SALEM — A new Oregon advocacy group aims to counteract COVID-19 misinformation and is targeting a list of elected conservatives it has dubbed “villains” of the pandemic.

The group, Our Shot Oregon, intends to focus its campaign on prominent political opponents of masking, social distancing and COVID-19 vaccines.

Depending on how much support the group can garner, its actions could include posting billboards “calling out” the politicians or otherwise mobilizing volunteers, founder Jake Weigler said Wednesday, Sept. 29. The group does not currently have a fundraising goal, Weigler said.

Skepticism about COVID-19 vaccines and measures to prevent the spread of the disease have become a contentious political issue.

While the vaccine has been widely available for months, less than 70% of adults in 24 Oregon counties have gotten shots, compared to 75% statewide. And rural, conservative areas of the state with low vaccination rates have been particularly hard hit during the delta wave.

Weigler’s group is “dedicated to holding people, especially elected officials, accountable for spreading anti- vaccine, anti-science lies,” according to its website.

Weigler said he saw some parallels with his past work as a political consultant advocating for gun law reform. While he found that the majority of the public was in favor of stricter gun laws, he said, the opposition was far more vocal and thus got all of the attention.

Our Shot Oregon has been organized by Weigler’s political consulting company, Praxis Political.

Weigler registered Our Shot Oregon as a 501c(4), which does not have to disclose its donors, whose contributions are not tax-deductible. Such organizations must have a social welfare focus rather than advocating for or against specific political candidates.

The group currently has no large financial backers, Weigler said, and expects it will rely on small donors and volunteers. First things first, he said, was to see if Oregonians want to back his mission.

“We want to build a movement here,” he said. “And we think people are primed for action.”