Joe Dehn
Libertarian | California
Candidate Profile
Moderate
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Joe Dehn
Party
Libertarian
Election Year
2026
Election
Primary
Race
U.S. Rep., Dist. 17
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
(Candidate did not provide)
WORK & MILITARY
(Candidate did not provide)
AFFILIATIONS
(Candidate did not provide)
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
(Candidate did not provide)
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
(Candidate did not provide)
OTHER INFORMATION
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Human life deserves legal protection from conception until natural death.
Neutral
Pre-birth protection of life is the responsibility of the mother, with the assistance of family. The external (government) "legal" system should not be involved.
The lives of human embryos created through artificial methods ought to be protected from purposeful destruction.
Neutral
Protection is the responsibility of whoever created them - the external (government) "legal" system should not be involved.
Under what circumstances should an elective abortion be allowed?
This is a decision best left to the mother, with advice from family and medical practitioners of her choice.
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should receive taxpayer funds from federal, state, or local governments (including Title X grants).
Strongly Disagree
Taxpayers should not be subsidizing any medical procedures.
The Comstock Act, which bans interstate transportation of abortion-inducing drugs, should be enforced.
Strongly Disagree
ECONOMY
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Strongly Agree
People who can afford to pay more taxes should do so in order to provide relief for working families.
Strongly Disagree
The government should cut spending in order to reduce the national debt.
Strongly Agree
List your top 3-5 priorities to eliminate government waste.
Privatize all "welfare" functions. Cut "defense" spending to only what is required to defend U.S territory. End federal grants/subsidies to state and local governments, so they have to justify all their spending to their own voters/taxpayers.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Individuals and businesses should be required to provide services even if it would violate their moral and/or religious beliefs.
Strongly Disagree
What does "separation of church and state" mean to you?
That government should have no involvement with religion, including not encouraging, discouraging, or regulating religious practice. Nothing should be required or prohibited by government on the basis of it being required or prohibited by any particular religion.The same rules of public behavior should apply to everybody regardless of their religion or if they profess no religion at all.
HEALTHCARE
What most closely matches your view on healthcare: A) Healthcare for all should be guaranteed and funded by the government with no private healthcare option. (includes "universal healthcare," "medicare for all," etc.) B) Healthcare insurance funded by the government should be available for all who want it, along with private healthcare options. C) Medicaid and Medicare should remain available, but no other taxpayer-funded programs are necessary. D) Taxpayer funded health care should be abolished in all forms, and Medicaid and Medicare should be defunded.
D - government should not be involved with funding or managing health care at all.
The government should keep a database of people with various ongoing medical illnesses to assess the economic burden of treatment.
Strongly Disagree
To the extent any such information might be useful it should be tracked by private medical research institutions.
NATIONAL SECURITY
With regard to America's foreign policy, which view most closely resembles yours: A) The United States should intervene whenever freedom is threatened. B) The United States should selectively help countries trying to grow democracy and fight tyranny. C) The United States has become too involved in others' policies and should remain focused on issues regarding our own sovereignty unless in imminent danger. D) The United States should stay out of foreign conflicts completely.
C/D - The US should avoid entanglement with disputes among and within other nations, and should participate in joint military action only when it is more cost-effective to act in that manner for mutual defense, and only with other nations with which we share basic values.
The Chinese Communist Party poses serious military, cyber security, intellectual property, and global economic threats to the United States.
Neutral
Is the United States' relationship with Israel important, and if so why?
As with other countries with which we share values, there may be circumstances when it makes sense to coordinate with Israel on matters of mutual defense. But the primary legitimate role of the U.S. government is the defense of Americans in the U.S. and other countries should not expect subsidies or other support funded by U.S. taxpayers.
Islamic terrorism is a threat to the United States' national security.
Agree
Islamic terrorism is a threat to everybody, but most of all to the people of majority Muslim countries, who should be taking the lead in dealing with the issue.
IMMIGRATION
Who should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. and under what circumstances?
Anyone who is willing and able to live a peaceful life, earning their own way, to make a better future for themselves or their families, should be welcome in the United States.
I support the existence of sanctuary cities to protect undocumented persons.
Neutral
There would be no reason for - and no support for - "sanctuary cities" if the federal government had a rational immigration policy.
EDUCATION
I support eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and giving control back to states and communities.
Agree
The federal Department of Education should be eliminated, but so should state and local educational bureaucracies.
Foreign governments should be prohibited from funding American education.
Disagree
The US government should neither fund nor control funding of educational services. Users of educational services (parents, adult students) should be able to accept financial help from anybody who wants to offer it.
VALUES
Attempts to physically or socially transition a child to the opposite sex constitute child abuse.
Choose not to answer
This is too complicated for a yes/no answer -- cases will vary depending on the age of the "child", and the reasons for the action.
Marriage is a God-ordained, sacred and legal union of one man and one woman. No government has the authority to alter this definition.
Choose not to answer
Government should not be attempting to "define" marriage at all. I support the complete separation of marriage and state.
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
"Spiritual beliefs" of candidates for public office should not be important as long as they don't try to impose any such beliefs on their constituents.
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Choose not to answer
This is not something that needs to be decided at the national (Congressional) level. Management of the election process should continue to be handled by the state governments, which may choose to handle voting different ways, and whether "photo identification" can/should be part of that is a decision that should be left to the states.
EQUALITY
Biological males should not be allowed to participate in women's sports or occupy biological women's spaces whether it be bathrooms, locker rooms, sorority houses, women's shelters, or prison.
Neutral
How to divide people up for the purpose of sporting events should be decided by the people sponsoring/running such events. How to divide up bathroom and similar facilities should be decided by the owners of such facilities. The government should not be in the business of running sporting events or bathrooms so should not be making rules about them.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
What do you believe is the most reliable energy source that will supply the growing demand for electricity?
The government should not be in the business of owning/managing energy production, and so should not be making decisions about this. The market should be left to determine the best mix of nuclear, solar, fossil fuel, and other sources.
ABOUT YOU
Have you ever been penalized for sexual misconduct in either civil or criminal court? If so, please explain.
No.
Have you ever been convicted of a felony? If so, please explain.
No.
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Choose not to answer
I cannot give an answer in terms of the scale you offer because I do NOT consider myself to be in either camp. I consider my views overall to be libertarian. Libertarians have a political philosophy that has much in common with the ideas on which this country was founded, but to which the words "liberal" and "conservative" as they are used TODAY in the mainstream political media do not meaningfully apply.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
Government has a responsibility to protect children from sexual exploitation during online activities.
Strongly Disagree
The primary responsibility for protecting children during online activities belongs to the family, same as for other activities. Government should not be considered a replacement for parents.
2ND AMENDMENT
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
Government's role in this area should be limited to prosecuting specific criminal acts committed using a gun. Gun ownership itself should not be treated as a crime and should not be regulated by the government.
