Oregon Congressman Quits Race Amid Controversy

U.S. Rep. Wes Cooley of Oregon, under pressure from state and national Republican leaders who feared he would lose a safe GOP seat to a Democrat, said Tuesday that he would drop his reelection bid in the wake of allegations that he lied about his past.

“The chance that a liberal politician could win the 2nd District race is a risk that I am not willing to take,” said Cooley, a former Orange County pharmaceutical executive who moved to Oregon several years ago and was part of the wave of conservative Republicans elected to Congress nationwide in 1994.

Republican Bob Smith, who held the seat for six terms before he decided to retire and anointed Cooley as his successor, was expected to announce his candidacy within the next few days, according to party sources. Those urging Smith to run include House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who also was among those calling on Cooley to leave the race.

At least two other Republicans have said they will seek the nomination at a special party convention Aug. 24.

Cooley, 64, has been under fire for months because of allegations that he misrepresented his background; the most serious charges have been that he lied about the details of his military service during the Korean War and misrepresented his marital status.

Oregon officials are investigating whether he broke state law by claiming in voter pamphlets in 1994 that he served in Korea with the U.S. Army Special Forces during the war in that country. Cooley has stood by that claim and said his war service records were destroyed in a fire.

Meanwhile, federal officials are investigating whether his second wife improperly continued to collect veterans’ benefits on behalf of her deceased first husband for at least seven years after she and Cooley were claiming--on a loan application and to many friends--to be married. Cooley acknowledged earlier this year that they were not wed until 1993, but denied that his second wife received any benefits illegally.

Despite the controversy, Cooley ran unopposed for renomination in the state’s May primary. But even as he argued that he had been unfairly accused and had faithfully represented his constituents’ conservative interests, his support within his own party eroded.

Nearly all of the 20 county GOP committees in the largely rural 2nd District that stretches across the eastern plains of Oregon have called on Cooley to pull out or risk losing his seat to Democratic county prosecutor Michael Dugan of Bend.

In his announcement Tuesday, Cooley noted that his “personal history has been the subject of intense media scrutiny in recent months. This has extracted a personal toll on me and my family, and while it has not deterred me from my legislative duties, it has become clear that my constituents are likewise feeling the strain.”

Even as Cooley responded to party concerns by withdrawing, the battle to replace him has the potential to open a fracture among the district’s Republicans on the issue of abortion.

Greg Walden, a moderate Republican who recently launched a third-party bid for the 2nd District seat when Cooley initially refused to pull out, supports women’s right to choose an abortion. Smith, the former congressman, and conservative broadcaster Perry Atkinson, who announced his candidacy for the House nomination within hours of Cooley’s withdrawal, oppose abortion rights.

Walden said Tuesday he is dropping his third-party bid to seek the nomination to replace Cooley. “I’ve always said that I’m not in this to split the Republican Party; the third-party thing was designed to give Republicans a place to go,” Walden said.

Tim Knopp, a local GOP leader vocal in urging Cooley to drop out of the race, said the freshman congressman “did the right thing” in ending his reelection bid.

“He came up to a wall of realization that he was not going to win, and that going forward from this point would be unproductive,” Knopp said. “He got to the last possible date that he could get out of this thing, and he took it out to the final day. That’s Wes’ style. Push things as far as they can go.”