The congressman from the 5th District is Kurt Schrader, a moderate-to-liberal Democrat elected in the strong Democratic year of 2008 who managed to survive 2010’s GOP wave. Read More

The congressman from the 5th District is Kurt Schrader, a moderate-to-liberal Democrat elected in the strong Democratic year of 2008 who managed to survive 2010’s GOP wave.

Schrader was born in Bridgeport, Conn., the oldest of three children. His father was a chemical engineer. He studied government at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., where he met his wife, Martha, also a Cornell student. Schrader went on to pursue his passion for veterinary medicine at the University of Illinois. After college, the couple wanted to move west, and settled in Oregon. Schrader ran two veterinary clinics in Canby, Ore., and his wife served on the Clackamas County Commission before replacing him in the state Senate. They live on a 60-acre gentleman’s farm listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He launched himself into public service as a member of the Canby planning commission for 15 years, assisting in development of the city’s land use plan. In 1997, he won a seat in the state House, and six years later, was elected to the state Senate. There, he was co-chairman of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, with jurisdiction over taxation. His major focus was improving public education, and Schrader pushed legislation to tax new construction to pay for schools. He developed a reputation as a conservative Democrat and opposed his party on increasing the minimum wage.

The 5th District seat opened when six-term Democratic Rep. Darlene Hooley announced her retirement in February 2008. Schrader was the first Democrat to file for the race. He lent his campaign $130,000 during the primary and won over 50% of the vote against three opponents. In the general election, he faced shipping Republican entrepreneur Mike Erickson, who had challenged Hooley two years earlier. In the 2008 Republican primary, Erickson lent his campaign $1.6 million and managed to win in spite of his opponent publicizing allegations that Erickson had impregnated a woman in 2000 and then paid for an abortion. Erickson admitted to the relationship but denied paying for an abortion. The general election was initially considered wide open. This was George W. Bush territory in 2000 and 2004, but the district had experienced a surge in new Democratic voters in the latter half of 2008, giving Democrats their first voter-registration advantage in 12 years.

Erickson was unable to shake the allegations about to his earlier romantic relationship, and he limited his public appearances during the campaign. Schrader received endorsements from the Oregon Farm Bureau and several newspapers. He also got financial help from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Erickson outspent Schrader by over $1 million, but Schrader prevailed 54% to 38%. He carried every county in the district and won 74% of the vote in the liberal stronghold of Multnomah County.

In the House, Schrader has backed his party on most significant measures but also shown a willingness to go his own way. He reluctantly supported a 2009 spending bill to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but opposed another a year later because he said he had not seen enough progress in Afghanistan. He criticized the December 2010 tax deal between President Barack Obama and Republicans because he said it would add more debt and wouldn’t help the economy. He cast the only vote for Maryland’s Steny Hoyer over liberal Nancy Pelosi of California for minority leader in 2011. A month later he became chair of the Blue Dog Coalition’s fiscal responsibility task force to seek a middle ground between the Republican majority’s heavy spending reductions and the Democratic caucus’ desire to shield many programs from drastic cuts. He earned a spot on the Agriculture Committee, a good fit for his agriculture-heavy district.

National Republicans were eager to reclaim Schrader’s seat in 2010 and recruited state Rep. Scott Bruun, who had lost overwhelmingly to Democrat Earl Blumenauer in the 3rd District race in 1996. Bruun accused Schrader of not being the fiscal hawk he portrayed himself to be and going “on a world-class spending spree with your money.” Schrader parried that Bruun wanted to privatize Social Security, and he out-raised Bruun, $1.8 million to $1.1 million. Schrader won 51%-46%, benefiting from the huge Democratic vote in Multnomah while carrying Benton and Clackamas counties and staying even in Marion County.