Political candidate Matt Manweller: A lonely Republican in academia

ELLENSBURG – Voters want to know where 13th District Washington State House of Representatives candidate Matt Manweller, PhD, stands on the issues.

But that's not the first question they ask when he shows up to campaign. They want to know how it is he's a Republican and a college professor too.

“You can see the wheels turning,” he said recently.

It is commonly believed academia leans left. Manweller confirms it, saying there are probably five professors statewide who are openly Republican.

In a book (“The Right Opinion: A Heretic's Voice from the Ivory Tower”) written to educate the public and also poke fun at himself, Manweller sounds like someone coming out a of social closet.

“I am a Republican,” he writes. “I am also an academic. I am very lonely.”

Manweller uses the book like others use advance teams. He sends it to the organization to which he's going to speak next.

Dr. Manweller, as he is known on the campus of Central Washington University, is a professor of political science. He started his teaching career as a high school economics teacher.

Manweller thought about running for office before, but he waited until he had tenure (so he couldn't be canned for being a Republican) and good friend State Rep. Bill Hinkle decided to give up the seat.

Manweller is not only a Republican but also a conservative. His father was a job-creating businessman, and Manweller decided from childhood that conservatism was the right economic approach for America.

“You get an early understanding of the impact of taxes and regulations,” he said.

Manweller's father started and grew two technology companies in liberal southern California. Then he moved to Boise, Idaho, where the 18-year-old Manweller found a conservative community.

In 1991, Manweller enrolled at Walla Walla's Whitman College for his sophomore year. The environment was surprisingly liberal,  but he stayed true to his conservative roots. He worked his way through college.

Manweller earned his room and board as residential advisor. He was a night watchman from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. three days a week. He worked in the library on weekends.

Manweller graduated from Whitman with a bachelor of science in political science. He went on to a masters in political science at the University of Montana. Then he went for his PhD at the University of Oregon.

Manweller could not have chosen a greater test of character. The Oregon experience was like having someone swing a 2X4 as strongly as humanly possible at your head.

“But if you really want the true flavor of it...have him call you names. Fascist, Racist. Nazi,” he wrote.

Manweller stuck to his guns and has been sticking to them at Central. Very few people share his points of view, yet he's bold.

He was president of the faculty senate and chairman of the Kittitas County Republican party at the same time, during 2010-11. He has a Friday radio show on KXLE, between Michael Medved and Rush Limbaugh.

Manweller wrote a column for the Ellensburg Daily Record for eight years. He had to give it up (an unfair advantage) after he announced his run.

The third column he wrote, in 2004, went viral. It related why he'd vote for George W. Bush over John Kerry.

The paper had no real internet presence, but the column spread like wildfire, especially among admiring conservatives. Then emails from the left started pouring in. It ended up hundreds of letters at half-and-half.

The column got Manweller his 15 minutes of fame. He was a phone-in guest on conservative talk shows, including Laura Ingraham and Michael Savage.

“It's the story of how an obscure academic, teaching at an even more obscure university, became, for a short period of time, a state, national and international figure...and then became obscure again,” Manweller wrote.

During that time, other CWU professors wanted Manweller fired, Manweller noted, and one tried to accomplish that. Manwelller weathered that storm because the university president believed free speech extended to everyone.

But Manweller understands the opposition and from whence it comes. Most professors know nothing but government support - for their educations, for their places of work and for their livelihoods.

“So you think taxes are a good thing,” he said. “You think big budgets are a good thing.”

Not Manweller. He believes in self-reliance, free markets, free trade, few taxes and limited government. And he believes in the sanctity of life and traditional (one man, one woman) marriage.