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Bruce Starr

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Bruce Starr
Member of the Oregon Senate
from the 15th district
In office
January 2003 – January 2015
Succeeded byChuck Riley
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
from the 3rd district
In office
January 1999 – January 2003
Preceded byCharles Starr
Succeeded byGordon Anderson
Personal details
Born (1969-01-12) January 12, 1969 (age 55)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseRebecca Starr
Alma materPortland State University

Bruce Starr (born January 12, 1969) is an American politician and businessman in Oregon. A Republican, he served two terms in the Oregon House of Representatives before winning election to the Oregon State Senate in 2002. There he joined his father Senator Charles Starr and they became the first father-son team to serve at the same time in Oregon's Senate. Bruce had previously been a member of the Hillsboro City Council, and was re-elected to the Senate in 2006 and 2010, but lost a bid in 2012 to be the Oregon Labor Commissioner.

Early life

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Starr is from Aloha, Oregon,[1] and was born in 1969 in Portland, Oregon, as the youngest of four children to Charles and Kathy Starr.[2] Starr grew up to the south of Hillsboro where he attended Groner Elementary before graduating from Hillsboro High School in 1986.[2][3] That year he completed high school in independent study in order to work for the campaign of Joe Lutz who was running against Bob Packwood.[4] Lutz lost in the Republican primary for Packwood's United States Senate seat.[4] After high school he attended Portland State University (PSU) and worked as a legislative intern for Oregon Senator Bob Kintigh during the 1987 and 1989 legislatures.[3] In 1988, he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention held in New Orleans, Louisiana.[4]

Starr graduated from PSU with a Bachelor of Science degree in political science in 1991.[3][5] After college he worked as a contractor for his own roofing and residential construction company.[3] He married Rebecca, and they have one daughter and one son, living in Hillsboro on Portland's west side.[6] He worked as a manager for the Portland Business Alliance for international trade and business development before becoming a business owner once again with Cutting Edge Communications.[4][5]

Political career

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In 1992, Starr was selected to serve on the Republican Party's Washington County Central Committee for a two-year term.[7] He served as a committee person at his local Republican precinct and as a legislative aide to his father before election to the Hillsboro City Council in 1994.[8] Starr ran against Donald W. Surhbier for a four-year term representing Ward 1.[8] He was appointed to budget committees of both the county and Hillsboro during this time.[3] He remained on the city council until running for the Oregon House of Representatives in 1998 to replace his father, who was running for the state senate.[3] The district had more registered Republican voters than Democrats.[6] Bruce also served as his father's legislative aide during the elder's terms in the Oregon House.[4]

He won re-election to the House in 2000, winning 57% of the vote and defeating Libertarian David Hintz who received 3% and Democrat Cathy Lamb-Mullin with 40%.[9] Starr was unopposed in the May primary.[10] During the 2001 legislature Starr served as chair of the House's committee on transportation.[11] He also proposed naming the state's new building on the Capitol Mall be named after former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.[12]

In 2002, Starr ran for the Oregon State Senate to represent District 15, which had been redrawn after the 2000 Census.[13] The new version of the district was entirely within Washington County and included Forest Grove, Cornelius, and Hillsboro.[13] Part of the reason for moving to the state senate was that term limits at the time limited people to 12 years maximum and three terms in the House, and Starr hoped to serve for the maximum amount of time.[13] He was elected in the November election to a four-year term, and became part of the first father-son tandem in the history of the Oregon Senate.[4][13][14] Bruce received 60% of the vote compared to Democrat Ermine Todd who received 34% and Constitutional Party candidate Tom Humphrey who garnered 3%.[15] This was also the first time since 1977 that a child served alongside their parent in either chamber.[13]

Working in the legislature he helped create and pass the Oregon Transportation Investment Act[16][17] and sponsored Oregon's version of Jessica's Law.[18] Starr won re-election to the Senate in November 2006, defeating Democrat John Napolitano with 54% to 46% of the vote after running unopposed in the May primary.[5][19] He represents District 15 which is composed mainly of Washington County and includes part of Clackamas County.[20]

In February 2007, he was fined by the state's ethics commission a total of $300 for failing to report two trips paid for by lobbyists as required by law.[21] One trip was to Israel, while the other was a trip to Hawaii paid for by Oregon Beer & Wine Distributors Association in which four other state legislators were also fined.[21] Starr sponsored a bill that required the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles to issue driver's licenses only to legal residents in May 2007.[22] The bill passed the Senate, but was not enacted into law. A similar measure was passed in February 2008 and signed into law the Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski.[23] Starr was fined again in late 2007, this time for $20,000 for failing to file campaign finance reports on time.[24] In November 2007, Starr opted not to run for the open Oregon Secretary of State position in 2008; he was the most mentioned Republican option to run against several Democratic candidates.[24] He had considered running for the office in 2004.[25] Starr did enter the race to serve as Commissioner of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries in December 2011 for the May 2012 primary.[26] He was unopposed, but lost in the general election in November 2012 to incumbent Brad Avakian 47% to 53%.[27]

Starr faced a rematch against 2010 opponent Chuck Riley in the closest Oregon legislative race of 2014, which Riley narrowly won. The race was not called for nearly a week after Election Day.[28]

Electoral history

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2006 Oregon State Senator, 15th district[29]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bruce Starr 19,973 54.9
Democratic John Napolitano 16,308 44.9
Write-in 71 0.2
Total votes 36,352 100%
2010 Oregon State Senator, 15th district[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bruce Starr 21,382 52.1
Democratic Chuck Riley 19,533 47.6
Write-in 120 0.3
Total votes 41,035 100%
2012 Oregon Commissioner of Labor election[31]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Brad Avakian 681,987 52.5
Nonpartisan Bruce Starr 606,735 46.7
Write-in 9,616 0.7
Total votes 1,298,338 100%
2014 Oregon State Senator, 15th district[32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Chuck Riley 18,156 45.7
Republican Bruce Starr 17,869 45.0
Libertarian Caitlin Mitchel-Markley 3,593 9.0
Write-in 116 0.3
Total votes 39,734 100%
2024 Oregon State Senator, 12th district[33]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bruce W Starr 41,459 55.6
Democratic Scott Hooper 25,077 33.6
Independent Andrea Kennedy-Smith 7,984 10.7
Write-in 50 0.1
Total votes 74,570 100%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Larabee, Mark (January 22, 1999) "Bill aims to lift all Oregon religious shields" , The Oregonian
  2. ^ a b "Charles Starr", Statesman Journal, April 22, 2006.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Gonzalez, Cristine. "Hillsboro councilman Starr will run for house seat", The Oregonian, January 14, 1998.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Wong, Peter. "Family's politics written in the Starrs", Statesman Journal, March 1, 2003.
  5. ^ a b c "Oregon Senate, District 15 – The candidates", The Oregonian, April 13, 2006.
  6. ^ a b Hamilton, Don. "Familiarity, cash help Starr face newcomers", The Oregonian, October 27, 2000.
  7. ^ Bodine, Harry. "Moderates retain control of GOP in county", The Oregonian, November 23, 1992.
  8. ^ a b Colby, Richard. "Two council races set in Hillsboro", The Oregonian, November 1, 1994.
  9. ^ "Hass, Ringo gain house seats", The Oregonian, November 8, 2000.
  10. ^ Hamilton, Don. "No challengers emerge for sheriff, commissioner", The Oregonian, March 8, 2000.
  11. ^ Stern, Harry. "County's clout yet to become leadership", The Oregonian, July 8, 2002.
  12. ^ Esteve, Harry. "Bill would name a state building after Reagan", The Oregonian, March 16, 2001.
  13. ^ a b c d e Stern, Henry. "Father and son aim at Senate", The Oregonian, October 9, 2001.
  14. ^ Oregon Legislative Assembly (72nd) 2003 Regular Session. Archived October 1, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on April 6, 2008.
  15. ^ How Oregon voted. The Oregonian, November 10, 2002.
  16. ^ Smith, Jill Rehkopf. "Education tops agenda for legislative candidates", The Oregonian, October 12, 2006.
  17. ^ Har, Janie and Harry Esteve. "Governor signs bill to spend $2.5 billion on roads, bridges", The Oregonian, July 29, 2003.
  18. ^ Cole, Michelle, Dave Hogan, and Janie Har. "Legislators get in, get out, go home", The Oregonian, April 21, 2006.
  19. ^ "How Oregon voted – Election results", The Oregonian, November 9, 2006.
  20. ^ Oregon Legislative Assembly (72nd) 2003 Regular Session. Archived October 1, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on April 9, 2008.
  21. ^ a b Hogan, Dave. "Ethics panel seeks bigger fines for 3", The Oregonian, February 17, 2007.
  22. ^ Har, Janie. "Legislature mixed in approach to Real ID", The Oregonian, May 16, 2007.
  23. ^ Wong, Peter. "Governor signs law to strengthen license rules", Statesman Journal, February 17, 2008.
  24. ^ a b Esteve, Harry. "Lone GOP candidate drops out of primary", The Oregonian, November 29, 2007.
  25. ^ Esteve, Harry. "Top offices fail to entice Republicans to enter fray", The Oregonian, January 31, 2004.
  26. ^ "State Sen. Starr announces bid for Labor Commissioner". Portland Business Journal. December 16, 2011. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  27. ^ Kost, Ryan (November 6, 2012). "Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries: Brad Avakian wins second term". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on April 3, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  28. ^ "Chuck Riley unseats Bruce Starr: Oregon Senate race called". The Oregonian. November 10, 2014. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  29. ^ "Official Results | November 7, 2006". Oregon Secretary of State. Archived from the original on September 10, 2023. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  30. ^ "Official Results November 2, 2010". Oregon Secretary of State. Archived from the original on August 31, 2023. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  31. ^ "Official Results | November 6, 2012". Oregon Secretary of State. Archived from the original on April 6, 2023. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  32. ^ "November 4, 2014, General Election, Official Abstract of Votes". Oregon Secretary of State. Archived from the original on April 6, 2023. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  33. ^ "November 5, 2024, General Election Abstract of Votes" (PDF). Oregon Secretary of State. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 12, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
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