Luis Guillermo "Billy" Dalto (born October 21, 1976) is an American politician. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, he represented parts of

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

in the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 65,000. The House meets in the west wing of the ...

from 2003 until 2007.

Early life

Dalto was born in 1976 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, to

Jorge Dalto Jorge Dalto (July 8, 1948 – October 27, 1987) was a pop, jazz and Afro-Cuban music pianist from Argentina, and the former musical director and keyboardist (together with Ronnie Foster) for George Benson, contributing the acoustic piano intro a ...

, a pianist originally from

Roque Pérez Roque Pérez is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the administrative headquarters for Roque Pérez Partido. Notable people * Jorge Dalto Jorge Dalto (July 8, 1948 – October 27, 1987) was a pop, jazz and Afro-Cuban music pi ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, and Adela Dalto, a singer born to Mexican parents in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. His father died of cancer when Dalto was eleven years old. Dalto graduated from

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

in 1998 and

Willamette University College of Law Willamette University College of Law is the law school of Willamette University. Located in Salem, Oregon, and founded in 1883, Willamette is the oldest law school in the Pacific Northwest. It has approximately 24 full-time law professors and e ...

in 2012.

Political career

Dalto served as a legislative aide for State Representative

Jackie Winters Jackie Winters (April 15, 1937 – May 29, 2019) was an American Republican politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. She served as a state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or ...

. When Winters ran for the state Senate in 2002, Dalto ran for the state House. He defeated former Salem mayor Mike Swaim, 53% to 47%. He won reelection in 2004, defeating Claudia L. Howells, but lost to

Brian Clem Brian L. Clem (born 1972) is an American politician who served as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives for the 21st district (largely from 2007 to 2021. Career Claim was first elected to the House 2006, defeating incumbent Republic ...

by a wide margin in 2006, in a year which saw control of the House of Representatives flip from Republican to Democratic. Dalto endorsed

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasic ...

in the

2016 Republican Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses of the Republican Party took place within all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories between February 1 and June 7, 2016. These elections selected the 2,472 delegates that were se ...

Political positions

Dalto sponsored a bill in 2003 which would have allowed undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at Oregon universities. According to a 2004 voter guide published by the Oregon Family Council, a Christian conservative organization, Dalto supports legal abortion but favors mandatory parental notification before a minor gets an abortion. He also opposes

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

and increased protections for members of the LGBT community. Dalto answered

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

's 2006 Political Courage Test, in which he indicated support for a balanced budget and opposition to term limits for state legislators.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalto, Billy 21st-century American politicians 1976 births Living people American people of Argentine descent American politicians of Mexican descent Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Oregon Republican Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives Politicians from New York City Politicians from Salem, Oregon Willamette University alumni