wfn.org | Speaker Dave Hunt: casting political swords into plowshares

["Philip Jenks" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

>Casting political swords into plowshares

NOTE TO EDITORS: This feature on Dave Hunt is the third in a series of  articles on women and men in National Council of Churches member  communions who were not necessarily professional church staff but made  significant contributions to our communities of faith. Please send  suggestions of persons who made a difference in your community to Philip  E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 914-589-6948 (cell).

>By Philip E. Jenks

September 1, 2009 -- When Oregon Representative Dave Hunt was elected  Speaker of the Oregon House this year, he knew his church experience  would serve him well.

Hunt, 41, the son of an American Baptist pastor, had also served as  the  youngest president of American Baptist Churches USA from 2002 to  2003. After presiding over the 150-member American Baptist General  Board, Hunt said wryly, gaveling a 60-person House to order is not so  different.

"The perspectives are no less diverse and the ABC board had its divisive  issues and difficult folks," he said. "But we always had a common faith  foundation and that held us together."

Hunt's father, the late Rev. Harley Hunt, was also no stranger to  politics in either the church or public arenas. The elder Hunt served  churches in Washington State, Oregon and in Clearfield, Utah, where  Harley was elected to the city council. "That was an early glimpse into  public service for me," Dave said.

Dave Hunt is serving his fourth term in the Oregon House, representing  four communities in Clackamas County. In 2006 his fellow Democrats  elected him majority leader, and he became speaker in January following  a contentious campaign in which Democrats regained a majority over  Republicans of 31 to 29.

>How contentious was the campaign?

"It was tough," Hunt acknowledged. The campaign brought to his mind a  pin his father used to wear on his lapel: a sword being bent into a  plow, symbolizing the biblical prophecy of peace, "they shall beat their  swords into plowshares ... nation shall not lift up sword against  nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Isaiah 2:4)."

"On the opening day of the legislative session I gave a  sword-to-plowshares pin to each colleague -- representatives, senators,  the Governor," Hunt said. "I said, we have come out of a difficult  campaign cycle and we can't let it carry into the governing cycle. "We  have got to find ways to take the swords of the campaigns and beat them  into plowshares to find solutions to so many issues, education,  healthcare, the economy."

The politicians of Oregon embraced the idea. "The imagery really held,"  Hunt said. "We just finished what many have called the most cooperative  bipartisan session in decades."

Nationwide polls find citizens condemning the lack of civility in public  discourse. Has Oregon risen above the fray?

"I'm not sure we have solved it and certainly no one person can solve  it," Hunt said. "It has to be a cooperative effort but we are making  some positive steps forward."

He cited his friendship with Oregon House Republican Leader Bruce Hanna,  a graduate of Northwest Christian College.

"(Hanna) and I have for years attended a prayer group in the legislature  and we've been able to replicate that foundational friendship in a  positive way," Hunt said.

"Campaigns are challenging," he added. "Voters say they hate negative  campaigning yet they respond to it and are driven by it. But in the  governing cycle we decided early on that there is no place for political  theater and gamesmanship. There were plenty of policy disagreements this  year but they were really civil in tone. Not one floor fight this  session got out of control, and that hasn't been true for 15 or 20 years."

>Church or politics?

Hunt and his family -- his wife, Tonia, is executive director of the  Children's Center of Clackamas County, and the couple have two children,  Andrew, 13, and Emily, 9 -- are members of Grace Baptist Church in  Portland.

The church has always been an integral part of Hunt's life. "I  considered the ministry," he said. "I've always had a sense of a call to  public service and ministry and it was always a question for me which  will be vocation and which will be avocation. God opened interesting  doors."

As a pre-teen, Hunt attended Clearfield, Utah, City Council meetings  when his father was a member. During his junior year in high school in  1985, he served as a congressional page in Washington. A picture from  that era shows the future Oregon speaker sitting on the Capitol steps,  basking with other pages under the benign approval of U.S. House Speaker  Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, Jr. The picture probably records the genesis of  more than one political career.

Long-time friends of Hunt's parents, Harley and Karin, always suspected  that young Dave would eventually choose politics and weren't surprised  at the ease with which he combined church politics as an American  Baptist General Board representative and officer, and other forms of  public service. Before seeking elected office Hunt worked for Rep.  Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.) and Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.) He was executive  director of the Columbia River Channel Coalition and the Association of  Pacific Ports, working to enhance trade and job opportunities. He also  served on the Oregon City School Board.

>What comes next?

"Being speaker is a fabulous honor and a great job," Hunt said. "It's  great to have an influence on so many pieces of public policy, But  Oregon does not have a history of long-tenured speakers. The most a  speaker has ever served is three (two-year) terms. Some became mayor or  governor of ran for Congress, but who knows? The nice thing about  becoming speaker at my age is that I don't have the pressure to move on  to something else."

That won't stop others from throwing Dave Hunt's hat into various rings.  Term limits will prevent Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski from seeking  re-election and that gives ideas to some of Dave's friends.

"I say not a chance," Hunt said emphatically. "A statewide campaign is  not in our future. That would obviously push the bounds of family life."

"At 41," he added, "I am not going to be speaker for the rest of my  life. But there's a lot of important work to achieve. I'm happy doing it  right now."

>See also:

Ruby Boyd (www.ncccusa.org/friends/rubyboyd.html)
Lorraine Potter (www.ncccusa.org/friends/lorrainepotter.html

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office),  914-589-6949 (cell) , pjenks@ncccusa.org