RIP, Lynn Lundquist

Lundquist was 78

One of the last reasonable Republicans in Oregon, Lynn Lundquist, died suddenly on Tuesday at his home in Powell Butte.

The former Speaker of the House in Salem was a farmer, mentor to numerous wayward youth, community leader and an advocate for fully funding public education in Oregon.

Lundquist was ousted as House speaker in 1999 after he was deemed insufficiently conservative for the GOP.

Lundquist was an old-school Republican because he sought to work with Democrats for a better Oregon.

Modern Republicans do not consider Democrats to be Americans and therefore they refuse to work with Democrats at all.

As the first leader of the Oregon Business Association, Lundquist knew that if Oregon wanted to achieve a stable, growing economy it had to invest more in public education.

This further alienated Lundquist from the GOP establishment. Pouring more money into public education means that you are pro-Union, according to Republicans, and true elephants are definitely anti-Union.

Lundquist put Oregon before political party and he was ostracized by the GOP for doing so.

Lundquist was a kind and decent man. He will be missed.