Steve Novick: a nontraditional candidate with an edge

By Stacey Dycus of Bend, Oregon. Stacey describes herself as "a political organizer for progressive issues for ten years and a principal of Oregon Political Staffer LLC."

There has been a lot of speculation around the U.S. Senate race about who is in and who is not. Countless internet columns have been devoted to details describing every potential candidate’s strengths and weaknesses. We’ve almost had a Primary right here on BlueOregon.

But, let’s be honest. Gordon Smith is a very good politician (note: I did not say Senator). He looks like a politician, he sounds like a politician and he certainly acts like a politician. I don’t believe anyone can “out-politician” Gordon Smith and that if we really want to defeat him, it will take someone who is not a politician.

To shake up this race, we need a nontraditional candidate with an edge. I think that candidate is Steve Novick.

I attended a gathering of political reporters recently and when Steve Novick’s name came up, there was instant energy in the conversation. “He has a great story” said one. “Delivered his whole announcement speech by memory” said another. “He’s brilliant!” exclaimed a third. The Oregon political press corps recognizes that Steve is a very serious candidate and it shows from the way they have covered him (see the clips on Steve’s web site):

Steve has a history of winning… he just doesn’t give up.

Steve was in junior high in Cottage Grove when his school closed due to failure of a budget levy in 1976. He didn’t stop his education there. He tenaciously began attending classes at the University of Oregon and graduated at the ripe old age of 18. In 1981, Steve went to Harvard Law School, as the Eugene Register-Guard put it:

"Harvard Law School doesn't make a habit of accepting junior high school dropouts, but in Steven Novick's case Harvard has made an exception."

As an attorney, Steve joined the Land and Natural Resources Division of the United States Justice Department in 1987. He brought successful lawsuits against polluters for violations of the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. He also served as lead counsel in the notorious Love Canal case. On that case in 1995, Steve and his team negotiated a settlement in which Occidental Chemical repaid the taxpayers $129 million in cleanup costs and interest.

Steve moved back to Oregon and in the 1997 legislative session was caucus director for the Democrats in the State Senate. At that point the D’s were outnumbered 20 to 10. But the Senate D’s’ kept their spirits up, challenged the Republicans, and made news. Any of those Democrats – from Cliff Trow to Kate Brown – would give Steve a lot of credit for that energy. That momentum carried over to the 1998 campaign cycle, in which the Senate D’s won back three seats. Willamette Week called Steve one of the behind-the-scenes “winners” of the 1998 elections.

In the 2000 cycle, Tim Nesbitt, former AFL-CIO director now Kulongoski’s Deputy Chief of Staff, chose Novick to run a new non-profit dedicated to engaging in the initiative process and fighting Bill Sizemore. Part of Steve’s job was to review the all-important “ballot titles” for initiatives. Novick argued numerous ballot title cases in the Oregon Supreme Court, and won so many that former Chief Justice Wally Carson called him “extraordinary” in the Oregonian’s article about Steve last year.

Another part of Steve’s job was to spearhead the campaign against the massive tax cut for the wealthy that Sizemore put on the 2000 ballot. Steve researched and fact-checked Sizemore’s statements and convinced the Oregon Association of Broadcasters to have stations pull one of the his ads off the air. Sizemore’s measure was crushed. Steve used the facts to beat him.

In 2003, as the legislative liaison for the State Department of Education, Steve led the charge for Legislative scrutiny of the Oregon Lottery’s huge giveaways to the taverns that house video poker machines that were taking money that should have gone to schools. If you Google “Steve Novick” and “video poker” you will see how dogged Steve was in pursuing that cause, in 2003 and later years. Ultimately, Steve encouraged the education unions to file a lawsuit arguing that the Lottery – under the leadership of Gordon Smith’s state director, Kerry Tymchuk -- acted illegally in deciding to give away vast sums. In December of 2006, the State Court of Appeals ruled that Steve was right. The Oregonian had an editorial praising the court’s decision. Again, Novick wins.

From 2004 to 2006, Steve was communications director for Citizens for Oregon’s Future, dedicated to a public information campaign on tax and budget issues. TV, newspapers and radio stations from Portland to Pendleton to Eugene to Salem to Medford covered COF’s “Where Your Tax Dollars Go” reports and events on April 15 of 2004 and 2005. Steve knows how to build media relationships and he’s not afraid to make news.

With his background as an attorney, Steve also has excellent debate skills and could hold his own against Gordon. In 2006, as the policy director for the “Defend Oregon” campaign against Measure 48, Steve debated Don McIntire in a Portland City Club and the coverage the next day declared Steve “the winner.”

Now I know winning in a debate is not the same as winning a campaign, but I’ll argue: Novick HAS won a lot of campaigns. He has won them for the environment, he has won them for taxpayers and he has helped win a lot of races for Democrats.

Steve isn’t a spin-mister or a slick political consultant, he’s a really smart guy with a lot of heart who has the facts on his side and he’s not afraid to use them. Yes, there are maybe better politicians out there thinking of getting into the race…but what we really need is a fighter with a strong left hook who knows how to win. That’s Novick.

July 22, 2007 Posted in guest column.