jus* out ▼ novom bor 3, 1999 ▼ 13
GREAT RATES
“T he themes w e’ve dreamed” are at the
Building a bridge
State Rep . Chuck Carpenter surprises many by making a
conservative alliance
▼
by Inga Sorensen
ordon Smith has said it is a “special
right”—and one which he opposes—
for people to receive legal protec
tions from discrimination based on
sexual orientation. Gordon Smith
reportedly vows to vigorously oppose any at
tempt to provide legal recognition to same-sex
couples who wish to marry. Gordon Smith has
publicly welcomed an endorsement from the Or
egon Citizens Alliance, a group which many feel
has created a climate of intolerance that has left an
ugly mark on the state and its people. This is the
man that openly gay state Rep. Chuck Carpenter
wants for United States
senator.
“What can I say? It
really comes down to the
fact that I’m more com
fortable with Gordon as
a person than I am with
Norma [Paulus],” says
Carpenter, a first-term
R epublican legislator
whose district covers
portions of Washington,
Multnomah and Colum
bia counties.
The
3 3-year-old
former Nike employee
surprised many within
the gay and political es
tablishments by his re f i r '
cent endorsem ent of
Smith (R-Pendleton), a M,/.
sJw? <. < \ \ K ' •'
~4bt*®8
social and fiscal conser Chuck Carpenter
vative who is running for
the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Bob Packwood.
Smith, a multimillionaire businessman and
state Senate president, is vying for the GOP nomi
nation along with Norma Paulus, the state schools
superintendent. Jack Roberts, Oregon’s labor com
missioner, and lesser known candidates. The race
for the Republican nomination is widely held to
be a two-person contest between Smith and Paulus.
“Chuck showed up at Norma’s [U.S. Senate
campaign] kick-off [in late September], and he
was very enthusiastic about it. Chuck told her if he
could help in any way to just let him know,” says
Paulus spokeswoman K.C. Cowan. “His endorse
ment of Gordon was a shock. I mean sure, Gordon
might be a pleasant guy, but this is a U.S. Senate
race, and let’s take a look at his stand on the
issues.”
According to Cowan, as a United States sena
tor Paulus would co-sponsor federal legislation
barring employment discrimination based on
sexual orientation. She adds that Paulus supports
civil rights protections— at all levels of govern
ment—prohibiting discrimination in employment,
housing and public accommodations; Paulus op
poses the military ban on openly gay and lesbian
servicemembers; and, Cowan says, Paulus sup
ports benefits coverage for the partners of gay and
lesbian employees. (Cowan says Paulus is still
formulating her position on the issue of same-sex
marriage.)
Unlike Smith, Paulus has publicly chastised
the OCA for its divisive campaigns. In October
she attended Right to Privacy’s Lucille Hart Din
ner, a major fund-raiser for the gay, lesbian and
bisexual rights organization.
Not surprisingly. Smith was a no-shriw at that 4
event, and he did not even bother responding to
G
m
m
RTP’s candidate survey. (Smith campaign man
ager Dan Lavey did not return our phone calls.)
Smith says he did not support 1992’s Ballot
Measure 9 or 1994’s Measure 13; he has said he
opposes the OCA’s latest anti-gay initiatives.
“Gordon may be on the right when it comes to
social issues, but I wouldn’t call him a bigot,” says
Carpenter, who is thought to be a social liberal
and a fiscal conservative. “Gordon has always
been very accepting of me.”
Carpenter says he was flattered when Smith
included him in negotiations last session over
pressing legislative issues, most notably funding
for light rail, which both
men supported.
“Gordon pulled me
into a lot of stuff when he
didn ’ t have to,” says Car
penter. “He called me for
an endorsement. Norma
never did.”
When asked whether
his
endorsement may be
m m
viewed as a self-serving
; m
act, Carpenter says: “I ’ m
sure 90 percent of the
gay
community will feel
j
like I’ve sold them out,
'■È-'" M
but that’s the way it goes.
I like Gordon. He’s a
decent person.”
“You often find ama
--im
teurs in state legislatures.
Maybe it is just a matter
of Chuck Carpenter lik
ing Gordon Smith, but
there could be something else going on,” says Bill
Lunch, a political science professor at Oregon
State University in Corvallis.
“Gordon Smith has lots and lots of money,
some of which he may contribute to Carpenter’s
re-election campaign,” speculates Lunch. “It also
may be an attempt by Carpenter to ward off a
primary challenge from someone on the right.
Carpenter may be saying to potential right-wing
Republican challengers: ‘Hey look, I’m a conser
vative, too,” by throwing his support behind a
conservative candidate and not the moderate.”
RTP has endorsed Paulus in the GOP primary
because she is supportive of sexual minority rights
as well as reproductive freedoms for women.
“Gordon Smith doesn’t support either,” says
RTP executive director Barry Pack.
In fact. Smith has thrown his support behind a
new OCA initiative that would bar late-term abor
tions except when the woman’s life is threatened.
“Those are two bottom-line issues for Right to
Privacy,” says Pack. “We do not support Chuck’s
decision.”
During the last election, RTP’s political action
committee, which contributes thousands of dol
lars to political candidates, endorsed both Car
penter and his Democratic rival, Jeanne Atkins. It
was a very tight race, and the favorable nod from
RTP could have pushed Carpenter over the top.
“Obviously [Carpenter’s endorsement of
Smith] will be something our board will discuss
the next time we are deciding our endorsements,”
says Pack.
As for what Carpenter stands to gain if Smith
is triumphant: “I’d be one of the few openly gay
people who could walk into Gordon’s office,” he
says.
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