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For the American bookbinder, see Charles Starr (bookbinder).

Charles Starr (born c. 1933) is an American politician and farmer in Oregon. He served as a Republican member of the Oregon Legislature for 14 years, serving in both houses. A native of Texas, Starr served in the Oregon State Senate with his son Bruce Starr, the first time in Oregon's history a father and son served in the Senate together.

Early life

Charles Starr was born around 1933 and raised in the central part of Texas.[1] The son of an oil driller, he attended 19 different schools between first grade and sixth grade.[1] Starr married Kathy and they would have four children, all boys; Bryan, West, Alan, and Bruce.[2][3] Charles earned a bachelor's degree in agriculture in 1955 from the University of Idaho and then worked for a year as an agricultural teacher.[2] He would serve in the United States Army from 1956 to 1958.[2] He earned a master's degree from the University of California, Davis in 1960 in agribusiness management.[2]

Starr moved to Oregon in 1962 and began working at Farmers Oil Cooperative in McMinnville, followed by a job at Pacific Farmers Cooperative in Hillsboro.[2][3] He left Pacific in 1969 and spent ten years working for Flavorland Foods before becoming a general contractor in 1979.[2] Living in Hillsboro, he remained a contractor and also farmed until retirement in 2002.[2] He had operated Starr Boys Garden Center.[1]

Political career

Starr started his political career serving on the school board of Groner Elementary School south of Hillsboro, and now part of the Hillsboro School District.[1] He then joined the Hillsboro Union High School Board, spending a total of 12 years on the two boards.[1] He made an unsuccessful bid for a seat on the Washington County Board of Commissioners in 1986.[2] A conservative Christian politician,[4] Starr was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives as a Republican representing Hillsboro and Washington County in 1992.[5] Entering state politics at age 59, he defeated Democrat Pat Kliewer to represent the area surrounding most of Hillsboro, Forest Grove, and Cornelius.[1]

He was re-elected to the same seat in 1994[6] and 1996.[7] Both times he defeated Democrat Marcus Simantel in the November elections.[8] Son Bruce served as his legislative assistant during these terms.[3]

After three terms in the House, he was elected to the State Senate in 1998, while his son Bruce Starr was elected to his former House seat.[9] Starr was prohibited at the time by Oregon's term limits from another term in the House, pushing towards a run at the state senate.[10] A pro-life advocate, he had defeated incumbent and pro-choice Republican state senator Jeannette Hamby in the Republican primary.[11] In 1999, he helped to pass Oregon's charter school bill.[12]

In the legislature he was a proponent of home schooling and charter schools, while opposing same-sex unions.[13] Starr ran for Oregon's 1st Congressional District in 2000, defeating Alice Schlenker in the May primary with 62% of the vote compared to 38%.[14][15] He lost to incumbent Democrat David Wu in the November general election.[16] He had received support in his bid from Oregon business interests including Intel due to Wu's vote against free trade with China.[4]

In 2002, the Oregon Supreme Court stuck down Oregon's 1992 law imposing term limits for state legislators.[17] Prior to the ruling, Starr would not have been able to run for re-election to the state senate as he had served 10 years in the legislature, and the law limited people to 12 years maximum.[18] He had been a proponent of term limits.[12] In 2002, he was re-elected to a second four-year term in the Senate where son Bruce was also elected to serve.[19] Charles' district now included parts of Marion, Clackamas, Yamhill, and Washington counties.[19]

Charles and Bruce were the first father-son tandem to serve at the same time in the history of the Oregon State Senate.[20][21] In 2003, Charles Starr created some controversy when he told a constituent in a letter to "run - not walk - to remove their children from public schools" in response to the constituent's opposition to charter schools.[22] At the time, Starr was chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and in June 2003 his lawn was filled with plastic pink flamingos paid for by a fundraising campaign at a local elementary school.[22] Democrats called for Starr to be replaced as chairman of the education committee.[23] During the 2005 legislative session he served as vice chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee, and as vice chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate.[24]

In the May 2006 Republican primary, Charles lost to Larry George who would then win the general election in November, and joined his own father in the Senate.[20][25] The loss was attributed in part to Starr's voting record that included raising taxes, with an anti-tax group contributing $50,000 to his opponent during the election.[13] With the loss in the primary, Charles' time in the Oregon Legislative Assembly ended after 14 years.[20][25]

Later years

After leaving the legislature Starr began working as a lobbyist at the state capitol in 2007.[26] He publicly opposed a bill that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation that same year.[27] He also came out against dual-language immersion programs over concerns that teachers were not properly trained and students would not be able to learn to read at an early age.[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Bodine, Harry. House race in new District 3 wide open. The Oregonian, October 14, 1992.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Charles Starr. Statesman Journal, April 22, 2006.
  3. ^ a b c Wong, Peter. Family's politics written in the Starrs. Statesman Journal, March 1, 2003.
  4. ^ a b Hogan, Dave. Oregon incumbents hold on to House seats. The Oregonian, November 8, 2000.
  5. ^ Oregon Legislative Assembly (67th) 1993 Regular Session. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on April 6, 2008.
  6. ^ Oregon Legislative Assembly (68th) 1995 Regular Session. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on April 6, 2008.
  7. ^ Oregon Legislative Assembly (69th) 1997 Regular Session. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on April 6, 2008.
  8. ^ Colby, Richard. Simantel trading life as a farmer for urban condo. The Oregonian, August 27, 1998.
  9. ^ Oregon Legislative Assembly (70th) 1999 Regular Session. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on April 6, 2008.
  10. ^ Colby, Richard. GOP opponents for Senate seat hold differing views. The Oregonian, April 24, 1998.
  11. ^ Young, Bob. Beyond Roe vs. Wade: The present-chipping at choice. Archived 2008-03-31 at the Wayback Machine Willamette Week, January 21, 1998. Retrieved on April 7, 2008.
  12. ^ a b Stern, Henry. Father and son aim at Senate. The Oregonian, October 9, 2001.
  13. ^ a b Har, Janie. Anti-tax group helps to give the boot. The Oregonian, May 22, 2006.
  14. ^ Hamilton, Don. GOP's Starr wins, heads to battle Wu. The Oregonian, May 17, 2000.
  15. ^ 2000 Primary results – State. Statesman Journal, May 18, 2000.
  16. ^ Gunderson, Laura. GOP targets 1st district seat. The Oregonian, November 17, 2003.
  17. ^ Green, Ashbel S. and Lisa Grace Lednicer. State high court strikes term limits. The Oregonian, January 17, 2002.
  18. ^ Stern, Henry. Term limits ruling opens new choices. The Oregonian, January 17, 2002.
  19. ^ a b Oregon Legislative Assembly (72nd) 2003 Regular Session. Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on April 6, 2008.
  20. ^ a b c Wong, Peter. House's potential new speaker shares plans. Statesman Journal, November 9, 2006.
  21. ^ Richards, Don. Research Memo: March 20, 2007. Wyoming Legislative Service Office. Retrieved on April 8, 2008.
  22. ^ a b Goetze, Janet. Flamingo fuss. The Oregonian, June 10, 2003.
  23. ^ Party chief wants Starr replaced. Statesman Journal, March 8, 2003.
  24. ^ Local assignments. Statesman Journal, December 18, 2004.
  25. ^ a b Wong, Peter. George ousts veteran Starr in close vote. Statesman Journal, May 18, 2006.
  26. ^ Hogan, Dave. Bill says to lawmakers: Not so fast on lobbying. The Oregonian, March 7, 2007.
  27. ^ Law, Steve. Panel OKs sexual-orientation protections. Statesman Journal, March 13, 2007.
  28. ^ Guerrero-Huston, Thelma. Walker's sixth-graders have twice as much to talk about. Statesman Journal, December 5, 2007.
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