Walter Kurt Schrader (born October 19, 1951) is an American politician and veterinarian serving as the
U.S. representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
for since 2009. His district covered most of Oregon's central coast, plus
Salem, and many of
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
's southern suburbs, and a sliver of Portland itself. A member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, Schrader served in both houses of the
Oregon Legislative Assembly from 1997 to 2008.
Schrader ran for reelection in
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...
. His district had undergone a major change after Oregon gained a seat, moving away from the coast and east of Salem, and taking in
Deschutes County. Despite his campaign's stronger funding and endorsement from President
Joe Biden, Schrader lost renomination to progressive challenger
Jamie McLeod-Skinner
Jamie McLeod-Skinner (born May 31, 1967) is an American attorney, engineer, and politician who was the Democratic nominee for in the 2022 election. In an upset, McLeod-Skinner defeated seven-term incumbent Blue Dog representative Kurt Schra ...
,
who subsequently lost to Republican
Lori Chavez-DeRemer
Lori Michelle Chavez-DeRemer (born April 7, 1968) is an American politician from Oregon. A member of the Republican Party, she is the member-elect to the United States House of Representatives from .
Education
Chavez-DeRemer is a graduate of ...
.
Early life, education, and early career
Schrader was born in Connecticut and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
in 1973. At Cornell, Schrader met
Martha Northam and the two married in 1975.
Schrader earned his
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
in 1977. A year later, the Schraders moved to Oregon, and Kurt opened the Clackamas County Veterinary Clinic in
Oregon City.
[
Schrader served for 16 years on the Canby Planning Commission.
]
Oregon legislature
Elections
Schrader served three terms in the Oregon House of Representatives. He first ran for the office in 1994, losing by 38 votes to Republican Jerry Grisham. In 1996, Schrader ran again, defeating Paul Kraxburger. He was reelected in 1998 and 2000.
In 2002, Schrader ran for the Oregon State Senate seat vacated by the retiring Verne Duncan
Verne Allen Duncan (born April 6, 1934) is an American politician from the state of Oregon. As an educator and moderate Republican, he has become outspoken in protest of policies of his own party he views as extreme.
A former classroom teacher, ...
, representing the 20th district in southwestern Clackamas County
Clackamas County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 421,401, making it Oregon's third-most populous county. Its county seat is Oregon City. The county was named after the Native ...
, including the cities of Barlow, Canby Canby may refer to:
People
* Canby (surname)
Places
;In the United States
* Canby, California
* Canby, Iowa
* Canby, Minnesota
* Canby, Oregon
* Canby Creek, a stream in Minnesota
* Canby Mountains, Oregon
{{disambiguation, geo ...
, Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
, Johnson City, Oregon City and parts of Milwaukie. He defeated Oregon House member Kathy Lowe in a contentious Democratic primary, then faced no Republican opposition in the general election. His wife, Martha Schrader, was the Democratic nominee to succeed Schrader for his vacant House seat; she lost the general election to Wayne Scott.[ She then served as a Clackamas County commissioner until 2009, when she was appointed by the same commission (recusing herself from voting) to replace her husband in the State Senate.]
Committee assignments
In the Oregon Senate, Schrader co-chaired the Joint Ways and Means Committee in the 2003 and 2005 sessions and chaired the Interim Joint Legislative Audit Committee in the 2005 session. To prepare for his U.S. House seat, Schrader resigned effective December 17, 2008.[
]
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2008
In May 2008, Schrader won the Democratic nomination for for the seat being vacated by Darlene Hooley
Darlene Kay Olson Hooley (born April 4, 1939) is an American politician and former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon who represented the state's .
A high school teacher by profession, she served as a city coun ...
. In the general election, he defeated Republican nominee Mike Erickson
Mike Erickson (born January 27, 1963) is an American businessman and perennial political candidate in the U.S. state of Oregon. He was the Republican nominee for the United States House of Representatives in Oregon's 6th congressional district in ...
with 54% of the vote to Erickson's 38%. Schrader won all seven counties in the district.
2010
Schrader was challenged by Republican nominee and Oregon State Representative Scott Bruun
Lorentz Scott Bruun ( ; born May 3, 1966) is an American Republican politician from the US state of Oregon. He served in the Oregon House of Representatives representing District 37, which encompasses some of the southern suburbs of Portland, Or ...
and Pacific Green nominee Chris Lugo. Despite several polls showing Bruun ahead and Nate Silver
Nathaniel Read Silver (born January 13, 1978) is an American statistician, writer, and poker player who analyzes baseball (see sabermetrics), basketball, and elections (see psephology). He is the founder and editor-in-chief of ''FiveThirtyEigh ...
of FiveThirtyEight
''FiveThirtyEight'', sometimes rendered as ''538'', is an American website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States. The website, which takes its name from the number of electors in th ...
predicting Schrader would likely lose, Schrader won with 51% of the vote to Bruun's 46%. It was the closest House race in Oregon in 2010, a year in which Republicans picked up at least 63 House seats, but only one on the West Coast.
2012
Schrader was reelected, 54.0% to 42.4%.
2014
Schrader was reelected, 53.7% to 39.3%
2016
Schrader was reelected, 53.5% to 43.0%. He was absent from the Congressional swearing-in on January 3, 2017, because he was on his honeymoon. He was the only member of Congress not to be sworn in that day.
2020
Schrader was reelected, 51.9% to 45.2%. His Republican opponent was Amy Ryan Courser. The Libertarian candidate, Matthew Rix, received 2.8%.
2022
On May 17, 2022, Schrader lost the Democratic primary to Jamie McLeod-Skinner
Jamie McLeod-Skinner (born May 31, 1967) is an American attorney, engineer, and politician who was the Democratic nominee for in the 2022 election. In an upset, McLeod-Skinner defeated seven-term incumbent Blue Dog representative Kurt Schra ...
, 56.9% to 42.7%. McLeod-Skinner's victory was largely due to her support in Deschutes County. Schrader is the first sitting member of Oregon's Congressional delegation to lose a primary challenge since 1980. ''Politico'' characterized Schrader's loss as resulting from progressive backlash against his voting record and noted that he received support from two outside groups associated with moderates and was endorsed by Joe Biden. Commentary from ''The Wall Street Journal'''s editorial page, which called Schrader "Oregon's Joe Manchin
Joseph Manchin III (born August 24, 1947) is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from West Virginia, a seat he has held since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Manchin was the 34th governor o ...
", said that his loss was an example of how endangered conservative Democrats had become.
Tenure
Schrader was ranked the 50th-most bipartisan House member during the 114th United States Congress
The 114th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from Jan ...
(and the most bipartisan House member from Oregon) by The Lugar Center
Richard Green Lugar (April 4, 1932 – April 28, 2019) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Indiana from 1977 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party.
Born in Indianapolis, Lugar graduated from Den ...
and McCourt School of Public Policy
The McCourt School of Public Policy is one of ten constituent schools of Georgetown University. The McCourt School offers master's degrees in public policy, international development policy, policy management, data science for public policy, an ...
's Bipartisan Index, which ranks members of Congress by measuring how often their bills attract co-sponsors from the opposite party and how often they co-sponsor bills by members of the opposite party. As of March 2022, Schrader had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 96.4% of the time.
In December 2016, Schrader criticized Nancy Pelosi's election as Minority Leader, saying, "I'm very worried we just signed the Democratic Party's death certificate for the next decade and a half".
After the 2021 United States Capitol attack, Schrader called possible impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
a "lynching." One of Oregon's top political consultants announced he would no longer work with Schrader due to the comment. Schrader later apologized for his comments and supported the second impeachment of Donald Trump.
Abortion
In May 2012, Schrader voted against the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2012, introduced by Representative Trent Franks
Trent Franks (born June 19, 1957) is a former American politician and businessman who served as the U.S. representative for from 2003 to 2017 (numbered as the 2nd district from 2003 to 2013). He is a member of the Republican Party. During his ...
. The bill proposed criminal penalties for giving abortions in special cases, notably when based on gender, race or color of the child or parent.
Health care
Schrader supports the Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...
. He and former Representative Allyson Schwartz co-chaired the New Dem Health Care Task Force, which set forth an agenda of "more effectively implementing health care policy in this country that improves payment and delivery systems."
In July 2017, Schrader led a group of ten House Democrats who proposed to augment Obamacare with a $15 billion "annual reinsurance fund to pay health insurers that enroll higher-cost, sicker individuals."
In September 2021, Schrader, Scott Peters, and Kathleen Rice
Kathleen Maura Rice (born February 15, 1965) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the United States representative for New York's 4th congressional district. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before serving in Congress, Rice ...
opposed allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices except in a small subset of cases. Schrader's opposition was characterized as a threat to the passing of President Biden’s social and environmental infrastructure package. Advocacy groups have criticized Schrader for "doing the backroom bidding of Big Pharma" because he has received $614,830 from the pharmaceutical industry
The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate symptoms. ...
since he became a Congressman, $144,252 of it during the 2020 election cycle. He has denied that these donations influenced his vote, saying he opposed the bill because he thinks it could not pass the Senate and that he is working on a different bill that he thinks will get more support.
Agriculture and veterinary medicine
In March 2017, Schrader told a district audience that the Trump administration seemed determined to deregulate agriculture. He said that agriculture regulations "were a bit of an overreach", causing problems for both dairy and dirt farmers.
Schrader coauthored the Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act of 2014 (H.R. 1528; 113th Congress), a bill that would amend the Controlled Substances Act to clarify that veterinarian
A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...
s are not required to have separate registrations to dispense controlled substances
A controlled substance is generally a drug or chemical whose manufacture, possession and use is regulated by a government, such as illicitly used drugs or prescription medications that are designated by law. Some treaties, notably the Single ...
outside of their principal place of business, such as when treating animals on a farm
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...
.
Gun control
In December 2017, Schrader was one of only six House Democrats to support legislation allowing concealed handgun licensees to carry their weapons in all 50 states.
On June 8, 2022, Schrader voted against the Protecting Our Kids Act, gun safety legislation the House passed in the wake of the Robb Elementary School shooting
On May 24, 2022, a mass shooting occurred at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, United States, where 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a former student at the school, fatally shot nineteen students and two teachers, and wounded seventeen other ...
. He was one of only two Democrats to vote against the bill, which would raise the age for purchasing semi-automatic weapons from 18 to 21, limit ammunition magazine size, and require safe storage of guns and ammunition with penalties and/or liability for non-compliance.
On July 29, 2022, Schrader and four other Democrats joined the Republicans in voting against a bill banning assault weapons.
COVID relief
In February 2021, Schrader was one of two House Democrats to vote against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to s ...
. He said he voted against it because he felt there had been "no legislative process." He previously voted against increasing stimulus check payments to $2,000.
Minimum wage
In July 2019, Schrader was one of six House Democrats to oppose a bill that would incrementally increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour by 2025.
Infrastructure
In August 2021, Schrader joined a group of conservative Democrats, dubbed "The Unbreakable Nine", who threatened to derail the Biden administration's $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package meant to tackle the nation's infrastructure.
Committee assignments
*United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce
The Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name changes and jurisdictional changes—for more tha ...
** House Subcommittee on Health
** House Subcommittee on Energy
Caucus memberships
* Veterinary Medicine Caucus
The Congressional Veterinary Medicine Caucus is a Congressional Member Organization within the United States Congress and is officially recognized by the Committee on House Administration.
Information and purpose
According to the Caucus's offici ...
(co-chair)
* Problem Solvers Caucus
* Congressional Task Force on Down Syndrome
* Congressional Diabetes Caucus
* Democratic Caucus Seniors Task Force
* Public Education Caucus
* Career & Technical Education Caucus
* Congressional Arts Caucus
The Congressional Arts Caucus is a registered Congressional Member Organization for the US House of Representatives in the 115th Congress.
History
The Congressional Arts Caucus was created in the 1980s as a way for the various members of Congres ...
* Congressional Ports Caucus
* Congressional Native American Caucus
* House Paper and Packaging Caucus (co-chair)
* General Aviation Caucus
* Congressional Beef Caucus
* Congressional Franchise Caucus
* Taiwan Caucus
* Singapore Caucus
*Blue Dog Coalition
The Blue Dog Coalition (commonly known as the Blue Dogs or Blue Dog Democrats) is a caucus in the United States House of Representatives comprising centrist members from the Democratic Party. The caucus was founded as a group of conservative De ...
*New Democrat Coalition
The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a moderate-to-conservative approach to fiscal matters.
As of ...
*Congressional Western Caucus
The Congressional Western Caucus is a caucus within the United States House of Representatives composed of 62 members. Although it has historically been bipartisan, it is currently composed almost exclusively of Republicans (with the sole excepti ...
Electoral history
* In the 2010 election, Scott Bruun was co-nominated by the Oregon Independent Party and Chris Lugo was co-nominated by the Oregon Progressive Party.
** In the 2016 and 2018 elections, Kurt Schrader was co-nominated by the Oregon Independent Party.
Personal life
Schrader and former Oregon state senator Martha Schrader divorced in 2011. He has five children. On December 31, 2016, Schrader married former Pepco
The Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) is an American utility company that supplies electric power to the city of Washington, D.C. and to surrounding communities in Maryland. It is owned by Exelon.
The company's current trademarked slogan ...
lobbyist Susan Mora. He is an Episcopalian.
Schrader's residence is the Kraft-Brandes-Culberston Farmstead in Canby, also known as Three Rivers Farm, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.
References
External links
Congressman Kurt Schrader
official U.S. House website
Kurt Schrader for Congress
campaign website
*
*
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schrader, Kurt
1951 births
21st-century American politicians
American Episcopalians
American veterinarians
Male veterinarians
Cornell University alumni
Living people
Democratic Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives
Democratic Party Oregon state senators
Politicians from Bridgeport, Connecticut
Politicians from Canby, Oregon
University of Illinois alumni
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Oregon