State Legislatures Magazine: February 1999

Editor's Note: These articles appeared in the February 1999 issue of NCSL's magazine, State Legislatures. To order copies or to subscribe, contact the marketing department at (303) 830-2054.

Which Way Is Up?

There used to be an expected progression in elected office: city council, school board, House, Senate, Congress ... Not any more.

By Dianna Gordon

Experience is flowing downward—or at least across the board—as seasoned lawmakers move from what could be assumed to be a higher level, the state Senate or even Congress, and back to the House or Assembly. However, as one lawmaker notes on his transition from Senate to House, "I look on it as a transfer, not a promotion or demotion."

The reasons are as varied as the new House members, although one, term limits, is bound to gain increasing prominence. But no matter the causes, the experience these legislators bring to their terms in the House is invaluable.

Harking back to simpler times. That was the appeal for Richard Mallory when he was sworn in to the Vermont House of Representatives this session.

A former speaker of the House, state senator, U.S. congressman and cabinet officer under two gubernatorial administrations, Mallory says simply, "At this stage in my career, I hope I can be useful. It’s nice not to have political ambitions so I can be as useful as possible."

As it is, Mallory’s service as a U.S. representative left him well acquainted with turmoil and controversy. He was Vermont’s Republican representative during Watergate and the Nixon impeachment. And he had the dubious honor of being the first Vermont Republican to lose a seat in the House in 100 years. The reasons? Watergate, a soft economy and Mallory’s self-deprecating description of being a "thinker rather than a campaigner."

But he also served his state during a relatively turbulent time. Elected in 1961, he served during reapportionment in 1965. "I was speaker for the first two terms after the Vermont House reapportioned itself," he says. When he first got to the House, there were 246 representatives. Towns of 22 had one representative, as did towns with populations of 22,000 and more. The courts took a rather narrow view of that type of representation and mandated major changes.

"The reapportionment of the House was clearly a milestone in the state," Mallory says. "And those who saw it as a passing of tradition were upset."

Now, he notes, it’s "appealing to go back."

"Vermont is still small, still a community, politics is still clean. And politicians are not as denigrated as much as in other states," he explains.

For Eric Fingerhut, moving from Congress to the Ohio Senate is just another aspect of his drive to serve the public. He was in the state Senate in 1992 and was "elected to Congress with the large Democratic class, then defeated in ‘94 as part of the large Democratic class that lost," he recalls with a chuckle.

But no matter where he’s worked, the Cleveland Democrat has remained true to his goals of helping the community. His first job was as a legal aid lawyer, and he helped train welfare recipients long before "reform was a fad." He’s currently a senior fellow in the nonprofit Federation for Community Planning where he’s worked on welfare issues and reforming the Cleveland public school system.

"As far as the welfare issue goes, I was a legal aid lawyer, then associate director of a job training program. I worked on welfare reform in the state Senate, then in the U.S. Congress. I think I’ve had the unique opportunity to look at the same issues from a variety of perspectives," he explains.

And, he points out, his experience in Congress "should make me an even better member of the state legislature since the substantive issues generally have federal and state components. I think I have a better sense of the federal issues, and I can use that to benefit my district and state."

On a more pragmatic front, former senator and now Representative Randy Leonard of Oregon comments that he has more to do, and term limits are keeping him from it in the Senate. The state’s limits took out the two-term senator, who was the first senator to be elected to the House in the state. Oregon has seen senators defeated for re-election who sat out two years, then ran for House seats, but never before Leonard was there an elected senator going directly to the House.

"My regular job is as a firefighter for the city of Portland," he explains. "I work on public safety issues, and there is still more to get done."

And he adds, "I’m 46 years old and don’t feel ready to stop serving."

Leonard is looking forward to his term in the House. "I couldn’t initiate legislation to raise revenue while I was in the Senate. I can do that, if it’s needed, in the House."

He’s also anticipating the "more relaxed" atmosphere compared to the more formal Senate. "They say you have to have had at least one heart attack to serve in the Senate. On the other hand, they’ve had fist fights in the House. I’m looking forward to it," he says with a chuckle.

For his fellow representative, Kevin Mannix, who was appointed to a vacancy in the Oregon Senate and was re-elected to his old seat in the House, the move is a "transfer, not a promotion or demotion."

Dianna Gordon is an assistant editor of State Legislatures.

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