Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Hello, Oregonians, and welcome to Life and Legislation with Lucetta. If you've ever wanted to get to know your politicians personally or understand what it is they are actually doing, then you're in the right place. I'm your podcast host, Jessica Campbell.
[00:00:17] Speaker B: I'm your state representative for House District 24, Lucetta Elmer.
[00:00:21] Speaker A: This podcast is a place for you to get to know Representative Elmer both personally and professionally.
[00:00:27] Speaker B: We want Oregonians to feel connected with and educated politics. So we're so glad you've joined us on a fresh new podcast adventure, as we cover all things about life and legislation.
[00:00:42] Speaker A: Hi, Oregonians, and thank you for tuning in to this episode of Life and Legislation with Lucetta. Now, we had a little pause between recording our first episode and this episode because Lucetta here had some pretty big life events. So before we do anything else with this episode, Lucetta, will you tell everyone what wonderful things happened recently?
[00:01:02] Speaker B: Yes. Thank you, Jessica. Amazing things. The things that make this season of Life the absolute best. I was blessed with a grandson on March 25. My daughter had little Tatum Gray Studer, and he was born weighing 6 pounds, 10 ounces, 20 inches long. And then just eight days later, I was blessed with a little granddaughter. My son welcomed Lottie Le Elmer into the world, and she weighs 8 pounds, 6 ounces, 20 and a half inches long. So pretty cool that these two little buddies get to grow up cousin one and cousin two. That's what their Easter baskets say. I didn't know the names, so they're gonna just be besties. And I'm very excited for the family and the parents.
[00:01:52] Speaker A: Well, congratulations. That is so amazing. And it's. It's kind of fun to hear when you tell people, I just got a grandson and a granddaughter, and immediately people think they're twins. Right? And they're like, no, they were actually eight days apart from two. Two different children.
[00:02:07] Speaker B: Yes. Yep. Two different children, but, yeah, babies at.
[00:02:10] Speaker A: The same time, which is pretty beautiful and amazing.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: They are. And pretty cool to see your kids with their own kids. That's just a moment.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: Well, we'll get to talk about grandparenthood in future episodes. And those babies are really. They're really lucky to have you as their Gigi, and they're very lucky to have Denny as their grandpa. But as I understand, he's got a pretty unique grandpa name.
[00:02:35] Speaker B: Yes. So we are Gigi and Jeep, and I don't really understand the Jeep. I love it. I think it's adorable. The kids gave us our grandparent names, and it maybe because it flows. Also, my Husband has a Jeep, a CJ7 that he loves. So maybe that's it. But we are Gigi and Jeep.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: That's so cute. It'll be fun to hear those little voices in the future saying, I can't wait.
Well, as a reminder to our listeners, this podcast is called Life and Legislation because we want to cover both types of topics. As I said, we'll talk about grandparenthood in future episodes. But for today, I wanted to start with you and Denny. Before you were Gigi and Jeep, and even before you were mom and dad, you were Lucetta and Denny, and you were teenagers together at a local high school. So how did you meet and decide to date?
[00:03:28] Speaker B: Yeah, we did go to the same high school, small high school. And gosh, it's so long ago. I remember walking in one day. It was in the fall. Denny was a football player. I was a cheerleader, and walked into the school in the morning with my cheerleading outfit on, and there was a bunch of kids standing, talking. One of my other cheerleaders was there, and she was talking to Denny. There were other kids, and they were talking, I think, about how the game had gotten canceled. And I was so disappointed. But it was the first time that I remember actually talking to him. We were a year apart in school, and just we. We just. We noticed each other. And so then from there, other little moments happened, and there was definitely a connection. He asked me to the homecoming dance that year. I think that is at the end. It was towards the end of the season. He asked me to the homecoming dance, so that was, I guess, our official first activity we did together.
[00:04:35] Speaker A: And what time in high school, like, was this your sophomore year? Junior year.
[00:04:39] Speaker B: This was my sophomore year. Denny's freshman year.
[00:04:42] Speaker A: Okay, so pretty early on, you're like 14, 15 years old.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. There were a lot of breakups. You know, I mean, when you start that young, it's. You got some things to. To figure out. And we dated for six years before we got engaged, so we were well into college. But fun. Fun to trav life with your high school sweetheart.
[00:05:02] Speaker A: Absolutely. And that's one of those sweet stories that almost sounds like a little Hallmark movie at the beginning. But you said there were. There were breakups, and obviously you got back together each time.
[00:05:12] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:05:13] Speaker A: Going through life with somebody that you meet so young. What. I mean, even as a teenager, what were the qualities that you were starting to recognize that this actually might be forever that kept bringing you two back together after a little. Little breakup stuff?
[00:05:28] Speaker B: Honestly, I think it was the friendship. I mean, we. We really enjoyed each other, and we had great adventures together. You know, he was my favorite person to go do things with. And it. It started on friendship, as I think it would for someone probably in those younger years. It wasn't like, oh, my gosh, love at first sight. I'm head over heels. It was more like, oh, that's a cute boy type of thing, and sure, I'll go to the homecoming dance with you. But as the years went by, there was just a dawning a recognition that this person is the person I trust, and that gets all of my jokes. And we share the same passions, and we just have so much in common. Adventure was a huge one. We loved adventure and still do. And so we grew up together kind of, in a sense, through those formative years. But at some point during that season, we realized that we were each other's person, and that meant a lot.
[00:06:28] Speaker A: Well, I want to ask how he proposed and how you got married, but before that, you mentioned adventure. And obviously your greatest adventures include the businesses you started, forming a family, having your children, now having grandchildren. But aside from those, what would be one of your greatest adventures that you two have had together?
[00:06:48] Speaker B: We have had a lot.
You know, when our first month anniversary of being married, I came home from work, and Denny had a little gift for me, and it was. It was a travel journal, and he wrote on the first page, and he said something about how he knew we were going to have lots of travel adventures throughout our marriage, and he just wanted to keep record of them. And I wish I knew where that was. Jessica.
That's the sad part of the story. However, we knew early on that we would have lots of fun adventures. I think one of the earliest ones, we weren't married, but we were in college, and we decided to do an extended missions trip in the summer. So we took a half a summer. It was like a month and a half. And we were down in all different parts of Mexico with Amor Ministries. And as college interns, there was a group of 10 of us from all different colleges in the Pacific Northwest and. Or the west coast. Actually, it went all the way down through Southern Cal. And we would greet high school youth groups every week, would come down to wherever we were, and they would bring, you know, their youth group, and each of us would be assigned a different youth group, and we would take out that group of kids and we would build a house with them. So in one week, essentially 10, and I'm Air quoting, houses were built. These were not American Type homes, but something that the people we were building them for were extremely grateful. And that was a bonding trip. I mean, it was Mexico. It was summer. There were tarantulas, there was sickness, there were a lot of heat and, you know, homesickness, all of those things. And it was a great adventure. We learned a lot. I think Denny learned and realized that he could do that forever. I, on the other hand, was like, peace out, man. I want to get back to America and my conveniences.
[00:08:42] Speaker A: Well, it does paint the picture that you, too, while having a lot of similarities. You are different. You have different personalities and different, you know, strength and things. But you're quite a team. And it's been amazing to get to know you over the years and just watch your marriage work. So how did he propose?
[00:08:59] Speaker B: So way, way back in 1991, I was working at a child development center in Salem. And this would have been in the spring, in April. So right about now. And my shift was the closing shift. And so I closed the center every night at 5:30 or 6, I can't remember. It was a Friday. And we had plans to go see the new Tom Cruise movie. It was the one. The race car one. I can't remember now what it was called. Anyways, and so we were. We were supposed to go have a date. It was opening night for that movie. I was super excited. So he came to pick me up and he was. I don't know, I just. I remember noticing that he seemed more smiley or just there was something. Little twinkle in his eye. And so he said, well, before we go to the movie, I made reservations. We're gonna have dinner first. And I was like, oh, okay. And so we went to. It's not here anymore, but at the time it was a steakhouse that was here in Salem, which was fancy. And we didn't do fancy unless it was a big moment because, you know, our budgets were small. We were in college. And so I was like, wow, this is. This is what. What is this occasion? Clearly, I had no idea. And so we went to the restaurant, and we're sitting at this huge booth. I also remember that thinking, why. Why do we have this huge booth? There's, like, tables of two. And so we're sitting there, and I don't remember really what happened next until he pulls a little ring box out of his pocket and he proposes. And I was completely caught off guard. Say yes. Hugs, all the things. And I remember as we're hugging, I'm looking, you know, hugging. So I'm looking behind him. And I see these four little heads pop around the corner and it's our parents. They had just been waiting and they just couldn't help themselves. They just, you know, they. They came and joined us, hence the large booth. And we ended up having a wonderful dinner and celebrating, and that's amazing.
[00:10:58] Speaker A: And how much longer than was it before your wedding day?
[00:11:01] Speaker B: Well, back then it was different than now. I feel like, you know, there's long engagements and I think in my mind I was like, oh, I want a year long engagement or whatever. But we had been dating for so long and I just didn't need that much time. So we were married August 31st. We did it in four and a half months.
[00:11:18] Speaker A: I'm glad you guys found each other. And I have a bit of a transition question as we shift our conversation into more of the legislation side of this podcast. As listeners know, or they will know soon, your job requires some very extreme hours and travel and a lot of stress. So how is it that you're able to find time to keep your marriage strong while still carrying the weight of this political service?
[00:11:47] Speaker B: Yeah, connectivity has always been huge for us and, and that's just something that has to be there, that foundation. We obviously dated a long time and then we didn't have children right away. I think we had four or five years till our first was born. And so we again, going back to that strong friendship, like we really had that in place. And we both agreed that when we welcomed children into the family, that they would be welcomed into the already complete family. Like Denny and I were the family and they would be welcomed in, but they wouldn't be the center of the world. And I think that's just carried us through. We've prioritized date night forever from day one. Once we started welcoming little Elmers to the fold with four of them running around, you know, we still would. Would make sure that we had our date night and get away, just the two of us. We've always taken time on our anniversary to do something, to get away and take an anniversary trip. And so even I think that's just sort of rolled forward. You know, in the legislature, it is busy and right now in long session, I am extremely tired and tomorrow hits the halfway point. So we're really in a. In the thick of it and there's a lot of emotions running high and little sleep and all of the things. And so I think that we still prioritize and make time. So on the weekends, you know, we'll carve out even if we can't do a whole day. We try to do a day, but if it's a half a day, and it's. It's just our time and really try to safeguard that so that we can have moments together to make sure that we can just take a deep breath and talk and catch up on the things and have that connectivity. Because Denny and I really have had an opportunity for a lot of our married years to work together in our businesses. Going into the legislature was a big shift, and we had a lot of conversation about what that would look like. And there was a definite transition period where I think we both mourned the. Just the fact that we weren't together all the time. And, I mean, obviously, separation can be healthy, but our situation was a little more unique in that we didn't have those traditional jobs that took us to a place for our nine to five hours. You know, we. Our place was usually together, working the businesses. And so with the legislature, when I'm in session, I do try to include him, if that's ever possible. Maybe not as much during session, obviously, because I am at the capitol and just flying around doing my thing. But if there's evening activities or in the interim when we're not in session, there are a lot of different events and travel opportunities. And so that's something that. If I do, you. He. He goes with me. And. And that's been another way that we can just sort of safeguard our relationship.
[00:14:44] Speaker A: Right. And you're really. You're really doing this together, even if you're not in the same room or the same building all the time.
[00:14:50] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:14:51] Speaker A: Yeah. It's a. It's a team effort. Well, we wanted to tell listeners what happens right after you get elected. You mentioned that. Yes. You need your family to be on board. We talked about this in the first episode, how you actually become a state representative and going through that process and the campaigning and then actually getting elected. And so I can picture this moment a few years ago when it was your first time running, and everyone's waiting, and it's the watch party, and you've got Denny right there with you. You've got your family with you. You're doing this as a team. All the connectivity is there, and then you find out you win. Yeah, Then what?
[00:15:28] Speaker B: And then what? Exactly.
[00:15:29] Speaker A: And then what happens? I mean, you weren't in politics before, so it's not like you even knew your way around the capitol building. Like, what. Once somebody gets elected as a state representative, what happens next to get you to where you can navigate the building know legislative procedures and go through that whole onboarding process.
[00:15:49] Speaker B: Yeah, there. There is a path forward for onboarding, for sure. And, you know, there are meetings and things scheduled the week before you take the oath of office so that you can have this crash course. But it is like. Like you're just learning in the moment so many things. And as far as the building, you know, I came in in 23 when the building was under heavy construction, renovation, and it still is. So, you know, like the main entrance and the rotunda, like, none of that is even open. So I'm excited for that to. To open this fall or. Or for next, hopefully by. By next year's session, because I haven't gotten to experience the full feel and weight of the building. So that will be fun. But, yeah, there's. Like I said, onboarding things happen to give you sort of the lay of the land, but you learn a lot of it as you go. You're usually paired up with a mentor, and they can help you navigate. I was assigned as vice chair of one of the toughest committees my freshman year, and I'm still on that committee as vice chair. So, I mean, my weekends during 2023, when I was in long session, it was like I was back in college. I mean, I was cramming, reading, listening. My mind was mushy. It was just all of those things. And I remember realizing, like, I. I didn't know this, that I didn't know what I signed up for, because it was hard. It was really hard to learn a whole new language and all the acronyms and all of the people and remember all the faces. Like it. It was. It was a lot and obviously still learning. But I feel much, much better this time than I did my first time around.
[00:17:33] Speaker A: Well, you use the word freshman, and I think anybody who went to high school knows what that's like. That freshman year where you're deer in the headlights and where am I going? And how does this work? And what was I supposed to do? And who are these people? And then by your sophomore year, you've. You've kind of got the lay of the land and the routines down. What did they make you do, like, for onboarding? They take you through several different trainings, right?
[00:17:54] Speaker B: Yes. You have lots of different trainings. There's just all the different procedures. There's the rules, there's decorum. There's, you know, what is a committee? What is expected in a committee?
What is your caucus look like? What does that even mean? What do you do in caucus?
There's lobbyists and stakeholders. And how do you conduct a meeting in your office? Where is your office? Do you decorate your office? Who decorates your office? Do you have a lunch? No, not really. I mean just, you know, all of the things. So like I said with the week before, that's when there were like a handful of meetings that would just take you through the basics.
And my Republican caucus leadership team, they did a good job I think of having some people that did, they called them like brown bag lunches. And that was happening all through our campaign season where once a week we could zoom in and, and listen to whoever was speaking that day on a different topic that had to do with life in the legislation. So there was some pre learning happening in the hopes that, you know, we would all get elected. And I, I really appreciated those building blocks. They, they helped as we were gen just thrown in. And here we go.
[00:19:09] Speaker A: That's awesome. I'm sure very helpful to get a little bit of that. You know, almost like having older siblings that are telling you how to make your way through high school.
[00:19:17] Speaker B: Right, Exactly. Yes.
[00:19:19] Speaker A: So just as a timeline, you started the campaigning when, like at what point of the year does that start, end, and then how much longer until the oath of office? Like maybe we can just paint that picture.
[00:19:30] Speaker B: Yes. So I officially announced at the very end of 22 and then in January of 23 I had like a kickoff party. And so then that's when I think press releases went out and you have to register on the state website that you're going to be a candidate and you're running for office, declare that. And then in Oregon we have the primary election which happens in May and so you can start campaigning up and you know, for that primary election if you have someone running against you. Now I didn't have anyone. So primary meaning within your own party. I'm a registered Republican. So if there were two or three or whatever Republicans running, we would be all running and competing against each other for that May election. I didn't have anyone running against me. So the May election came and went. My name was on the ballot. So I was then the general candidate for the Republican Party for the election that would happen in November. So then moving forward after May, then that's, I would say when the more rigorous campaign season started and you know, you're going to all the different events in the summer for your district and all of the parades and your door knocking and you're hosting town hall or maybe not. Yeah, town halls, I guess informationals and you're just doing all of the things to try to get your name out there and get your views out there so people are aware of what you stand for and what if they choose you as their representative, what you will be doing. And then when that election comes in November, well, you have, you can, I'm sure you've seen like all of the different signs that go up with the names. And I know people are like, we get so tired of all the signs. There's actually a time period when you can put signs up and then a time period for when they have to come down. So generally speaking, around Labor Day, that's the, that's the green light to put up all the signs for the general election. And so all these big signs go up. It's a big to do. And then you're just in that final stretch of, you know, now your, your district is blasted with your. And now you're just trying to make sure you get off the vote and encouraging everyone to return their ballots. And then, yeah, you have that big election day that happens and you anxiously wait to see what the outcome is.
[00:22:01] Speaker A: And then from that November election day until you take the oath of office, how long is that?
[00:22:08] Speaker B: So then November comes and it's election day. It takes a little bit to get all of the votes counted even after election day. So if you're in a close race, you may not know the outcome until December. My race was called the next day, I think it was. And so that was nice. But some of my colleagues, they had to wait weeks to find out if they won or lost. So that can be nerve wracking. Then December gets a little quiet and everyone is kind of doing their holiday family things. And then mid January is when you start to work. And right after an election is when you have your long session. So in your odd year, you're elected. In your even year, you go into the odd year, odd numbered year, and that's a long session. So it's mid January through the end of June that you're in Salem. It could be seven days a week. But it's whatever the speaker calls and the governor can call you back after for a special session. But it is more than full time during that time that you're in session. Right.
[00:23:12] Speaker A: And interestingly, as I learned when you got elected that state representatives are technically part time.
[00:23:20] Speaker B: Right.
[00:23:21] Speaker A: But during. You laugh and, but during long session, it is certainly not part time. It is like you said, more, more than full time, more than long time.
[00:23:31] Speaker B: Right. I think the part time is because we don't go year round. So you know that first half of the year, yeah, you're working a lot and more than 40 hours. But then the second half of the year, it's called the inter.
So then you just, you know, you can sort of set what your schedule is. Obviously you're still the representative and you need to represent, but a lot of of us elected officials have careers and other jobs and we need to balance those the best we can or take leave of absences and then return to those once session is over. It kind of looks different for all representatives. So you're still working. For me, I felt like it was kind of full time, year round. There was just, just there are a lot of things that, that was happening then. Then you start going into that next year. It's a two year term. But as you enter that even year, that's going to be an election year again. And then even though you are the incumbent, the elected official, you kind of have a dual role now because you are the state representative, but you're also a candidate. You have to keep those worlds very separate. So during that short session, that even numbered year has a short legislative session. We come in in February, we're out in March, so instead of half a year, it's only two months and then we're campaigning again.
[00:24:47] Speaker A: Well, I think that'll be a great topic for next time is understanding the long session versus the short session and understanding how you have to separate the campaign world and the legislative world. There's so much again, most, most people don't, don't really know about. But thank you Lucetta for taking time to tell about your love life with Denny and how you got from the election night to your oath of office.
So in our final minute here, Lucetta, what was maybe either the biggest surprise or the funniest thing or the most shocking thing that happened during your whole onboarding process as this incoming freshman that you maybe never saw coming.
[00:25:29] Speaker B: I don't know that there was a specific example. There was just overall, I think I didn't realize how much decorum there is within these walls. And there is definitely a way to do things the correct expected way and a way not to.
And so I think you know that just there's so many little nuances and little rules. And one day I went over to the Senate side of the building in the Senate chambers and I hosted me meeting with a mentor who was Senator Bonham at the time. And he and I both vice chaired the same committee. He did it on the Senate side and I did it on the House side. And so I go over there trying to just look all professional and know what I'm doing, and I just march right into the majority office. And I'm like, I am here to see Senator Bonham. Well, we are the minority. We are not the majority. I don't care what chamber you're in, in Oregon, Republicans are the minority. And so me besting into the the majority office, they just looked at me and just short of rolling their eyes, they're like, yeah, I don't think you're gonna find him here. And then it dawned on me, oh, yes, there is a minority office as well that's on the third floor. So there's so many examples of ways that I messed things up, but eventually I find my way.
[00:26:48] Speaker A: You always do.
Well, thank you for sharing. And Oregonians, we hope you enjoy enjoyed this episode of Life and Legislation with Lucetta. And come back next time as we learn more about her life and more about how politics in Oregon work. Come back and join us next time on Life and Legislation with Lucetta.
