In 1967, Buehler joined the Ocean Township council. He served until 1971 and was a president of the Monmouth County League of Municipalities. Buehler focused his attacks on Stout's transportation record, charging that he failed to attract state and federal grants to solve the region's railroad issues. Stout maintained that he and other Republicans had attempted to do so, but were obstructed by the bankruptcy of the
Penn Central Railroad. and Stout congratulated him in person on election night. Stout attributed his defeat to "overwhelming national problems," and a "dark cloud" over the Republican Party and the Cahill administration.
Term During his term in office, Buehler primarily worked to deliver on his promised improvement of rail transportation in the area and on legislation to preserve the
Jersey Shore. In the aftermath of the
1973 oil crisis, Buehler opposed an
Exxon Oil Company proposal for an East Coast "superport" off the coast of
Long Branch to reduce the costs of
lightering offshore, and he introduced legislation to ban any such oil port or related pipeline or storage facilities on the Jersey Shore. "We cannot allow our decision-making process to become undermined by the false hope that a deep-water port facility off the coast of New Jersey will provide a cure-all for the present energy situation," Buehler said. "One massive spill from a supertanker might result in far greater damage than the present handling systems." In 1975, he and
Eugene J. Bedell were critical of a federal project to close
Fort Monmouth and
Picatinny Arsenal and called for a state investigation into the proposal. Fort Monmouth was ultimately closed in 2011 and serves as a studio for
Netflix as of 2025. Buehler was the lead sponsor and advocate for a 1977 bill to provide
greater access to public beaches and expanding state oversight of municipal beach operations, including exempting fishermen accessing
jetties from
beach badge requirements and giving the state government a
right of first refusal on all sales of public beachfront property. The proposal had its origins in Brendan Byrne's efforts to fight exclusive private beaches beginning in 1974, including the appointment of Buehler as chairman of the state Open Beaches Commission in 1976. In July 1977, he walked the entire length of the Jersey Shore from
Sandy Hook to
Cape May to draw attention to the bill. The walk was inspired by a similar one made by former
Environmental Protection commissioner
David J. Bardin during the prior year. He also worked with U.S. senator Bill Bradley, who owned a home in the district, to address pollution. He was among the first four candidates in the race. In March, he joined most of the Democratic field at a unity dinner in
Edison which was boycotted by Governor Byrne over objections to party fundraising. By May, Buehler had raised $8,415 and spent only $7,620, falling well short of the $50,000 spending requirement for the state government to match his funding. While running for governor, Buehler served as chair of the "Save Our Port" association, an organization dedicated to reforming the permitting process for the
maintenance dredging of the
Port of New York and New Jersey. "Continuation of maintenance dredging should be an assumed service," Buehler argued. He ultimately received less than one percent of the vote in the Democratic primary.
1983 state senate campaign In 1983, Buehler sought to challenge Brian Kennedy for his old senate seat. However, he faced
Long Branch councilman
Frank Pallone in the Democratic primary. Pallone won the
important endorsement of county party chair John Fiorino, and Fiorino successfully challenged Buehler's petition signatures, removing him from the ballot. Pallone ultimately won the Democratic primary with 91 percent of the vote and won a surprising, narrow victory over Kennedy in the general election.
1984 congressional campaign In 1984, Buehler ran for an open
United States House of Representatives seat in
New Jersey's 13th congressional district, which stretched from the shore to the Delaware River. The seat had been left vacant by the death of seven-term Republican incumbent
Edwin B. Forsythe. In the Democratic primary, he faced Mount Holly mayor James B. Smith, who had the support of party organizations in both Burlington and Camden counties, which accounted for 70 percent of the Democratic vote, and nuclear freeze advocate Eugene Creech. The race was complicated by redistricting, which meant that a special election and regularly scheduled election for the district were held under substantially different borders. == Personal life ==