Bill Bradbury

Bill Bradbury
23rd Oregon Secretary of State
In office November 8, 1999 – January 5, 2009
Preceded by	Phil Keisling
Succeeded by	Kate Brown
51st President of the Oregon State Senate
In office 1993–1994
Preceded by	John Kitzhaber
Succeeded by	Gordon Smith
Personal details
Born	(1949-05-29) May 29, 1949 Chicago, Illinois, USA
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Katy Eymann
Children	2
Residence	Salem, Oregon, USA

Bill Bradbury (born May 29, 1949) is an American politician from the US state of Oregon. A native of Illinois, he grew up in Chicago and Pennsylvania before moving to the West Coast where he worked in broadcast journalism before running for public office. A Democrat, he served as Oregon Secretary of State from 1999 to 2009, and ran for Governor of Oregon in 2010. Bradbury previously served in the Oregon Legislature from 1981 to 1995. In 2010 he was appointed to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council by Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski. He resides in Bandon, Oregon.

Early life

Bradbury was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1949, the third child of William and Lorraine Bradbury. He grew up in Chicago where his father was an associate professor of sociology at the University of Chicago. In September 1958, Bill’s mother and father were killed in an automobile accident in Montana. Bill and his sister Kathy were injured, but survived, and moved to Swarthmore, Pennsylvania to be raised by their aunt and uncle.^[1]

Education and early career

Bradbury graduated from the University of Chicago Laboratory High School in 1967.^[1] He attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio where he studied communications, and moved to Oregon in 1969 where he worked as a news reporter, director, and producer in Bandon, Eugene, and Portland.^[1]

Personal life

Bradbury copes with multiple sclerosis, diagnosed in 1981.^[2]

Bradbury currently lives in Salem and Bandon, Oregon, with his wife Katy Eymann, whom he married in 1986. She is the daughter of Richard O. Eymann, who served as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives in the 1970s.^[3] Bradbury has two adult daughters, Abby and Zoë, from a previous marriage, who still reside in Bandon as organic farmers.

Political career

MSNBC calls Bradbury an "environmental activist".^[4]

State Representative (1981–1995)

Bradbury was first elected as a State Representative from Curry and southern Coos County in 1980. For fourteen years Bradbury served in the Oregon Legislature, representing districts on the southern Oregon Coast. He was elected to the State Senate in 1984, where he was elected by his colleagues to serve in the leadership posts of Senate Majority Leader in 1986, and Senate President in 1993. During his time as President of the Senate, Jeff Golden, noted Southern Oregon activist, served as his Chief of Staff.

As a legislator, Bill focused on environmental protection and economic development. He worked to pass legislation to establish Small Business Development Centers at community colleges around the state,^[5] to develop the Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program (STEP), to develop a relief plan to assist displaced timber workers, and prevent offshore oil drilling off the Oregon Coast.

Bradbury left the Oregon Legislature in 1995 and founded and became the executive director of For the Sake of the Salmon, a regional non-profit organization which sought to restore salmon stocks and watershed restoration.^[1]

Secretary of State (1999–2009)

Following the resignation of Phil Keisling, Governor John Kitzhaber appointed Bradbury to be Oregon Secretary of State in November 1999.^[6] He was elected to the office in 2000, and re-elected in 2004, serving for nine years. As the state’s second-highest-ranking constitutional officer, he was auditor of public accounts, chief elections officer, and manager of the state’s official legislative and executive records. He also chaired the Oregon State Land Board, which oversees management of state-owned lands, and was appointed by the Governor to chair the Oregon Sustainability Board. As Secretary of State, Bradbury was a Superdelegate for Barack Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Following the passage of Measure 60 in 1998, Oregon moved to conduct all its elections by mail. As Secretary of State, Bradbury implemented the system, the first of its kind in the nation, which has increased voter participation in Oregon and decreased vote fraud. He also increased the transparency of financial transactions in our elections by having the Secretary of State's website host ORESTAR, an electronic reporting system for campaign contributions and spending. Bill also took the lead in coordinating state agencies to create an online business registry in Oregon to reduce paperwork and filing fees.^[7]

Bradbury was the Democratic challenger to incumbent Senator Gordon H. Smith in the 2002 U.S. Senate election in Oregon, but was defeated by over 18 points. He only carried one county in the state, Multnomah County, home to Portland.

Since he left office, Bradbury has traveled the state giving over 200 presentations on climate change and its effects on Oregon.^[8]

2010 Oregon gubernatorial race

Bradbury was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Oregon in 2010, but lost in the primary to former governor John Kitzhaber.^[9] Bradbury had been endorsed by former Democratic National Committee Chairman and Presidential candidate Howard Dean;^[4] former Oregon Governor Barbara Roberts; former Vice President Al Gore;^[10] the Oregon Education Association; the American Federation of Teachers-Oregon (AFT-OR); and the Oregon School Employees Association (OSEA).

Electoral history

• 2010 Democratic Primary Governor
  • John Kitzhaber, 242,545
  • Bill Bradbury, 110,298
  • Roger Obrist, 16,057
  • Misc., 5,504
• 2004 General Election Secretary of State^[11]
  • Bill Bradbury (D) (inc.), 1,000,052
  • Betsy Close (R), 690,228
  • Richard Morley (L), 56,678
  • Misc., 3,871
• 2004 Democratic Primary Secretary of State^[12]
  • Bill Bradbury, 311,602
  • Paul Damian Wells, 41,196
  • Misc., 1,839
• 2002 General Election United States Senate^[13]
  • Gordon Smith (R) (inc.), 712,287
  • Bill Bradbury (D), 501,898
  • Lon Mabon (C), 21,703
  • Dan Fitzgearld (L), 29,979
  • Misc., 1,354
• 2002 Democratic Primary United States Senate^[14]
  • Craig Hanson, 27,472
  • Greg Haven, 13,995
  • Bill Bradbury, 279,792
  • Misc., 4,480
• 2000 General Election Secretary of State^[15]
  • Bill Bradbury (D), 725,265
  • Lloyd Marbet (G), 64,555
  • Lynn Snodgrass (R), 652,803
  • Ed Pole (L), 24,286
  • Misc., 926
• 2000 Democratic Primary Secretary of State^[16]
  • Bill Bradbury, 290,870
  • Misc., 4,513

See also

• Secretary of state (U.S. state government)

References

Oregonian Article - Bradbury appointed to NW Power and Conservation Council

External links

• Bill Bradbury for Governor