Who could best represent Bend and lead change in the Oregon House of Representatives?

The choices for the House District 54 seat are Republican Knute Buehler and Democrat Craig Wilhelm. We urge you to vote for Buehler.

Let’s start, though, with Wilhelm. He told us his campaign is about values. His values are “lead from the front,” “the buck stops here” and service. You can see those values in his life. He attended West Point and served in the Army for nearly 14 years. He commanded a Chinook helicopter unit. He did combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His commitment to his fellow soldiers continues, particularly in his work with the Windy25 Memorial Fund. It’s a nonprofit that honors the crew of Windy25, who lost their lives in combat in Afghanistan.

Wilhelm earned an MBA from Duke University and moved to Bend in 2006. He is now 42 and works for a private firm that does metals recycling and trading, moving to Bend in 2006. He has volunteered time with the Bethlehem Inn and other nonprofits.

When a man like that talks about values, he is serious about them. It’s easy to see how those values translate into soldiering. It’s more difficult to translate them into policy positions.

It’s made more difficult because it’s hard to pin Wilhelm down on policy positions. He says he wants better jobs and better livability. Who doesn’t? How does he want to get there? Voters he hopes to represent do need a clear picture of where he stands and what he hopes to do.

On most of the measures on the ballot, he told us that he was still making up his mind. He did say he supports the Oregon Opportunity Initiative to raise more money for students to help pay for college. He said passing the measure does not use any of the state’s bonding capacity. That is true, but certainly one reason supporters want it passed is to give the Legislature the ability to use bonding capacity to help pay for college. Wilhelm also opposes the top-two primary, following right along with the Democratic Party.

Buehler, 50, has an impressive résumé, deep roots in the community, and on most issues he doesn’t just tell you where he stands. He has a contemplative, pragmatic plan to address it. Ask to see a copy of his education plan and you’ll see what we mean. Both candidates expressed concern about government regulation. Buehler was specific. He does not believe the administrative rules process, which translates legislation into regulations, has adequate public input, or that it has adequate legislative oversight to ensure it follows the legislative intent and does not cause unintended consequences.

Buehler was born in Oregon and attended Oregon State University. He played baseball, got his degree and was the university’s first Rhodes Scholar. He is a surgeon, earning his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University. Having a top-notch surgeon in the Legislature, as the state grapples with health care reform, will be a tremendous benefit.

Listing all the ways he has been involved in his community gets long. We’ll highlight a few. He has been on the Bend-La Pine Schools budget committee, the board of the Ford Family Foundation, the Oregon State University Foundation, the St. Charles Health System board and more. He can convert those connections into being a powerful advocate, especially for the new four-year Oregon State University campus in Bend.

There’s a notable difference between the candidates in partisanship. Although he said he was not afraid to buck his party, Wilhelm couldn’t cite an area in which in he disagrees with it. It’s much more difficult to pigeonhole Buehler. He is pragmatic and thoughtful. He earned the endorsement of the Independent Party. He supports the ballot measure that would switch Oregon to a top-two primary. The Republican Party and the Democratic Party both hate that idea.

Buehler is also at odds with some in the Republican Party over abortion rights. We know some groups have raised a question about Buehler’s position. Buehler says he is pro-choice. Wilhelm says he has no reason to doubt Buehler is pro-choice. Any claim that Buehler’s position is somehow unclear doesn’t stretch credulity. It snaps it.

Buehler is one of the finest candidates for public office Bend has produced in recent years. He is strongly endorsed.