The leadership style of Dave Hunt, Oregon's next Speaker of the House
The Clackamas Review offers up a profile of Rep. Dave Hunt (D-Gladstone) - who was the majority leader in 2006, and has been tapped by his Democratic colleagues to be the next Speaker of the House.
He's right in the middle:
Hunt has come to embody the middle of the political spectrum as well as any Oregon Democrat in office. One week, he’s taking softball questions from the hosts of a pro-labor show on left-leaning KBOO radio. The next, he’s answering questions in front of the local chamber of commerce, or advocating for a cut in businesses’ capital gains taxes.“It just is something that comes very naturally to me,” Hunt said of his penchant for moderate politics. “It’s funny because when I first ran and was talking about those kinds of things I had several business folks who came up to me at the end of my first session and said, ‘Wow, you really meant that.’ Apparently they’d experienced several candidates who ran as moderates and then had taken a hard turn one way or the other.”
But that doesn't stop him from fighting hard to elect Democrats:
He helped the House Democrats fundraising group, Future PAC, raise more than $1 million this year, and he shelled out tens of thousands of dollars from his own campaign fund to candidates in contested districts, ultimately helping Democrats to win a supermajority in the House, where all tax and fee increases must originate.
He's got his critics on the left:
Of course, one doesn’t build up a power base like that without ruffling a few feathers along the way. While it’s currently almost impossible to find someone with anything bad to say about Hunt, there is some mild dissent, even within liberal circles. Taking the middle ground often satisfies the greatest number of people, but it can leave out those on the far ends of the spectrum.Anonymous blog posters aside, Hunt admits to being “hammered” by the environmental lobby in the past for his support of increased timber harvests in the Clatsop and Tillamook State forests. The Oregon League of Conservation Voters grades legislators for each session based on votes they took regarding environmental issues. Hunt scored a 70 percent in 2003, a 57 percent in 2005 and a 90 percent in 2007. Only two Democrats scored lower in 2005. For comparison’s sake, neighboring legislator Carolyn Tomei (D-Milwaukie) scored three 100 percents and outgoing Speaker Jeff Merkley never scored lower than a 94 percent.
And he's got fans on the left:
An anonymous commenter on the influential Democratic blog Blueoregon.com warned voters in Southeast Portland’s House District 42 that primary candidate Jules Kopel-Bailey was a “Dave Hunt Democrat,” not suitable for an area that “needs a true progressive.” Kopel-Bailey won the primary and will begin his freshman legislative term in January. While the incoming legislator doesn’t take credit for coining the phrase – Hunt himself said he shouldn’t use it “if he wants to get elected in Southeast Portland” – he’s comfortable with the comparison.“There really is a post-partisanship quality there, and I think that’s what really defines being a Dave Hunt Democrat. What is good policy and how do we achieve that policy and whether that’s a Democratic or Republican policy that’s irrelevant,” said Kopel-Bailey, whose father, Bob Bailey, was an Oregon City Commissioner. “How do we bring together stakeholders and create policy that’s more inclusive.” ...
Still, leaders in the Democratic Party believe his leadership is a good balance. [Rep. Peter Buckley (D-Ashland)] said the leadership styles of Hunt and the liberal-leaning Mary Nolan (D-Portland), who was nominated as House Majority leader, are complimentary.
“The political divisions in our caucus are very small,” Buckley said. “I would say I’m on the liberal side and Dave’s on the more moderate side, and we agree on nearly every issue,” he said.
Read the rest. Discuss.
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Nov. 20, 2008
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Nov 20, '08
[Please stay on topic. -editor.]
Nov 20, '08
Can we please get beyond liberal/left labels?
How open will the session be? Will budget decisions be made openly in Ways and Means, or behind closed doors like they were in the Minnis years?
Does Hunt have a stand on campaign finance reform/ election reform?
Has he been following the actions of the Revenue Restructuring Task Force? What does he plan to do with the final report? Will the general public learn the answer to that question, or will it just be discussed in closed caucus?
Does he plan to re-introduce the capital gains tax cut he co-sponsored a couple sessions ago (but Wayne Scott let it die in committee because Scott wanted the bill with his own name on it to be considered instead)? Hunt's co-sponsor on that bill was Vicki Berger. Can he convince Rep. Berger to vote with him on anything?
A majority leader from Portland and a whole new batch of legislators from downstate should be interesting. I hope Buckley realizes that political differences may be small, but not necessarily geographic differences.
Will Hunt be one of those Speakers who will talk to an ordinary person in a capitol hallway, or aloof like Minnis, Snodgrass, and some of the others?
How big is the bloc of young legislators these days? Do they agree with Hunt on everything?
I admired Speaker Merkley. I remain to be convinced Hunt will do as good a job. Time will tell (and nothing anyone says here will make as much difference as Hunt's actions as Speaker).
Nov 20, '08
Really the only thing those of us who live east of the Cascades know about Mr. Hunt is that he has on several occasions attempted to make our lives unsafe by denying the use of studded tires.
We'll be watching.
Nov 20, '08
To SCB--
If you need studded tires to drive on snow and ice, you don't know how to do it.
Love--Mt. Hood driver (daily), Subaru, studless traction tires.
Another asset of the studless variety of traction tires is that you can run with them year-round--and they work pretty dang good in situations where you have heavy downpours (as in thunderstorm flash flood situations, fairly common in Eastern Oregon summers) and lots of standing water on pavement. Or gravel. Or mud.
Nov 21, '08
Here here LT. We all have an interest in knowing how much the lobby runs the building. That's not a matter of red or blue, or even purple. It's good to be aware of the influences on the new legislaive leadership.
7:43 a.m.
Nov 21, '08
Dave has the right temperment to herd the cats.
He keeps close contact with the ground, both within the party and among Clackamas County contituents and I've only met one or two other legislators in the past half dozen years that are able to talk straight across and eyebal to eyeball to everyone regardless of station or usefulness.
As for the Rural Champions among us, he is probably going to be one of your top advocates among the leadership crowd.
Give me calm, collected, humble, and polite in a session that will be bursting at the seams with activists lined up around the block to implement their many absolutely critical programs at the same time that Wall Street has lost 50 to 60% of its collective valuation and the state struggles to make ends meet.
Nov 21, '08
JRW - Re: Tires
At Blue Oregon we have been all over this issue in the past. To summarize:
I use year-around studless snow tires like you, but they cost at least 50% more than studded tires - and not everyone can afford them. You are putting a cost on lives if you ban studded snow tires.
Studless snow tires are not as effective on sheet ice as studded snow tires. Depending where you live on the east side, you have places with more powder snow/more glare ice. People will end up dead sliding off glare ice (usually by rivers) if you ban studded tires.
-- So, if you want to kill your neighbors in Eastern Oregon, go ahead and ban studded tires.
And, you jerk, don't assume that its all about driving "skills".
Nov 21, '08
Dave is my representative from HD 40. I have known him since he began running for the Legislature six years ago. His actions and record are based on what he believes to be good public policy. The process by which changes are made is often fraught with currents and eddies that one does not foresee when embarking. Dave has been very consistent when navigating such waters. Moderate is a good term to define Dave's politics because nobody I know is happy with what he does all the time. He makes it a point to acknowledge and speak with his constituents when they are at the capital. He is a good listener and answers in a straightforward manner when directly asked questions.
Nov 21, '08
Dave is my representative from HD 40. I have known him since he began running for the Legislature six years ago. His actions and record are based on what he believes to be good public policy. The process by which changes are made is often fraught with currents and eddies that one does not foresee when embarking. Dave has been very consistent when navigating such waters. Moderate is a good term to define Dave's politics because nobody I know is happy with what he does all the time. He makes it a point to acknowledge and speak with his constituents when they are at the capital. He is a good listener and answers in a straightforward manner when directly asked questions.
Nov 21, '08
Dave is my representative from HD 40. I have known him since he began running for the Legislature six years ago. His actions and record are based on what he believes to be good public policy. The process by which changes are made is often fraught with currents and eddies that one does not foresee when embarking. Dave has been very consistent when navigating such waters. Moderate is a good term to define Dave's politics because nobody I know is happy with what he does all the time. He makes it a point to acknowledge and speak with his constituents when they are at the capital. He is a good listener and answers in a straightforward manner when directly asked questions.
Nov 21, '08
Wow. Ole Barn is really on message!
5:03 p.m.
Nov 21, '08
SCB,
I take your points seriously. We have geographically designated areas in which extra traction is required (chains in the passes & parts of the gorge under certain conditions, not sure if studded tires also count). How about the other direction -- define areas where studded tires are permitted while excluding them from others?
The permitted areas would certainly be a majority of state territory, perhaps a substantial one. But much of those areas are low or relatively low population density and traffic areas.
On the other hand, there is a smaller area much more densely settled, in which a considerable majority of the population and traffic occurs, where studded tires are not necessary but cause huge, costly damage to the roads, especially highways. 99E in Southeast Portland develops deep grooves every year -- there is no good reason for this.
This seems to me to be one of those areas where the needs of rural and urban people differ, and might be handled with appropriate differential policies.
Nov 22, '08
Great...another mainstream mediocre Democrat in a leadership position. Those "extremists" on the "left" have been right. Alternative energy, alternative transportation, civil rights, environmental protections, universal healthcare and on and on and on. Dems win elections and reward mediocre mainstreamers and push through Republican light legislation. Republicans win elections and actually use their power.
Nov 22, '08
Joshua -
Dave Hunt may be mainstream, but he's got a strong and consistent record supporting alternative energy, alternative transportation, civil rights, health care, and on and on (to pick your issues).
And with Hunt at the helm, Republicans don't win elections much anymore.
Nov 25, '08
Progressives need to lobby Dave Hunt to not give into Associated Oregon Industries' (AOI) proposal to allow employers to fire medical marijuana patients. AOI's proposal doesn't make sense either policy-wise or politically.
AOI claims that employers need the ability to fire patients for safety concerns. The fact is that businesses are already under an obligation to send home impaired workers. Also, workplace accidents and injuries have actually decreased since the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act (OMMA) passed. Finally, the business lobby has yet been able to point to one workplace accident caused because of medical marijuana.
Politically, there is absolutely no reason for Speaker Hunt to give into the demands of a pro-business lobby that primarily endorses Republicans as 85% of its Oregon endorsements were for Republicans this past election. Further, AOI has introduced their patient-discrimination bill the past three legislative sessions and the Democratic-controlled legislature killed the bill in committee each session. Voters certainly didn't punish the Dems as they have seen their numbers increase while several anti-marijuana legislators were defeated (Linda Flores, for example) or faced very tough re-election campaigns (Sal Esquivel was one).
Finally, AOI's patient-discrimination bill has very little to do with workplace safety and more to do with big business wanting to have as much power over workers as possible. Interestingly, AOI's vice-chair, Dan Harmon, has also picked up the Kevin Mannix/Bill Sizemore mantle as an outspoken right winger, ranting and raving about the OMMA and the permissiveness.
Please contact Dave Hunt and urge him to not give into big business right-wing fundamentalists. We need Democrats to protect the right of patients and workers.
www.voterpower.org
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