Baker City Herald Editorial Board
Monday, October 22, 2012
http://www.bakercityherald.com/Editorials/Re-elect-Greg-Walden

Re-electing the incumbent in a congressional district which one party has dominated for decades can become something like a habit.

Oregon’s Second District, which includes all of the state east of the Cascades, hasn’t sent a Democrat to Washington, D.C., since Baker’s Al Ullman, who served a dozen terms, the last ending in 1981. Fortunately, our current representative, Greg Walden, has been such an effective and diligent voice for our region that endorsing him for an eighth term is hardly a rubberstamp.

Walden, whose opponent, as in 2010, is Democrat Joyce Segers of Ashland, has since his first term been a tireless advocate for vital local issues such as managing public lands for multiple uses, including responsible logging, and making sure farming and ranching, the linchpin of Baker County’s economy, remain viable businesses.

The biggest change during Walden’s tenure is his increasing power in the Capitol. Although the only Republican in Oregon’s delegation, Walden is also the only member in a leadership position in Congress.

Voters should make sure our region retains that position by giving Greg Walden two more years as our representative.