LEAD STORY
There's Something About Larry
Larry Campbell dropped his gavel and did something that is illegal in 17 states. Now he holds one of the biggest checkbooks in Salem.
BY PATTY WENTZ
pwentz@wweek.com
There is no doubt about Larry Campbellıs intent. His PAC, his lobbying group and his racehorse are all named Victory.
Before joining his father, Kevin Campbell worked for Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian group headed by Dr. James Dobson.
Son Craig Campbell sits on the state Commission on Children and Families and is a member of the city council in Keizer.
Campbell has three grandchildren, Emily, Natalie and Chase. Willamette Week can confirm that they are, in fact, cute.
While in the House Campbell received a consistent A+ rating from the NRA and the Oregon Gun Owners, both of which condemn SB 700.
Contributors to the Oregon Victory PAC include: Wes LeMatta, William P. McCormick, Columbia Forest Products, Philip Morris Mgmt. Corp. and R.B. Pamplin Corporation.
The Victory Groupıs partial client list includes: Associated Oregon Loggers, New Portland Meadows, Oregon Berry Growers, Oregon Lodging Association and SAIF Corporation.
Next month Sen. Tony Corcoran and Rep. Diane Rosenbaum will introduce a campaign-finance reform bill that allows for public funding for candidates who agree to spending limits.
Seneca Jones Timber is the only client Campbell represents that also donates to his PAC.
In 1996, Measure 9 campaign-contribution limits almost made the Oregon Victory PAC obsolete. Instead of donating tens of thousands of dollars to newcomers, the PAC was limited to donating a maximum of $200 to each candidate.
LeadStory Sidebars:
The House That Larry Bought: contributions to current republican Oregon legislators
The Revolving-Door Club: former legislators who now lobby
Larry Campbell sits in the basement cafe of the capitol, his coffee slowly cooling as his aggravation grows. His improbably fey tortoise-shell glasses disappear into his hand after he sweeps them off his face in irritation. A huge man who dwarfs everything around him, the former Speaker of the House insists that reports of his current clout in Salem are greatly exaggerated."I wish I had that kind of influence," he says impatiently, quickly shifting the conversation toward his grandchildren and Victory, the 2-year-old racehorse he half owns.Then, in a moment of pure serendipity, Chip Lazenby walks over. Lazenby, legal counsel to Gov. John Kitzhaber, gives Campbell a hearty slap on the back and says, "This is the most powerful man in Salem, you know."Campbell doesn't blush. Instead, his mouth snaps into an automatic smile as if it's controlled with a push button in his pants pocket. He later concedes the point, but, he insists, "I don't use power
inappropriately."If there is anyone in Salem who knows about power, itıs Larry Campbell. Today, heıs in his third session as a lobbyist, working for US West, the Oregon Association Chiefs of Police, AAA Oregon/Idaho and a host of other clients.
Before he began working for private clients, Campbell worked for the people. For 16 years, he was a Republican state representative from Eugene. In 1991 he led a Republican takeover of the House and gave the party its first majority in 20 years. He was rewarded with the job of Speaker, a position he held for two terms until he stepped down after the 1993 session. In the House his conservative convictions were exceeded only by his blunt, browbeating style.
Since then, in three short sessions, the Victory Group, aided by Campbellıs political connections and one of the fattest checkbooks in the capitol, has shot to the top tier of lobbying firms. Campbell calls it a family business, and his ³boys,² sons Kevin, 35, and Craig, 32, are well known to everyone in the building.
Of all the contract lobbyists, none has the behind-the-scenes reach of Campbellor the cash.
According to records kept with the secretary of stateıs office, the political action committee Campbell leads, Oregon Victory PAC, has become the biggest campaign contributor in the state outside of the parties themselvesbigger than the public employees unions, bigger than the Oregon Education Association, bigger than Mark Hemstreet of Shilo Inns.
³Iıd call him the icon of big money in Oregon politics,² House Minority Leader Kitty Piercy says, ³because he raises so much money and has so much influence.²
Rumors about Campbellıs clout cast a long shadow. A number of legislators and lobbyists will say privately that the Republican coup to oust Speaker Lynn Lundquist and replace him with Lynn Snodgrass took place in Campbellıs office; that Campbell handpicked the House committee assignments; and that if Republican legislators donıt please him, they will be looking for new jobs after the next election.
Campbell denies the rumors, but in Salem perception is reality. As a lobbyist who is part legislator, part sugar daddy, part Republican operative, Campbell melds the roles to such an extent that no one knows quite what to think of him. Still, itıs hard to dispute that in an era of term limits and an environment in which 25 of the 60 house members are freshmen, Campbellıs expertise and the cash he controls are valuable currency.
Veteran lobbyist Patrick McCormick says that under term limits lawmaking experience is pushed out the door, causing the power in Salem to shift. ³I think itıs a real problem that the institutional memory is moving from the Legislature to the lobby,² he says.
With his ability to recruit candidates, raise money to support them, and educate them once they take office, old-time politician Campbell has embraced the new times with a vigor that is both impressive and unsettling.
Campbell is getting a lot of credit for pushing some of this sessionıs highest-profile bills. In spite of his rumored clout, however, none of them is a sure bet. SB 142, the centerpiece of an effort to deregulate the local telephone business, would free US West from a good deal of regulatory authority and wipe out more than $400 million in rate refunds and reductions that the Oregon Public Utility Commission says the phone company owes its customers. In return, US West would agree to dedicate a portion of its construction budgetabout $120 millionto installing fiber-optic cable in rural Oregon.
Ron Eachus, chairman of the OPUC, believes the bill is a rape of the ratepayers.
³Given US Westıs influence now in the Legislature,² Eachus says. ³I think one always has to be worried that something like this might pass.²
US West isnıt relying on Campbell alone. Eastern Oregon University Professor Terry Edvalson has been eagerly pushing the bill as the only way to bring the other side of the state into the 21st century. Also on board with US West is well-respected longtime lobbyist David Barrows.
But Bob Jenks of the Citizensı Utility Board of Oregon gives the credit to Campbell. ³US West tries this stuff all the time,² he says, ³but itıs never been taken this far before.²
Campbellıs work isnıt limited to telecommunications. He is also working on this sessionıs transportation package. A bill sponsored by Associated Oregon Industries would raise gas taxes by 6 percent and increase vehicle registration fees. Campbellıs client AAA is supporting the proposed legislation Last session a similar effort was championed by Gov. Kitzhaber only to be defeated by a consortium of Republicans and truckers. This session, Campbell is working with AOI to try to convince Republicans that tax increases are good for their districts. Campbellıs son Craig is widely recognized as the transportation geek of the capitol. He has held several training sessions to explain the weight/mile tax to legislators who are stymied by the complexity of it. Nonetheless, Republicans are stonewalling the package.
If there is one bill this session with Campbellıs fingerprints clearly on it, itıs SB 700. The bill, sponsored by Ginny Burdick, a Portland senator, would expand required background checks to all gun purchases, even to those at gun shows. Currently, some of those sales are exempt. Campbellıs son Kevin has been lobbying hard for the police chiefs on the issue since the beginning of the session but is meeting a lot of resistance from the NRA faithful. Still, Burdick says that if the bill is passed, she will give a great deal of credit to the Victory Group.
³They have a lot of influence in the building because of Larryıs background as a former speaker and his ongoing connections on the Republican side,² Burdick says. ³Weıre really counting on them to present the issue.²
It is not at all clear, given how early it still is in the legislative session, what sort of successes lobbyist Campbell will have. What is indisputable, however, is that many of the legislators can thank Campbell for their jobs.
Says House Minority Leader Piercy, ³I think that Lynn Snodgrass gets lots of credit for picking up three seats in the House, but I think youıd say Larry Campbell should get the credit.²
In 1987 Campbell founded the Victory PAC to solicit donations from a number of prominent Republican businesspeople. Aaron Jones of Seneca Jones Timber and Henry Swigert of Esco Corporation sit on the board. Campbell says the three share authority, but everyone calls it Campbellıs PAC.
Campbell says he started the PAC because he got tired of being outspent: ³We were losing to the Democrats. The Oregon public employees unions was spending big bucks. We couldnıt compete and were losing five to six seats every election.²
Last year the PAC raised almost half a million dollars, mostly from individuals who gave several bundles of $5,000 and $10,000. The common tie between them, according to Dale Riddle, who works for Aaron Jones and administers the PAC, is that they are Oregon-based, mostly family businesses that want a business-friendly capitol.
Campbell believes that while donors may disagree on some issues, they all want Oregon to be a good place to do business. ³This political action committee is different than any other,² he says. ³Most of the donors donıt track what going on in the Legislature. We elect people who have the right philosophy on business.²
In 1998 Campbell supported 28 candidates. Eighteen, including 15 freshmen, won. Heıs had similar successes over the past 10 years. All six Republicans who spoke to Willamette Week for this article credit the Victory PAC for giving them the money they needed to win.
Freshman Rep. Jeff Kropf of Halsey has a typical story. Before the primary he was interviewed by Campbell and other Republicans. After he beat his primary opponent for the Republican spot, he got a phone call.
³As soon as the primary was over, Campbell called and congratulated me and said they wanted to help with the campaign,² he says.
Campbell helped by giving Kropf $34,00026 percent of the total amount the candidate raised. In addition, Campbell taught the newcomer how to win. ³I donıt think there is anyone better at getting people out the door and organizing campaigns than Larry Campbell,² Kropf says.
Will Campbell have the same influence over Rep. Kropf as a lobbyist as he did as a campaign contributor? Kropf says he wonıt. For example, Kropf is against SB 700 (the gun-show bill) and says he isnıt ready to sign off on AOIıs proposed tax hike. ³I have told Larry and anybody else who supported me,² says Kropf, ³You know my basic philosophy, and weıre probably going to agree on a lot of the issues, but right now weıre disagreeing on this.ı²
Campbell, of course, denies any connection between his dual roles. He argues that he and others clearly can separate his work for his lobby clients from his efforts to elect Republicans. ³Some people try to tie Victory PAC to what we lobby on, and it just doesnıt tie,² he says. ³I donıt think we have any special advantage on the issues.²
In fact, he claims his election work can backfire. ³When you get involved in a PAC, it makes you powerful,² he says, ³but it also makes you weak.²
Case in point: Last election Campbell gave Cedric Hayden $40,000 toward an unsuccessful run against Tony Corcoran. As a consequence, Corcoran describes Campbell as ³that miserable son of a bitch who spent $40,000 to [try to] beat me.² Corcoran doesnıt go so far as to say heıll vote against any bill with Campbellıs hand in it, but he says anyone who believes lawmakers forget is a fool. ³Thatıs a ludicrous position to take, that there is Larry Campbell 1 and Larry Campbell 2. Does he think that [legislators] separate those two? I donıt think so.²
Secretary of State Phil Keisling says that Campbell is just playing by the rules as theyıre written. ³For Larry Campbell or anyone else itıs absolutely legal to raise a million and then go lobby them and say, Now Iım wearing another hat,ı² he says.
Keisling, a former Democratic state representative, doesnıt believe lawmakers can remain uninfluenced by the memory of money given to them in a campaign. ³I canıt help but think that money has a subtle but important effect on what people are willing to talk about or think about,² he says.
There is certainly evidence that politicians who are elected with Campbellıs help have independence, but it may come at a cost. Consider Larry Wells of Marion County, for example. In 1990 he received $20,000 from the Victory PAC to run for a House seat. He lost but came back to win in 1994, this time with $25,000 from Campbellıs PAC.
Once in office, Wells says, his relationship with Campbell quickly soured. During the 1995 and 1997 sessions he says he voted against every bill that threatened to weaken Oregonıs land-use planning laws and against bills brought by fellow Republicans to weaken the ability of unions to gather campaign money. ³I think after I got here I didnıt vote in the way the Victory PAC expected me to,² Wells says.
Before the 1998 election, he says, Campbell called him and said he was going to support Fred Giroda dentist who held the House seat from 1993-1994in a primary race against him. Ultimately, Girod didnıt run, but it was enough to perpetuate the rumor that making Campbell mad could prove costly.
Now that Campbell has seamlessly moved from legislator to lobbyist, he says he is considering going back to the House as a politician. After this session his old seat will be vacated by Jim Welsh, thanks to term limits. Campbell says heıs accomplished his goal of getting his boys set up in the family business and that it may be time to let them go on their own. If he runs, he will win; and if he wins, he will almost certainly be made Speaker of the House. Then his sons will be lobbying not for him but to him. All of which gives new meaning to the term ³revolving door.²
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Willamette Week | originally published February 24, 1999
