Election boosts Blumenauer's influence

WASHINGTON (AP) - Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer won more than a seat in the majority when Democrats recaptured the House this month.

The veteran Portland Democrat also increased his clout within the party. His political action committee spent more than $300,000 helping 39 Democratic candidates who stressed "smart growth" and environmentally friendly development.

Twenty-five candidates backed by Blumenauer's Committee for a Livable Future were victorious - including 17 incoming freshmen who owe at least part of their success to Blumenauer, who traveled all over the country promoting his smart-growth agenda and campaigning with Democratic challengers.

Asked about the election results, a gleeful Blumenauer eagerly recited a list of winning Democrats that he helped - including nine who toppled incumbent Republicans.

"The national work I've been doing I thought would be a positive result - but I didn't think, to be quite frank, it would be as positive as it turned out," he said.

Blumenauer said he was especially encouraged that pro-environment, pro-mass transit candidates won in such "red" states as Indiana, Arizona and North Carolina.

Former Tempe, Ariz., Mayor Harry Mitchell beat longtime Republican incumbent J.D. Hayworth, while 2,000 miles away, former Washington Redskins quarterback Heath Shuler beat veteran North Carolina Rep. Charles Taylor.

In Indiana, three Blumenauer-backed candidates defeated Republican incumbents. Lawyer Joe Donnelly beat two-term GOP Rep. Chris Chocola; Sheriff Brad Ellsworth beat Rep. John Hostettler; and former Rep. Baron Hill recaptured his seat from Rep. Mike Sodrel.

Blumenauer campaigned for Mitchell and Shuler, and the Livable Future committee donated money to all five men. Shuler, Ellsworth and Hill each received $10,000 - the maximum allowed by law - while Mitchell and Donnelly each got $2,000.

In all, the Portland-based committee raised $327,000 over the two-year cycle and contributed $203,000 to Democratic candidates, said Willie Smith, a Blumenauer aide who runs the committee. Board members made an additional $62,000 in individual donations to candidates favored by the group, including Mitchell, Shuler and Hill.

More important than money were campaign events, Blumenauer said, and decisions by each of the candidates to embrace what Blumenauer called "their own shade of green."

Mitchell, who is so popular the local civic center is named after him, was a quiet contrast to the bombastic Hayworth, Blumenauer said.

"J.D. is always spouting off on the floor and taking hard-edge positions" on immigration and other issues. "That's not Harry. He's thoughtful and cares deeply about the environment and livable communities."

Shuler was perhaps the biggest surprise, Blumenauer said. A self-described moderate-conservative from western North Carolina, Shuler supports gun ownership and opposes abortion rights.

But after watching the Al Gore movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," Shuler's "passion for the environment just took hold," said Blumenauer, who spent two days in Asheville, N.C., with Shuler, including an environmental forum that drew more than 140 people.

Blumenauer traveled to 12 congressional districts this year, from Idaho to Ohio to Vermont.

At an agricultural forum with Vermont Democrat Peter Welch, Blumenauer emphasized the common challenges facing the two rural states. The event helped create an ally in Congress who is likely to work with Blumenauer on renewal of the federal farm bill and other legislation, said Smith, the PAC director.

The 2006 election was the group's most successful since its formation in 1996, just after Blumenauer was elected to Congress.

"I've never seen him so giddy on Election Night," Smith said of Blumenauer. "He does want to expand his political footprint, both within the state and nationally."

Asked about his ambitions - and a rumored bid for U.S. Senate - Blumenauer bristled.

"I think it is pernicious to start speculating about 2008 before we've finished 2006," he said. "I think everybody ought to take a deep breath and try to salvage what we can in the lame-duck session (next month) and then start the new session on a positive note" in January.

As for 2008, "that's a conversation people ought to have a year from now," Blumenauer said.

But John Russell, a Portland developer and chairman of the political action committee's board of directors, said Blumenauer wants to use his increased clout to push a smart-growth agenda, based on projects already in place in Portland.

"The people who contribute to the PAC want to see America look a lot more like Portland," Russell said, citing the city's well-known light rail system, bike trails and development on what he called a human scale.

While supporters can quibble over how big a role Blumenauer's committee played in each House race, "what's important is that when and if these candidates do win, they are knowledgeable about the kinds of issues that we care about, and much more apt to support them," Russell said.

Whether Blumenauer stays in the House or tries to move up to the Senate, the 2006 results can only help, Russell said.

"You tend not to forget your supporters when you win," he said.

Blumenauer, for his part, said he is focusing on the next two years - his first as a member of the House majority after 10 years in the minority.

"I'm trying to change national policies, and I'm trying to protect and enhance quality of life here in Oregon," he said. 

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)