Mark Francis Gamba is an American politician in the U.S. state of

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 ...

who currently serves 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 ...

representing the 41st district in Milwaukie. Previously, Gamba served as mayor of Milwaukie.

Early life

Gamba was born and raised in Colorado. Gamba attended Glenwood Springs High School in

Glenwood Springs, Colorado Glenwood Springs is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of Garfield County, Colorado, Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 9,963 at the 2020 Uni ...

. He graduated in 1977

Career

Although he has lived in Oregon for over two decades, Gamba has worked all over the world as a photographer with many assignments from

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

. He has also worked as a

land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

. Gamba was a member of the Milwaukie Planning Commission and served as Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment of the League of Oregon Cities. In 2012, Gamba was elected to the Milwaukie City Council, defeating attorney Scott N Barbur.

Mayor

Gamba was elected Mayor of Milwaukie, running unopposed, in a 2015 special election to replace Jeremy Ferguson, who resigned to take a private sector job. As Mayor, Gamba helped to create the city's Climate Action Plan and also created a resolution declaring a climate emergency. Milwaukie was one of the first cities in Oregon to do both.

Congressional Campaign

In 2020, Gamba announced his intent to run for the Democratic nomination for

United States House of Representatives 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Oregon's 5th congressional district Oregon's 5th congressional district represents Oregon's central coast through Salem, north to the southern Portland suburbs – including a sliver of Portland itself – and east to the summit of Mount Hood. It includes Lincoln, Mari ...

. Gamba was attempting to unseat long-term incumbent

Kurt Schrader Walter Kurt Schrader (born October 19, 1951) is an American politician and veterinarian serving as the U.S. representative for since 2009. His district covered most of Oregon's central coast, plus Salem, and many of Portland's southern suburbs, ...

. Gamba, a progressive, noted his concerns with Schrader's moderate and sometimes conservative stances on various issues, namely his support for gun rights, "A-" rating from the

NRA Political Victory Fund The Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) is the political action committee (PAC) of the National Rifle Association (NRA). The Fund contributes money to political campaigns of candidates endorsed by the NRA. Chairman Chris W. Cox, who has been the NRA ...

, and opposition to the

Green New Deal Green New Deal (GND) proposals call for public policy to address climate change along with achieving other social aims like job creation and reducing economic inequality. The name refers back to the New Deal, a set of social and economic refo ...

and

Medicare for All Act The Medicare for All Act, aka the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act or United States National Health Care Act, is a bill first introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Representative John Conyers (D-MI) in 2003, with ...

. Gamba lost to Schrader in the primary. Schrader was successfully defeated in the primary in the next election by progressive

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 Schrad ...

, who lost to

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 ...

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 ...

in the general election.

State representative

In 2022, Gamba announced his intention to run for the

in District 41 after incumbent Karin Power decided to resign to focus on her main job. Gamba ran against nonprofit executive Kaliko Castille and former transit operator Christopher Draus in the primary, easily defeating them both. In the general election, Gamba defeated Milwaukie Public Safety Committee member Rob Reynolds.

Electoral history

External links

Legislative website

References

Mayors of places in Oregon Democratic Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Oregon-politician-stub