whom she normally disagrees, “where normally we wouldn’t be on the same side,” she said.
On the flip side of the coin, Orrall has received high marks from pro-gun, anti-abortion and anti-tax groups.
When asked about being on the campaign trail, Orrall said she has been trying to make inroads into diverse communities across the state.
“Because my heritage is mixed, people from diverse communities — for whatever reason — they embrace me,” she said. Orrall’s maternal grandparents were immigrants from Ireland and Germany, and her paternal grandparents came from Japan. Her father grew up on a segregated sugar plantation in Hawaii.
Orrall said she is the first woman of color to run for a constitutional office in Massachusetts.
Reaching out to diverse communities is something Orrall is trying to accomplish not only in Massachusetts, but nationally for the Republican Party.
“She was a member of the Trump Asian-American Campaign Advisory Committee and is active in Asian American communities locally and nationally,” reads her bio on the RNC’s website. “She is focused on growing and unifying the party and improving Republican representation within diverse communities at all levels.”
But when asked about national issues, Orrall said the race for treasurer is about state politics.
“This race is focused on Massachusetts,” she said.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.