August 26 at his home in front of 150 family and friends, Dr. Knute Buehler announced his exploratory committee for the Republican nomination for Oregon Secretary of State in the May 2012 primary.
Official paperwork was filed with the Oregon Election’s Division last week under the title Getting Oregon To Work. Dr. Buehler discussed his background and some of the problems Oregonians face, including a poor economic climate, political stagnation, and government dysfunction.
With his wife, Patty, and two children beside him, he lamented about the magnitude of Oregon’s problems, jokingly saying, “This sounds like a perfect time to get into politics, right?”
He went on to thank the audience who has shown him “humbling” support as he moved towards this decision. Standing on a wooden log used by the family to chop firewood, Dr. Buehler joked that this is his first “stump” speech.
His campaign will stress the need to move past partisan politics and tackle the problems Oregonians face, most importantly, a sluggish economy and government accountability.
“Our message is simple. We are Getting Oregon to Work. We are getting people jobs, and we are getting government to do theirs,” said Dr. Buehler. Immediately following the speech, Dr. Buehler was approached by prominent Central Oregonian Tim McGinnis who pledged moral and financial support.
Dr. Buehler, a Rhodes scholar and Johns Hopkins Medical School graduate with humble beginnings in Roseburg, OR, is making his first bid for public office, but has been active in statewide and national politics in the past.
He worked on the Perot presidential campaign in 1992 and was one of the primary authors of the 1994 ballot measure that reformed Oregon’s campaign finance laws. Supporters and those wishing to donate can learn more on the campaign’s temporary website www.gettingoregontowork.com
Contact: Getting Oregon To Work Joel Thomas – Campaign Manager
131 W E St Springfield, OR 97477 Ph: 949–‐280–‐6299
Dr. Knute Buehler Candidate for Oregon Secretary of State 2012 Personal Biography
Dr. Knute Buehler is a surgeon in Bend. The third child of Werner and Dolly Buehler, Knute was born in 1964 in Roseburg, where he attended public schools; graduating from Roseburg High School in 1982.
He later played varsity baseball at Oregon State University obtaining a BS in Microbiology and a minor in US History.
During the summer, he worked for the Oregon timber industry and as a truck driver for a PepsiCo distributer.
After OSU, Knute attended Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, Maryland, where he met his best friend and eventual wife, Patty. In his second year, he was offered a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University, becoming the first OSU grad to earn the prestigious award.
Over the next five years, he obtained a Master’s Degree in Economics and Politics from Oxford while simultaneously completing his medical education at Johns Hopkins.
He and Patty were married in June of 1990. After his studies, Knute returned to Oregon where he and Patty both completed their residency training at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.
In 1994 the happy couple was blessed with their first child, Owen. Three years later, after settling in Bend, the couple welcomed the addition of their second child, a daughter they named Hannah.
Patty and Knute continued to excel in their careers, Patty as an eye surgeon and Knute pioneering new methods for computer assisted knee surgery.
Dr. Buehler is a proven innovator, problem solver and businessperson. He is The author of more than a dozen published scientific research papers and is considered one of the premier surgical developers in the world of computer assisted knee replacement. He travels frequently teaching these techniques both domestically and internationally, especially China and India.
He has U.S. and European patents for inventions that have worldwide sales and distribution. Dr. Buehler is a partner at the Center for Orthopedic and Neurosurgical Care and Research in Bend, a 35 provider surgical group practice that has 180 employees and over $35 million in annual revenue.
He is on the Board of Directors at St. Charles Health System, a three–‐hospital health network in Central Oregon with over $500 million in annual revenues, served on the advisory board of OSU–‐Cascades Campus, and is on the Board of Directors of the Ford Family Foundation, one of the largest charitable organizations in the state. In addition to helping with the 1992 Perot Presidential campaign, he helped author several citizens initiatives to help reform Oregon’s election laws. This is Knute’s first bid for public office, making him an outsider to politics with an insider’s knowledge of Oregon and it’s people. Knute enjoys spending free time in Oregon’s great outdoors. Some of his favorite activities include hiking, biking, camping, and skiing with his wife and two children.
