Political Career
Meier devoted 30 years to civic involvement before entering elective politics. A noted philanthropist, he also kept a high profile leading many good causes. During World War I, he headed Liberty Loan drives, served as regional director of the Council of National Defense, and after the war aided in the rehabilitation of France. He also headed the Oregon Commission of the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, and in 1922 attempted to bring a world's fair to Portland in 1925.
An important accomplishment was his leading the Columbia River Highway Association, the citizen committee creating political support for building the Columbia River Highway, first west from Portland to Astoria (1912–1915) and later east from Portland to The Dalles (1913–1922). His daughter, Jean, would later recall that he walked or crawled every inch of the highway's projected roadway.
In the 1930 gubernatorial election, George W. Joseph—who had been disbarred during an extensive dispute with the Oregon Supreme Court over the will and estate of E. Henry Wemme—won the Republican nomination for Governor of Oregon, but died shortly after. When Meier declined the nomination, the Republican Party selected Phil Metschan, Jr., son of a former Oregon state treasurer, as a replacement nominee. In contrast to a core element of Joseph's platform, Metschan opposed public development of hydroelectric power along the Columbia River.
While he had been reticent due to his wealth and religion, Meier agreed to enter the race as an independent candidate, adopting Joseph's platform. In spite of opposition to his candidacy by The Oregonian (the state's largest newspaper), he won 54.5 percent of the total vote, outdistancing his nearest competitor, Democratic candidate Edward F. Bailey, 135,608 votes to 62,434. Meier's overwhelming victory was viewed as a reflection of strong public support for public hydropower development.
Meier served for one term (1931–1935), declining to run for a second term for reasons of health. Among his accomplishments were establishing the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (after Prohibition ended), founding the Oregon State Police, helping create a State Board of Agriculture and State Unemployment Commission, pressing for the adoption of a non-partisan judicial system, and using his business acumen to help the state navigate the financial tribulations of the Great Depression. Efforts to establish a sales tax and public power were not immediately successful, though Federal legislation was passed in 1933 authorizing the public development of the Bonneville and Grand Coulee dams.
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