Charles Starr (born c. 1933) is an American politician and farmer in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. He served as 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 ...

member of the

Oregon Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...

for 14 years, serving in both houses. A native of

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 ...

, Starr served in the

Oregon State Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the state Sena ...

with his son

Bruce Starr 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 fat ...

, 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

.Bodine, Harry. House race in new District 3 wide open. ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'', October 14, 1992. The son of an oil driller, he attended 19 different schools between first grade and sixth grade. Starr married Kathy and they would have four children, all boys; Bryan, West, Alan, and Bruce.Charles Starr. ''

Statesman Journal The ''Statesman Journal'' is the major daily newspaper published in Salem, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1851 as the ''Oregon Statesman'', it later merged with the ''Capital Journal'' to form the current newspaper, the second-oldest in Orego ...

'', April 22, 2006.Wong, Peter. Family's politics written in the Starrs. ''

'', March 1, 2003. Charles earned a bachelor's degree in agriculture in 1955 from the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The University ...

and then worked for a year as an agricultural teacher. He would serve in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1956 to 1958. He earned a master's degree from the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

in 1960 in agribusiness management. Starr moved to

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

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 The Hillsboro School District 1J is a unified school district located in Hillsboro, Oregon, Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. The district operates 26 elementary schools, four middle schools, and four high schools. Founded in 1851, the school di ...

. He then joined the Hillsboro Union High School Board, spending a total of 12 years on the two boards. He made an unsuccessful bid for a seat on the Washington County Board of Commissioners in 1986. A conservative Christian politician,Hogan, Dave. Oregon incumbents hold on to House seats. ''

'', November 8, 2000. Starr was elected to 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 ...

as a Republican representing Hillsboro and Washington County in 1992. Entering state politics at age 59, he defeated Democrat Pat Kliewer to represent the area surrounding most of Hillsboro, Forest Grove, and Cornelius. He was re-elected to the same seat in 1994 and 1996. Both times he defeated Democrat Marcus Simantel in the November elections. Son Bruce served as his legislative assistant during these terms. After three terms in the House, he was elected to the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

in 1998, while his son

was elected to his former House seat. Starr was prohibited at the time by Oregon's

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

from another term in the House, pushing towards a run at the state senate. A

pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

advocate, he had defeated incumbent and

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...

Republican state senator Jeannette Hamby in the Republican primary. In 1999, he helped to pass Oregon's

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of auto ...

bill.Stern, Henry. Father and son aim at Senate. ''

'', October 9, 2001. In the legislature he was a proponent of home schooling and charter schools, while opposing

same-sex unions A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

. Starr ran for

Oregon's 1st Congressional District Oregon's 1st congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S state of Oregon. The district stretches from Portland's western suburbs and exurbs, to parts of the Oregon coast. The district includes the principal cities of ...

in 2000, defeating Alice Schlenker in the May primary with 62% of the vote compared to 38%. He lost to incumbent Democrat

David Wu David Wu (born April 8, 1955) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1999 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. As a child of immigrants from Taiwan, Wu was the first Taiwanese American to serve in ...

in the November general election. He had received support in his bid from Oregon business interests including

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

due to Wu's vote against free trade with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. In 2002, the

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.Oregon's 1992 law imposing term limits for state legislators. 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. He had been a proponent of term limits. In 2002, he was re-elected to a second four-year term in the Senate where son Bruce was also elected to serve.Oregon Legislative Assembly (72nd) 2003 Regular Session.

Oregon State Archives The Archives Division of the Office of the Secretary of State of Oregon, or the Oregon State Archives, is an agency of the Oregon Secretary of State charged with preserving and providing access to government records. The Oregon State Archives is ...

. Retrieved on April 6, 2008. Charles' district now included parts of

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mari ...

, Clackamas, Yamhill, and Washington counties. Charles and Bruce were the first father-son tandem to serve at the same time in the history of the Oregon State Senate.Wong, Peter. House's potential new speaker shares plans. ''

'', November 9, 2006. 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.Goetze, Janet. Flamingo fuss. ''

'', June 10, 2003. 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. Democrats called for Starr to be replaced as chairman of the education committee. 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. In the May 2006 Republican primary, Charles lost to

Larry George Larry George (born c. 1968) is an American politician and businessman in Oregon. He was a Republican member of the Oregon State Senate representing District 13 from 2007 to 2015. Before his election, he was the leader of the political group Orego ...

who would then win the general election in November, and joined his own father in the Senate.Wong, Peter. George ousts veteran Starr in close vote. ''

'', May 18, 2006. 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.Har, Janie. Anti-tax group helps to give the boot. ''

'', May 22, 2006. With the loss in the primary, Charles' time in the

Oregon Legislative Assembly The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...

ended after 14 years.

Later years

After leaving the legislature Starr began working as a lobbyist at the state capitol in 2007. He publicly opposed a bill that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation that same year. 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.Guerrero-Huston, Thelma. Walker's sixth-graders have twice as much to talk about. ''

'', December 5, 2007.

References

External links

Follow The MoneyPortland Tribune: State may beef up hunger outreach
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starr, Charles 1933 births Living people Republican Party Oregon state senators Republican Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives University of Idaho alumni University of California, Davis alumni People from Texas Politicians from Hillsboro, Oregon School board members in Oregon Farmers from Oregon 21st-century American politicians

Early life

Political career

Later years

See also

References

External links