Meet freshman Rep Peter Buckley (D-Ashland), pt I

John Doty

Ashland Democrat Peter Buckley is new in Salem in 2005, having run for the House seat held for the past three sessions by Dr. Alan Bates, who moved into the Oregon Senate.

Buckley and I first crossed paths in the county Democratic party, and later in the early effort on behalf of Howard Dean's candidacy for the White House.

It was Buckley who convinced me, over Pollo Diablos at La Casa del Pueblo, to run for the House myself, nearly 4 months before Senator Hannon's retirement made it known that Bates would be vacating his seat thus prompting Buckley's own run.

Over the past week, Representative Buckley generously gave some time to be part of an email exchange interview discussing his opening weeks in Salem, how he got there, and his plans for the 73rd session of the Oregon Legislature.

In part I, Buckley discusses the campaign. In part II, the focus turns to Salem.

I asked Buckley to take us through the lead up - the decision to run; his contested primary; the course of the general; and the Democracy for America involvement, endorsing him on one of the Dean Dozen lists. Buckley hadn't planned to be a candidate. As the cycle started, he was named to chair the County Dem's Candidate Committee, tasked with looking for suitable candidates for each race. I was one of those he found.

"Your campaign was a source of great pride to the Jackson County Dems, as well as a tremendous contribution to the progressive movement in Oregon," he offered in his opening response. "I know how hard the road you went down was.I think you were gone on election night when I spoke at the Jackson County Dem gathering, but I said that you are a hero for what you took on, and I say it again right here."

Kudos aside, Buckley then set the stage for us - laying out the factors and events that eventually led to his new role as the representative from District 5.

"I hadn't intended to run for office in 2004. Alan Bates was our state rep, and I admire him greatly. I had pondered a run for county commissioner, but couldn't see the way to win that one, so my thought was that I would put my energy fully into the Dean campaign."

Buckley heard former Vermont Governor Howard Dean in an interview in July of 2002 and called immediately with an offer to help. "At that point, he had two volunteer coordinators--one for east of the Mississippi and one for west of the Mississippi," Buckley recalled. Buckley was drawn to Dean's words - they echoed Buckley's own campaign for US House in 2002, particularly regarding the Bush administration determination to go to war in Iraq, and domestic policies causing tremendous damage. Buckley agreed with Dean, feeling, "strong and open opposition was the best path both for the Democratic Party and the country."

Buckley's plans changed though - Governor Kulongoski appointed Lenn Hannon to the parole board, opening the District 3 state senate seat. Rep. Alan Bates immediately announced he was running. "I was in the Bay Area--we had gone down to take my mother-in-law to be buried there after a long and difficult illness and death--and the night we returned, my oldest son met me at our front door with the news of the Hannon resignation and the Bates announcement." His son's greeting: "You going to run for state rep?" Buckley couldn't see how he could. "But over the next few weeks, the path seemed to open up for me."

Prior to Bates being elected to the Ashland house seat, it was held by Judy Uherbelau, who had term-limited out. With the overturn of term limits, she was a potential candidate and Buckley called to see if she planned to run for her old seat. "She was out of the country, and I wasn’t able to meet with her until early January of 2004, at which point she told me that she didn’t think she would make a go for it."

He then spoke with Cathy Shaw, Bates’ chief of staff and, "one of the sharpest political minds I’ve ever encountered" to get an idea of what to look forward to, if he chose to run. He also contacted Amy Amrhein, the Ashland School Board president and veteran of several school funding campaigns (Measures 28 and 30, as well as several Ashland-specific efforts) to see if she would manage a campaign.

"Once Amy said yes, I was there.  The one thing I learned in the 2002 campaign for congress is that unless you have a great campaign manager, a true partner in the effort, you will have a very rough time." Buckley praised his 2002  manager, Ashley Henry, who "took a campaign with no backing and no name recognition and somehow created a solid volunteer network and provided remarkable opportunities for me to meet with a wide variety of political leaders and organizers in Oregon and the U.S."

It was those connections that Buckley credits with making the '04 run possible. "I can safely say that if it wasn’t for Ashley, I would not have even had a chance at a run for state rep." Henry's work in the '02 race built a network -- names that Amrhein organized, "for a full out grassroots effort that won a tough primary and then romped in the general."

So what made the primary tough? Two days before the filing deadline, Uherbelau decided to run. Buckley recalls, "We had met in Ashland in January when she got back home, and she had informed me that she really couldn’t see it playing out for her to run. But by March 8, she had received enough encouragement and offers of support to decide to go for it."

Caught off-guard, it was too late for Buckley to back out. "We had done a lot of work to put together a campaign team and raise money." Buckley also worried that, "if I pulled out and Judy returned to Salem, it might very well extinguish my last best chance to serve." His concern was that if he deferred to Uherbelau and she won, "by the time the seat became open again, the network Ashley and I built in 2002 would have long faded away."

Buckley stayed in. Upon making the decision, he and Uherbelau metand agreed to run a positive campaign - "may the best candidate win."

Buckley's effort was grassroots, "funded by mail contributions and house parties, average contribution about $70." Uherbelau, according to Buckley, "had backing from the Nurses Association, AFSCME and the trial lawyers, but only a handful of in-district contributors." Buckley credits, "the push by our volunteers and Amy’s organization," for the difference. He also recognizes, "the support of the Deaniacs in my district definitely helped as well." He won the primary by a small margin, 51% to 48%.

Once through the testing ground of May, Buckley had an edge for November, "My Republican opponent was able to attract a decent amount of big checkbook donations from out of district, but House District Five is one that voted overwhelmingly for Measure 30 and is a fantastic district for a progressive candidate to run in."

One unexpected obstacle was donations. "It was hard to find major contributors, since the race was seen as being definitely in our favor," Buckley noted, "and since we were also clear that we were interested in a progressive agenda, pure and simple." The fundraising effort was hobbled because many big dollars were already allocated - they had gone out to the pre-Primary Presidential field or were going to the November Kerry/Edwards effort. Donors focused closer to home were looking at the Bates/Wright senate race.

Buckely, "had the endorsements from the local papers, solid mail and internet contributions, a one day blitz by the Bus Project that helped to canvas almost all of Ashland, a great run with house parties again, incredible volunteer efforts, support from the unions, and the Dean Dozen endorsement in the summer, which took everything we were doing up a full notch."

Buckley's campaign coordinated their efforts "with the Bates for Senate... Densmore for County Commissioner... and the Kerry campaign", On November 2, he won by over 20%.

By John Doty Jan. 21, 2005