Democrats claim Buehler has moved out of District 54

(Update: Oregon Republican Party statement)

The Democratic Party of Oregon filed a new allegation against Republican gubernatorial nominee Knute Buehler on Tuesday, claiming he’s moved out of Bend’s House District 54 and can’t stay on as a lawmaker. But Buehler’s campaign fired back, calling the accusation “desperate” and saying Buehler has a “temporary apartment” in Tualatin, near Portland.

Here’s the Democrats’ full statement, followed by the Buehler campaign’s response:

Representative Knute Buehler moves out of district, DPO challenges his ability to serve

PORTLAND — Jeanne Atkins, Chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon, submitted a letter to the Secretary of State calling for an investigation of Republican gubernatorial hopeful Knute Buehler today, claiming the State Representative has moved out of his district and is no longer eligible to represent House District 54.

In two media interviews this summer, Buehler has stated definitively that he has moved from his district in Bend to a new home in Tualatin, 165 miles from Bend, where he was elected to serve. This relocation puts Buehler in violation of ARTICLE IV, Section 8 (7)(a) of the Oregon Constitution, which states:

“A person may not be a Senator or Representative if the person at all times during the term of office of the person as a Senator or Representative is not an inhabitant of the district from which the Senator or Representative may be chosen or which the Senator or Representative has been appointed to represent.”

Evidence for the complaint comes from Buehler’s own words. In both a print and radio interview, Buehler states that he has moved to Tualatin.

“Knute Buehler has put his political ambitions above the people who he was elected to serve in the House of Representatives. Once he won re-election to his House seat in 2016, he turned his back on his constituents. He hasn’t had a town hall since April of 2017 and has done little to serve his constituents since he decided to run for Governor,” said Atkins. “To add insult to injury, now he’s unapologetically telling the media that he’s moved to Tualatin. Not only is this disingenuous, his actions are in clear violation of the Oregon Constitution.”

In the June 7th edition of the Portland Tribune article titled, “Former Beaver makes pitch for politics,” Buehler told reporter Kerry Eggers that he had recently moved to Tualatin, saying “The first house we bought was in Tualatin. After 25 years, I told my wife, ‘We’ve come full circle. Now we’re living in an apartment.'”

On July 5th, Knute Buehler further detailed his move on Mark Mason’s radio show on 1190 KEX in Portland, confirming he no longer lives in Bend and has relocated to Tualatin (you can listen to the clip here):

MASON: [9:27] Knute Buehler of Tualatin now.

BUEHLER: [9:29] Of Tualatin now, yeah, just down the street.

MASON: [9:33] No longer Bend.

BUEHLER: [9:34] Yeah, and soon to be a resident of Salem.

MASON: [9:35] (laughter) Alright, we’ll leave it at that.

“As desperately as Knute Buehler wants to be Governor, he needs to be held accountable to the job he already has as a State Representative in Bend,” said Atkins. “Voters are right to question the integrity of a candidate who draws a state paycheck but has turned his back on his constituents.”

A full copy of the letter to the Secretary of State can be found here.

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Buehler Campaign Responds to Democrat/Brown Meaningless, Desperate Attacks

This is a nonsense, desperate attack from a campaign that cannot defend Kate Brown’s record of failed leadership – from schools to foster care. Knute and Patty Buehler have two residences – a home in Bend and a temporary apartment in Tualatin – so that Knute has some place to sleep, shower and snack while he is campaigning vigorously nearly every week in the Portland-area and Willamette Valley.

Just as Governor Brown maintains two residences – one in Portland and one in Salem that is taxpayer funded, so she can be closer to the state government she is failing to lead. The Buehlers’ Bend residence is where Patty spends most of her time, where they are registered to vote, where their cars are registered and where they continue to pay their property taxes – all the legal requirements for residency.

“Oregonians want solutions to important problems but given Governor Brown’s failed record as Governor, numerous scandals in her government and cratering campaign, she and her allies have nothing left to say but petty, partisan desperate attacks,” said Buehler’s campaign spokesperson Monica Wroblewski. “While Brown insults voters with meaningless attacks, Knute Buehler will remain focused on offering solutions and moderate, independent leadership to fix the problems Kate Brown has ignored, avoided or made worse as Governor.”

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Later, the Oregon Republican Party also issued a statement:

Democratic Party Files Absurd Complaint to Distract from Brown’s Dismal Poll Numbers

Oregon GOP Labels DPO Move a Silly Political Gimmick to Avoid the Issue of Brown’s Failures

Wilsonville, OR – The Democratic Party of Oregon held a press conference today to announce an absurd complaint against GOP Nominee Knute Buehler for spending too much time campaigning for Governor outside of his State Representative District in Bend, with a clear intent to distract from Governor Brown’s dismal public polling numbers.

“Democrat leaders might not like the poll that came out yesterday, but it sure is clear that they can read it and are getting desperate to salvage the political fortunes of failed incumbent Governor Kate Brown,” stated Oregon GOP spokesman Kevin Hoar. “The Democratic Party of Oregon’s hastily arranged news conference this morning was clearly a panicked attempt to distract from the public polling news of Kate Brown’s declining political fortunes in her race with GOP Nominee Knute Buehler.”

“The Democratic Party of Oregon’s complaint seems to be that they believe that State Representatives who are not from Portland or Salem are not permitted to campaign for Governor, even though the state legislature is not in session and Knute Buehler’s constituent services continue to operate without interruption.”

Most state legislators who aren’t a brief car trip away from the State Capitol have to maintain temporary residences in or near Salem as part of their legislative duties. Republican candidates running for statewide offices must often spend many weeks traveling and staying in many locales beyond the districts they serve, while Democrat candidates tend to focus on a handful of urban areas, mostly in the Portland Metro area.

“The Democratic Party of Oregon’s complaint is worse than just a silly political gimmick, it conveys the very kind of elitist attitude over the years that Oregonians living outside of the Democrat party stronghold of Portland have come to resent,” said Hoar. “Knute Buehler actually cares about the struggles and concerns of working families, small businesses, ranchers, and many others not living in the places Kate Brown relies on for most of her votes. These same Oregonians want a Governor who listens to and addresses the problems they face, instead of Kate Brown, who prefers to impose on them from afar, only showing up for shallow photo ops.”

“While Governor Brown and her partisan minions try to focus attention on her baseless complaint, they are also dodging the issues-based public dialogue being driven by her opponent Knute Buehler as he rolls out one set of bold and effective policy prescriptions after another,” added Hoar. “They don’t want to have a real debate about the issues because it draws more attention to the litany of failures that have happened under Brown’s watch as governor.”

“Kate Brown is never going to improve, but Oregon can – by replacing her with Knute Buehler this November.”