By JEFF BARNARD of The Associated Press

CAVE JUNCTION -- Wes Cooley drove more than five hours to get to this remote town in Josephine County, so he could sit in a folding chair alongside 15 others running for everything from sheriff to Congress.

His bid to regain the U.S. House seat he abandoned two years ago has been a lonely battle for respect, fighting the stigma of being perhaps the nation's only candidate who has a criminal conviction for lying to voters.

In a modest brick community hall filled with the smell of drip coffee, Cooley patiently waited his turn before he got his allotted three minutes to speak to the crowd of 70 retirees, mill workers, hippies and store clerks.

"When I went to Washington, you asked me to defend ranching, farming, mining, timber and small business for this district," Cooley said.

"You asked me to buck the establishment and fight for your needs and the future of your children. I did that as well. If you look at my voting record you will see that everything you asked me to do, I did."

Though he has little money and is considered an embarrassment by the Republican Party, Cooley is finding a pocket of support in Oregon's sprawling 2nd District among farmers, ranchers and working people.

Cooley has been outside looking in since 1996, when leaders of his own party urged him to drop out of his re-election campaign after it was revealed he lied about fighting in the Korean War.

Though Cooley was convicted last year of a felony for lying in the state Voters Pamphlet, to this day he will not admit he never served in Korea, only that he can't prove it.

"I think he got railroaded, myself," said Bill Waggoner, an unemployed electronics worker from Selma. "I've got other friends who have called Washington, D.C., and their records were burned. I don't think he lied about his tour of duty."

As a state senator four years ago, Cooley squeaked out a victory in a seven-way primary to win the Republican nomination for the 2nd District. With an endorsement from his Republican predecessor, Bob Smith, he waltzed into Congress in the deeply conservative district.

But from the beginning, there were doubts about Cooley's record. A claim of a Phi Beta Kappa key turned out to be a lesser honor from a community college. Questions swirled about when in the years he had lived with his wife they had actually been married, and whether she properly collected a military pension from the death of her first husband. Though the FBI investigated, she was never charged.

What finally drove him from office were persistent reports casting doubt on his claim that he had served in the Korean War with the fledgling Army Special Forces. Some of his Army records were destroyed in a fire, but those that survived gave no hint he ever left the United States, and Cooley said he had been sworn to secrecy about his mission.

When his sergeant surfaced, he denounced Cooley, saying he had never gone out of the country.

The battle over exploitation of natural resources versus fish and wildlife protection on federal lands was Cooley's top issue during his two years in Congress.

When the fight over the spotted owl forced a sharp cutback in logging on Northwest national forests, Cooley helped produce the so-called Salvage Rider, which originally provided for logging dead and dying timber, but was expanded by Sen. Mark Hatfield, R-Ore., to allow logging of old-growth timber outside the control of environmental laws.

Cooley proudly recites the high ratings his voting record in Congress received from conservative organizations: Christian Coalition, 100 percent; League of Private Property Voters, 100 percent; American Conservative Union, 100 percent.

He says he continues to find a warm reception wherever he goes, though even he expresses doubts about his chances of winning the May 19 primary.

"The problem I'm having is I run into all positives," Cooley said, "and I know it is not all positive."

When the end of Cooley's allotted three minutes came at the candidates forum, the moderator rang a little brass bell, but Cooley pressed on.

"I went to Congress and I told you what I was going to do and I did it," Cooley said. "I have a proven track record."