Haugen faces off against his own party

HILLSBORO - Across from a magic show, next to a fortune teller and adjacent to the funnel cakes is not necessarily where one would expect to witness the Republican Party squaring off against its own candidate. But after Joel Haugen, who says he is a traditional Republican and who quotes Teddy Roosevelt at the end of his e-mails, became his party's nominee in the 1st Congressional District, the Washington County fair became but one field where the battle would be played out.

Haugen has been banned from participating his own party's events because he is supporting the other party's presidential candidate. It's a bizarre situation, Haugen says, one neither he nor his campaign ever thought they would be facing.

The volunteer at the fair did not recognize Haugen (R-Scappoose) as he approached the Washington County Republicans booth on Saturday, despite the "Haugen for Congress" stitched in the upper left corner of his white polo shirt and the matching pin in his hat.

"Would you like to fill out a survey?" she asked politely.

He hesitated for a moment before taking the clipboard from her outstretched hand. "Sure," he said.

The woman's smile faded as she watched Haugen fill in the sheet, checking the "yes" box indicating his support for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

"Is there a way of convincing you otherwise?" she asked him.

That is the question that CD-1 Republicans have been asking themselves ever since Haugen became their congressional nominee after a landslide victory in the May 20 primary.

There are other ways that Haugen differs from his party's line. He is a proponent of conservation. He likes renewable energy. He rides an electric bike around, and he calls it the Haugenator.

District 1 Republicans can forgive all of that, but his support for Obama has left him uninvited, unwelcome and banned from almost all Republican events, according to several email messages provided to PolitickerOR.com by Haugen.

Republican Party CD-1 chair Jeff Smith has confirmed that is why Haugen was uninvited from Republican Party meetings, but he has refused to comment further. The Republican Party of Oregon has refused to comment because they were not involved in the decision to ban Haugen. Calls to the National Republican Congressional Committee were not immediately returned.

"For them, the deal-breaker is the Obama endorsement," said Sarah Tiedemann, Haugen's campaign manager. "I'm sure his issue points also make them uncomfortable, but they're really in a tricky position from the vocal base."

But CD-1 Republicans are finding themselves in a quandary. They cannot revoke his nomination - he was approved by over 70 percent of CD-1 voters. They cannot even ban him from participating in all Republican events, because he is a precinct person in Columbia County.

What they can do is stop him from participating in any functions as their nominee to challenge against Rep. David Wu (D-Portland) in November.

With no Republican support, Haugen is now waiting for an announcement about his future from the Oregon Independent Party. If they nominate him, he can accept both the Republican and Independent party endorsements, and he will decide in September which party to display next to his name on the ballot.

Haugen has tried to mend fences. As he handed the survey back to the small woman at the fair, he asked if he could leave some campaign flyers at their booth to be passed out. The three volunteers on hand had to decline. He sighed, thanked them for their help, gave each one a Haugen for Congress drink coaster, and walked off.

"I'm a former middle school teacher," Haugen said. "I actually have some experience in this department."

From Republican and back again

"We were watching the numbers come in from the primary on our computers, and the first time we clicked refresh on the numbers, we were losing about 70 percent to 30 percent," said Tiedemann who, very long ago, was one of Haugen's middle school students. "But when we clicked it again, the numbers flipped, and the first thing he said was, ‘Aw hell, this is going to cut into my fishing this summer.'"

Haugen was born and bred Republican. He grew up in a Republican Minnesota family, and many of his family members are still in the GOP. He worked for conservative Minnesota legislator John McKee during high school. He voted for Nixon. He volunteered to go fight in Vietnam, and when he returned he used the G.I bill to go to college and get his teaching degree.

He settled with his wife in Oregon in 1976, and quickly let go of his Republican roots. He registered as an unaffiliated voter and kept it that way until early 2005, just after the presidential election. Even though he had volunteered for 2004 Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry, he never felt at home in the Democratic Party.

"I do believe in adversarial government," Haugen said. "I believe that is where good governance comes from. But right now I believe the Republican Party is unbalanced, and if we can balance it we can move the country forward."

The Republican Party that emerged victorious in the 2004 election was not the same Republican Party that Haugen grew up with. That didn't bother him.

"I did see the party as having gone way off track," Haugen said. "So I thought that maybe I could change it from the inside."

The feeling is mutual

CD-1 Republican insiders are just as disillusioned with Haugen as he is disillusioned with CD-1 Republicans. As the sun streamed down on the Washington County Republican volunteers, and as Haugen continued to fill out the survey, the woman gently tried to bring him back into the fold even as he continued to check boxes. No on McCain. Unsupportive of conservative Supreme Court judges.

"Why would you jump the fence like that?" asked Gloria, who didn't want her last name used.

"I'm a traditional Republican, going back to Tom McCall," Haugen said. "I just look at Obama in a greater context."

Haugen's endorsement wasn't a secret. It was published in the Willamette Week at the end of April. Tiedemann says Haugen informed Smith of his endorsement before the ballot went out, and the Republicans let him continue his candidacy.

But now that he is the nominee, for Gloria, it's about more than Haugen's support for Obama.

"What about being pro life? And conservative judges?" she asked Haugen.

"I would look to elect non-partisan judges," Haugen said.

Gloria said that while she voted in the primary, she did not know if she voted for Haugen.

"It might have been him," she said. "I don't remember. I remember I saw one of them speak, and I did not vote for him. The one I saw speak was very rude. This man was very polite."

The other candidate was William Chappell, a Ron Paul supporter who she says did not represent her views either. Even after having the chance to talk to Haugen, Gloria says she cannot support him in his bid for Congress.

"After listening to him, I wouldn't be very happy that he's my candidate because that means he's not thinking the way we're thinking," Gloria said. "We don't want to lose pro family judges, and if Obama is elected everything that was conservative will be lost."

District Republican officials are refusing to comment on the situation. So it is unclear why they think couldn't field a candidate that does represent their views. Tiedemann has a theory.

"It seems like the party is fracturing, and instead of trying to bring it back together, they are just moving it toward the right," she said.

Haugen expects an announcement from the Oregon Independent Party this week as to who they will nominate in CD-1. If it is Haugen, he says he will accept the nomination. As election rules state, Haugen can accept both parties' nominations, but only one can appear on the ballot.

The deadline for choosing which party will appear on the ballot is September 4, nine days after the deadline for filling nominations. If he decides to run as the Independent, it means that there will be no Republican listed on the ballot. But, as Haugen says, there still will be a Republican in spirit on the ticket.

"I'm not changing my Republican registration," Haugen said. "But this is our chance to ask the party, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?' This is an opportunity for the party to examine itself."