Lean on me: two Oregon lawmakers put partisan politics aside to battle a grave disease together.

• Author: Kullgren, Ian K.
• Position: LAWMAKERS - Reprint

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It was a strange way to find a best friend. Representative Vic Gilliam, a Republican, was running for re-election back in 2008 when Representative Brian Clem, a Democrat in a nearby district, hosted a town hall in Gilliam's district. He stirred up farmers over a casino that, in all likelihood, wasn't coming. Gilliam found out and wrote a cheeky note:

I'm so sorry 1 missed the town hall. Please let me know when you're in my district again.--Vic.

"I just laughed," Clem said. "I'm out there in his district drumming up support for a questionable casino ... and instead of being pissed off, he just sends me this cute--I mean, it was sarcastic, but cute--little note. I just thought, 'what a class act.'"

"That broke the ice," Gilliam said. "He has a great sense of humor, and we started talking." Their friendship had begun. Eight years later, it's become something more.

Something Was Wrong

It was June 2015, and Gilliam's leg wasn't healing from knee surgery in March.

Then his speech started going. He slurred his words like he was drunk, and he didn't know why. Finally, in late summer, he met with neurologists. "It didn't take them long," Gilliam said. "They were pretty sure I had ALS"--short for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative disorder commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Doctors told him the life expectancy of someone with his condition is two to 20 years. The average is about two to five.

"My family immediately thought I should quit the legislature," Gilliam said.

He had other plans. Not only would he stay, but he'd also run for re-election.

It's been difficult. He has trouble walking without a cane. And he can't give floor speeches as well as he'd like.

Gilliam--who's collected friends and fierce protectors on both sides of the aisle, even among lobbyists--is known as one of the Capitol's funniest and most genial denizens. His sense of humor keeps the darkness away. "Even how I am now," he said, "I sound three times better than most Democrats."

His family has helped, too. Gilliam's wife, Becky, has been by his side the whole time. So has his daughter, Rebecca, who works in his office as a legislative aide.

And of course, there's Clem.

Friends and Opposites

Outwardly, Gilliam and Clem couldn't seem more different.

Gilliam, 62, looks like Republican royalty: sport coats, crisp white shirts, ties and shined loafers. He has a chiseled jawline and a presidential helmet of dark hair. He used to moonlight as an...