Kerry McQuisten

Kerry McQuisten is an American politician and business owner. She has served as a member of the city council of Baker City, Oregon, and was appointed as its mayor from 2021-2023. She ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Oregon in 2022, has been an activist for changes to firearms legislation in the state, and is a senior advisor and spokeswoman for the voter advocacy group Republicans Overseas.

Baker City and County
In 2018, McQuisten assisted in the drafting and passage of Baker County's Second Amendment Preservation Ordinance.

She was elected to the City Council of Baker City, Oregon in 2021. Out of a field of 13 candidates for six open positions. McQuisten received the most votes. Baker City's city council consists of seven councilors who are elected by the residents of the city. The councilors select one of their members to serve as mayor for a two-year term. She was elected by her fellow councillors 6-1 as mayor from 2021 to 2023.

On March 23, 2021, after a lengthy public comment process, Baker City Council passed 5–2, Resolution 3881 Declaring an Economic, Mental Health, and Criminal Activity Crisis Due to the Current COVID-related State Emergency Declaration and Relating OSHA Mandates and Guidance" issued by then-Oregon Governor Kate Brown. The resolution, authored by McQuisten, was the first of its kind to be implemented in Oregon. Fox host Pete Hegseth invited McQuisten to be a guest on Fox News Primetime. KTVB Fox 12 and Fox Business' Varney & Co. with host Stuart Varney also spotlighted McQuisten and the resolution. Other media coverage included the Lars Larson Show and KATU's "Your Voice, Your Vote".

The City of Cove, Oregon adopted Resolution 2021–3, nearly identical to Resolution 3881. The cities of Clatskanie, and Canby adopted similar resolutions, as did Yamhill County and the City of Prineville.

In 2022, she helped pass a Second Amendment gun rights resolution in Baker City while mayor.

McQuisten serves on the executive committee of the Baker County Republican Women as 1st Vice President.

2022 campaign for governor
In the 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election McQuisten ran on the Republican ticket for Governor of Oregon. Her campaign received national media attention, including two appearances on Steve Bannon's WarRoom,  which also aired on Mike Lindell's Frank Speech TV. She appeared on Newsmax's Spicer & Co. She met with Eric Trump and General Mike Flynn in Keizer, Oregon. She was endorsed by Trump Senior Campaign Advisor David Bossie and Dr. Kelli Ward, Arizona Republican Party Chair. Later, she attended Donald J. Trump's 2024 Presidential Campaign Announcement in Mar-a-Lago with Oregon's National Committeeman to the RNC Solomon Yue.

She finished fifth in the primary election among nineteen Republican candidates in terms of popular vote, but won the second greatest number of counties after Republican nominee Christine Drazan, who went on to lose to Democratic Party candidate Tina Kotek.

Concealed carry petition
In 2023, she became one of three chief petitioners for the grassroots group, Constitutional Carry for Oregon (CCFO). CCFO is attempting to add one sentence to the Oregon Constitution removing the permit process for concealed carry via IP-21. Her co-petitioners are Joel Pawloski and Jean Sampson.

Republicans Overseas
She serves as Senior Advisor and Spokeswoman for the voter advocacy group Republicans Overseas (RO). Together with Solomon Yue and Randy Yaloz, she co-founded RO's Worldwide Freedom Initiative in 2023.

Publishing
In 2007, she founded Black Lyon Publishing, LLC, a traditional fiction and nonfiction book publishing house in Oregon. In 2023, she published a political tell-all book entitled The Government We Deserve: The Hard Truth from Behind the Curtain of an Oregon Gubernatorial Election via Black Lyon Publishing. The book was endorsed by former congressional nominee Amy Ryan Courser, Kari Lake, Mike Lindell and others.

Personal life
McQuisten was raised on a cattle ranch in Baker County, Oregon. She holds an international relations degree from Willamette University, and has lived abroad in both Spain and Japan.