On Monday, veteran Republican Rep. Greg Walden announced that he would not seek a 12th term in Oregon’s safely red 2nd Congressional District, making him the 19th House Republican to retire so far this year.
Walden ran the National Republican Congressional Committee during the 2014 and 2016 election cycles, successfully holding the House for the GOP both times. He’d also served as chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee until the new Democratic majority took over in January. (Walden’s departure also means that five Republicans who are top-ranking committee members are now quitting Congress.)
Walden had been a reliable Trump ally during the last Congress, but starting this year, he frequently voted against the administration. That led to speculation during the spring that he would retire, but Walden claimed in April that he wanted to stick around. Channeling his inner Lebowski, Walden explained to Politico, "I'm a chairman in exile, dude.” GOP rules limit its members to a total of three terms as the party’s top committee member, and Walden, who is in his second term on the Commerce Committee, continued, “I've got two more years as chairman. That's my focus."
To regain that chairmanship, however, would have required Republicans to retake the House next year. With that prospect looking distant, Walden may have since decided that his exile wouldn't be quite so temporary. While he insisted Monday that he was “optimistic that a path exists for Republicans to recapture a majority in the House,” he nevertheless conceded, “I also know that for me, the time has come to pursue new challenges and opportunities.”
Walden has been Oregon’s only Republican member of Congress for over a decade, but the GOP should have no trouble keeping his 57-36 Trump seat. The filing deadline for this district, which includes the part of the state east of the Cascades as well as some of southern Oregon, isn’t until March, and the primary will take place in May.
Walden got his start in politics as a congressional aide. Walden, whose father was a former state representative, was elected to the chamber in 1988, and he went on to become its majority leader. Walden was preparing a run for governor in 1993 until he discovered that his unborn son had been diagnosed with a heart ailment, and his child died soon after being born.
Walden decided not to run for anything himself in 1994, but he did serve as campaign manager for state Sen. Wes Cooley’s bid to succeed retiring Rep. Bob Smith in the old 2nd District, which makes up much of the same eastern Oregon turf that Walden represents today. Cooley won, and the next year, Walden was appointed to succeed him in the state Senate.
However, the two former allies soon into conflict during Cooley’s 1996 re-election campaign as the freshman congressman was dogged by multiple scandals. Voters learned that Cooley had lied about serving in the special forces in Korea, and he was also accused of hiding his marriage during the 1980s so his wife could continue to receive veteran survivor's benefits from her last marriage. Polls showed Cooley losing to a Democrat in what should have been a safely red seat, and the congressman faced massive pressure from his party to quit the race.
Walden, who was serving as state chairman of the Bob Dole presidential campaign, added to that pressure when he announced that he would run against Cooley as an independent. However, Cooley dropped out of the race and party leaders chose Smith, the district’s former congressman, to be the new nominee. Walden ended his campaign and Smith had no trouble regaining his seat.
Smith decided to retire again soon after returning to the House, and this time, Walden ran to succeed him in the 1998 GOP primary. Walden’s main opponent was Christian broadcaster Perry Atkinson, who had narrowly lost the crowded 1994 primary to Cooley. Also in the race was Cooley himself, who had been convicted shorty after leaving Congress of making false statements about his military service on an official election document and sentenced to two years probation.
Walden had Smith’s endorsement, while Atkinson received help from prominent religious conservative Gary Bauer and a pro- term-limits group. Walden ended up beating Atkinson 55-33, while Cooley took only 9% of the vote. Walden had no trouble winning in November, and he never faced a serious primary or general election campaign during his long House career.
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