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A former state legislator who later served as chairman of the Democratic Party of Oregon, he was a mentor to many. His influence and behind-the-scenes work helped tilt the state’s balance of power into Democratic hands.
James Edmunson, a prominent figure in Oregon politics who helped shape the trajectory of the state’s Democratic Party, died on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, of natural causes. He was 74.
Edmunson, who lived in Eugene, was a sixth-generation Oregonian, and served as a state legislator and later as chairman of the Democratic Party of Oregon from 1999 to 2007.
Edmunson’s imprint was wide: He encouraged people to run for office, helped map out strategies for flipping the state House and Senate into Democratic hands and worked as an attorney who handled workers compensation cases. Along the way, he also supported the expansion of voting access, making the case before skeptical Democratic National Committee officials that Oregon’s vote-by-mail system would work for presidential primary elections.
“He was a friend, and he was a mentor,” said U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Ore., who represents the state’s 4th Congressional District, including Lane County.
When she met Edmunson, she was volunteering for John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004, Hoyle said in an interview with Lookout Eugene-Springfield. At the time, Edmunson was the state Democratic Party chairman. He encouraged her to get involved in local politics, first as chair of the Democratic Party of Lane County and later to run for a seat in the state House in 2010, which Hoyle won.
“He had a wicked sense of humor and really cared about seeing more women in elected office,” Hoyle said. “He was always there to take my call.”
Deep Oregon roots
Edmunson was born in Eugene in January 1951 and belonged to a family that arrived in Oregon in 1845 – and had been in Lane County a century before he was born. His daughter Kristina Edmunson confirmed his death, which came after a long illness, she said.
Other survivors include his wife, Ellen Edmunson, and their two daughters Kristina and Tiah Edmunson-Morton. James and Ellen married in 1977.
Edmunson grew up on a farm south of Springfield and later moved with his family to Junction City, where he graduated from high school. During that time, he was editor of his school newspaper, developing an interest in journalism.
He went to Oregon State University, where he studied journalism, worked for the student newspaper, The Barometer, and earned a degree in liberal studies. In a 2014 interview Edmunson gave to OSU’s Sesquicentennial Oral History Project, he said that when he later attended law school at the University of Oregon, he was chairman of the Daily Emerald, UO’s student newspaper.
“I’m a platypus,” he said, according to an interview transcript, saying he’s a proud alum of both schools.
In 1973, he graduated from OSU and took a job at the East Oregonian in Pendleton as a sports editor and later as news editor. In 1976, he went to The Daily Astorian, where he was an investigative reporter who uncovered organized crime and crime syndicates that used land transactions to launder money.
As he was working those stories, he peppered a judge with questions about the law. The judge suggested that, since Edmunson had so many questions, he should consider law school.
An unsavory assignment also turned his career toward law school. Editors wanted him to follow up on a tip that members of the rock band Heart had purchased property on the Oregon Coast.
Edmunson was uninterested in pursuing the story, said John Knowlton, a former reporter at the paper and longtime friend. Edmunson preferred to let the band live peacefully on the coast without publicity, Knowlton said.
“He said, ‘You know, I don’t think journalism is the right path for me. I’m going to give up journalism and go get a law degree.’”
Law and politics
In 1983, Edmunson graduated from law school and started a career as an attorney, much of that work involving workers compensation cases and representing people with disabilities.
After serving on the county planning commission, Edmunson was appointed to fill a vacancy in the state House in 1987, serving in that seat, which represented north and west Eugene, until 1995. Four years later, he became chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon, a role he served in until 2007.
Maria Smithson of Eugene was vice chair of the party during Edmunson’s first four years as the party chair.
“He made it fun, he made it relevant, and he made sure that everybody’s voice was heard,” Smithson said. “He had a great deal of respect for building consensus. But then Jim was pragmatic, and there would be times where we just needed to make a decision and move forward on something for the success of the Democratic Party.”
“Jim was really good at knowing when it was time to quit talking and move to action,” she said.
After Oregon voters approved vote-by-mail in 1998, Edmunson and Smithson worked to convince the Democratic National Committee officials to recognize that method nationally for presidential primaries.
“We encountered a lot of pushback — a lot of the same arguments you hear about vote-by-mail now were very much pushed at us from within the Democratic Party at the time because it was such a new thing,” Smithson said. “Jim and I fought valiantly against that.”
His time working in Pendleton and Astoria helped him with politics across the state.
“Jim was great having a meeting with somebody in downtown Portland, and equally as comfortable and effective having a meeting with someone in eastern Oregon,” Smith said. “That’s one of the things that made Jim a successful politician.”
Neel Pender was executive director of the state Democratic Party while Edmunson was chair. Pender said Edmunson was a unifying force for the party, and his legislative experience helped revive the party. By the time the two left their respective roles in 2007, the state House and the state Senate both had Democratic majorities.
Pender said Edmunson’s time in Salem — and experience working around the state — worked in his favor.
“He had real pragmatic experience in Salem, but most importantly, had established relationships with statewide leadership as well as members of the Legislature or former members of the Legislature, and kind of knew his way around,” Pender said.
While not involved in the party’s day-to-day operations, Edmunson helped shape strategy and widen the party’s tent across Oregon, which included crafting messages to appeal to voters, increasing voter registration, mobilizing voters and raising money. The fundraising, was critical, Pender said, because at the time the party lacked funds for an effective ground game.
Two Barnharts felt his influence
Edmunson’s influence spanned generations. A father and son both felt his reach.
Philip Barnhart, a former state legislator, was upset about the lack of adequate funding for education and the 1990 passage of Measure 5, which set limits for how much school districts could raise from local property taxes.
During that time, the fifth-grade teacher of Barnhart’s son was laid off in Eugene because the school district didn’t have money to pay her. The elder Barnhart started to get involved in politics.
Along the way, Edmunson encouraged Barnhart to run for a state House seat representing south Eugene.
Barnhart, who was in the Legislature from 2001 to 2019, said Edmunson did not seek out attention and worked behind the scenes.
“He was quiet and very, very smart, very insightful and read people well,” Barnhart said.
The son — also named Philip Barnhart — was hired at Edmunson’s law firm in 2016 and worked alongside Edmunson for six years before his mentor retired in 2022.
“He didn’t have an ego about his name being on the sign or being the senior partner,” the younger Barnhart said. “He was always trying to figure out the best way to leave the firm in good shape.”
The family plans to have a memorial service early next year. The date is not yet set.
