ju s t o u t ▼ april 1 9 , 1 9 9 6 ▼ 21
Bob Duehmig
PRIMARY PRIMER
Continued from page 19
Duehmig’s 3-year-old Belgian shepherd, Nike—
“named for the goddess, not the company”—is
settled in the back yard.
Like a slightly younger version of Dixon, the
31-year-old Duehmig possesses a certain states
manlike quality and determined gentleness.
“I grew up on a farm in Indiana,” he says.
“People tell me I was bom 35.”
Since October, when he first kicked off his
campaign, Duehmig estimates he’s knocked on
between 6,000 and 7,000 doors in District 12,
which covers much of Southwest and Northwest
Portland.
To save money, he is running his own cam
paign with the help of volunteers. It is an admit
tedly difficult task, given the fact that he contin
ues to work full time as a legislative specialist for
the Oregon Federation of Teachers, Education
and Health Professionals, and maintain his seven-
year relationship with partner Bill Griesar, who in
mid-June will begin working toward his doctoral
degree in behavioral neuroscience at Oregon
Health Sciences University.
Making things even more difficult is the fact
that Duehmig, who has, at best, limited name
recognition, is in a tight primary contest with a
number of other candidates with solid liberal
credentials and political bases: Chris Beck, David
Bragdon, and longtime women’s rights activist
Laurie Wimmer, all of whom are hungry to fill the
House seat being vacated by state Rep. Gail
Shibley, a Portland City Council candidate.
“I guess you could say politics is in my blood.
I remember [canvassing] for a state representative
when I was just 9 years old. There was a woman
who was known as being a little peculiar. I knocked
on her door and I remember her saying that she
had a problem with someone so young campaign
ing for a candidate,” he laughs. “What can you
do?”
Duehmig’s interest in politics persisted. He
became the legislative director for the Indiana
University Student Association; was a field coor
dinator for the Clinton-Gore campaign; and as
previously mentioned, is a legislative specialist
for the Oregon Federation of Teachers, Education
and Health Professionals.
“I spent the last three sessions at the [Oregon]
Legislature working on
tax and education issues,”
says Duehmig. “Every
thing is so ideologically
driven there that it’s vir
tually impossible to get
anything done. We need
people who can sit down
and talk to one another.”
Duehmig, who has
been endorsed by RTP
PAC, the Gay and Les
bian Victory Fund and
several labor organiza
tions, vows to “lead the
fight to protect and ex
pand wildlife areas, sup
port urban growth bound
aries, and strengthen air
and water quality stan
dards.” He is pro-choice
and says that, as a law
maker, education will be
his top priority.
Duehmig, who is the
third of four brothers,
came outto himself when
he was finishing college
in the late 1980s. He met
Griesar when he was liv
ing in London, working
as an academic advisor
for the Fulbright Commission.
“We were the busiest commission in Europe,”
says Duehmig. “I would assist students who
wanted to study in the United States. I’d talk with
them about their interests and the schools they
wanted to get into. We had one person who even
wanted to study wine making at UC Davis. Who
even knew that program existed? Now that sounds
like fun.”
According to Duehmig, Griesar volunteered
to help with commission tasks a couple of days a
week.
“My boss was going out to lunch, and she said
a volunteer was going to be dropping by,” recalls
Duehmig. “I thought it would be an older person,
but in walks this guy who was my age.”
“What did you think when you first saw him?”
I ask.
“That he was really cute,” chuckles Duehmig.
The duo went for a drink at a local pub.
“Neither of us knew the other was gay,” he
says, adding that it took a while for the elusive
quality of their relationship to transform into a
more solidified “real date.”
“We celebrate our anniversary on Hallow
een,” says Duehmig. “That’s pretty much where
we pinpoint it.”
They’ve been together seven years, moving
west to Portland in 1991 when Griesar was of
fered a job here.
Upon his arrival in the Rose City, Duehmig
jumped into the local effort to elect the Clinton-
Gore ticket. As for his own race, Duehmig says he
“never thought about the gay issue.”
“It didn’t even come up when I was thinking
about running,” he says. “It simply is what it is.
But I do feel it’s critical that the [sexual minorities
community] not be forgotten or left behind. No
matter how much we think things are getting
better, 1 firmly believe that we must pass a state
civil rights bill.”
Following the May 21 election, Duehmig and
Griesar had planned to get a little rest in Munich,
where the couple has friends.
“But the flights are booked; we may have to
wait until Christmas,” Duehmig says. “Maybe we
will go to Mexico.”
Making international connections appears to
be important to the duo, and each has traveled
extensively.
“We hosted two older [heterosexual] Japanese
men from Portland’s Japanese sister city, Sapporo,
who barely spoke a word of English. Well, some
one told them that they were going to be staying
with Bill Griesar and his wife, Bob,” says
Duehmig.
“I don’t know if something was missed in the
translation, but they showed up with a gift for Bill
and a gift for Bob. [Griesar received a picture],
while I was given a pink apron that said ‘Fruits’ on
it. Bill would kill me if he knew I was telling you
this story,” he laughs.
And who said liberals don’t have a sense of
humor?
Gail Shibley
Candidate for Portland
City Council, Position 1
oyalty is a precious commodity in politics,”
says 38-year-old Gail Shibley, who as many
of you know, made history in 1991 by
becoming Oregon’s first openly lesbian or gay
state legislator when the Multnomah County Board
of Commissioners appointed her to fill the House
District 12 seat vacated by Phil Keisling, who was
appointed secretary of state.
In September, Shibley unveiled her bid to fill
the Portland City Council seat of outgoing Com
missioner Mike Lindberg, who announced last
June that he was retiring.
Just Out spoke with Shibley when just under
50 days remained before the May 21 primary. We
met the candidate at her campaign digs, snuggled
into a semi-grungy-yet-ever-so-hi p Southwest Oak
Street locale, just a hop from Powell’s.
“I would love to have everyone’s support, of
course, but that’s a pretty tall order,” says Shibley,
when asked about reports that well-known human
rights advocate Kathleen Saadat and former Port
land Police Chief Tom Potter have thrown their
support behind Jim Francesconi, a Portland attor
ney who is also contending for the seat.
Still, it’s gotta hurt a bit?
‘Tom and I have a good relationship. I’ve
always appreciated his leadership and work on
community policing. He is well thought of in our
community. Of course I would like to have his
support,” she says. “Kathleen called me long
distance from St. Louis. We had a brief conversa
tion. She spoke, and I basically listened.”
It’s another hot April day, and Shibley and
some of her campaign workers, including 26-
year-old Carter Headrick, her campaign manager
brought in from Minnesota, are plodding along.
It’s stuffy, like an elevator, except for windows. A
L
Continued on page 23
Gail Shibley