Randall Edwards (born August 13, 1961) is an American politician who most recently served as the
state treasurer
In the state governments of the United States, 48 of the 50 states have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the position in 1926; duties were transferred to New York State Comptroller. Texas abolished the position of Texas ...
of the state of
Oregon. A
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, Edwards was elected as treasurer in 2000 and reelected in 2004, after serving two terms 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 ...
. He served as a manager and senior advisor at the Oregon State Treasury from 1992–1996, and was an International Trade Analyst for the
U.S. Commerce Department
The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for busin ...
.
Early life and background
Childhood
Edwards was born in
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.
As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...
, USA, but spent much of his childhood in
Walla Walla, Washington. His father, Tom Edwards, taught history at
Whitman College while his mother worked as a public school teacher for more than 20 years.
The young Edwards showed little interest in politics - despite being described as bright and popular, he was reserved and shunned the attention of involvement in student government. He applied himself, instead, to his studies, competitive tennis, and mastery of classical cello. His father would later comment to the press that he never imagined that his son would take to the rough and tumble world of politics. "Over the years, as a college professor, I tried to get people interested in politics, but they rejected it," said the retired professor, now living near his son in Portland. "What I didn't realize was that one of my own children would do what I was trying to get my students to do."
College
Edwards went on to
Colorado College, graduating in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in economics.
After college he worked on agricultural issues as a member of
U.S. Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
Bob Packwood's constituent services staff in
Washington, D.C. There he met
Julia Brim, a Packwood press aide, who would become his wife.
Edwards later worked on timber management policy at the
Commerce Department while attending night classes at
George Washington University. He earned his
MBA in 1990.
Return to Oregon
In 1992, Edwards and his wife moved to
Portland, Oregon, her hometown, where they still make their home with their three children. She continued to work on Senator Packwood's staff for one more year, then managed
Craig Berkman's unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign. Edwards took a position on
Oregon State Treasurer
The Oregon State Treasurer is a constitutional officer within the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon, elected by statewide vote to serve a four-year term. As chief financial officer for the state, the office holder heads ...
Jim Hill's staff.
Julia Brim-Edwards is a deputy director for state government and public affairs for
Nike, Inc. and former
Portland Public Schools co-chair.
Legislative career
1996 elections
Edwards' first elective office was as a member of 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 ...
. In 1996, he sought nomination to the open seat for the 15th District in the
state House of Representatives. The incumbent,
Lisa Naito, had chosen not to seek reelection.
He was challenged in the
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
* ...
by Steve March, 49, a senior management auditor for
Multnomah County and part-time college teacher, and Harry D. Ainsworth, 32, a lawyer.
Edwards secured the nomination with 2,587 votes to March's 2,245 and Ainsworth's 815, going on to face
Republican Mark Lewis,
whom he defeated 12,998 to 5,697.
First term in Oregon House
As a freshman legislator, Edwards introduced a 1997 bill empowering local governments to double traffic fines in school zones, and preventing judges from reducing the penalties. Modeled after similar legislation applying to construction zones, the bill passed and was signed into law the same year.
Bucking his own party's leadership and drawing the ire of the
Oregon Education Association, Edwards inserted a provision in a school funding bill requiring audits of school districts' classification of students, a move opposed by then Democratic Governor
John Kitzhaber. Since state support doubles for students with disabilities and includes extra funds for certain other types of students, the proposal sought to insure such students were counted accurately.
Edwards regained the confidence of pro-education activists when he cast the sole dissenting vote in a 7-to-1 Revenue Committee decision to add U.S.$67 million in additional tax cuts to
Measure 50, in an election for which ballots had already gone out. The referendum was intended to reverse even deeper cuts which had been enacted by
Measure 47 the previous November. The committee action was taken under threat by anti-tax activist
Bill Sizemore to withdraw his support from Measure 50, which already granted $804 million in tax relief. Sizemore said he was prepared kill the measure with a last minute advertising blitz if the additional cuts were not approved. Edwards objected on the grounds that any increase in Measure 50's cuts would require too great a curtailment of government services, especially in education.
By the end of his first legislative session, despite being a newcomer and member of the minority party, he had gained a reputation as an effective pro-education politician and was described as a "virtual education bill machine." In addition to writing legislation he managed to get much of it passed, making few long-term political enemies. He was willing to take stands differing with fellow Portland Democrat
Chris Beck on methods for funding the state park system, and by pushing for higher funding for education than was included in the Governor's proposed budget. "I've made education my top issue in the session," Edwards said in an interview after the close of the session. "It's the top issue in my district and the top issue in the state."
1998 reelection and second term
Randall ran unopposed in both the primary and general elections, and was reelected to a second term as state representative.
When the legislature convened the following year the agenda included a large number of education-related issues, many steeped in controversy. Bills carried over or already announced included measures relating to charter schools, discipline, accountability for performance and class size, and spending on education.
His committee assignments for the session included seats on both the Judiciary and Rules committees and membership on the Education subcommittee of Ways and Means.
Edwards co-sponsored a bill with State Senator Randy Miller (Republican-
Lake Oswego) to put a cap on public school class sizes in kindergarten and primary grades (K-6),
after supporting a measure to expand the charter school program over his stated reservations that their existence was necessitated by a failure to provide adequate funding to public schools.
The legislature's work was not limited to education issues. With Representative
Jim Hill, (Republican-
Hillsboro), Randall introduced a bill to require the
Oregon Board of Medical Examiners to make a broad range of information about the state's physicians available online. This would have included complaints filed against a doctor through a hospital peer review committee, internal review board, the Oregon Health Division, or the state medical board, as well as pending malpractice claims.
He also joined a bipartisan coalition of 17 Democrats and 11 Republicans in sponsoring a ballot referendum that would require a three-fifths majority vote to pass constitutional amendments by initiative. The second-term legislator also sought to defuse a particularly controversial "defense of marriage" constitutional amendment then under consideration by offering an alternative measure which removed language overturning an earlier court decision granting spousal benefits to same-sex partners of state employees.
His attempt at compromise failed and the original referendum was approved by voters the following year.
Tenure as State Treasurer
2000 elections
Edwards had his eye on the State Treasurer's post from the time he had worked as then Treasurer
Jim Hill's legislative adviser from 1992 to 1996. "When I worked in the treasurer's office, I thought that this could be a job I could do," Edwards told the ''Oregonian'' in 2001, "I was intrigued and impressed with what the job entailed."
In 2000, when Hill was prevented by law from running for a third term, Edwards announced his candidacy for Treasurer. Edwards' colleagues in the Democratic party considered him a clear favorite in the primary campaign, challenged only by Gary Bruebaker, a Deputy Treasurer with no prior political experience. However, the race remained too close to call throughout election night and automatically triggered a two-month-long hand recount. Ultimately, Edwards prevailed, defeating Bruebaker by a mere 470 votes statewide, 152,071 to 151,601.
John Kvistad, a small-business owner from Tigard who had been elected to three terms on the
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
governing council, was nominated as Edwards'
Republican opponent. During the general election campaign Edwards emphasized his financial and legislative experience, stressing the importance of the State Treasurer's role in funding education. He presented a plan to create a $100 million capital bond fund for school construction projects. Kvistad countered by pointing out Edwards' lack of experience outside of the public sector, and reminding voters of his own management background in both business and government. He promised to improve the state's credit rating and implement a program to assist first-time home buyers. He was especially critical of Edwards' votes to increase the state's debt to fund schools.
The campaign became contentious, particularly during a debate between the candidates sponsored by the
City Club of Portland
The City Club of Portland is a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic organization based in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Established in 1916, the organization had approximately 1500 members and a paid staff of 4 in 2013. The former Mayor of Portlan ...
. Edwards claimed his Republican challenger had "no plan" and was underqualified for the office. Kvistad accused Edwards of exaggerating his financial experience and attacked Edwards' school construction bond proposal, stating "Instead of putting you in the state treasurer's office, maybe we need to put you in Consumer Credit Counseling Service." Edwards responded that the treasurer had an obligation to address the issue of school financing as one of Oregon's most critical concerns, adding "You don't support helping our public schools."
The final result was a decisive win for Edwards, defeating Kvistad 705,273 votes to 593,411.
The race was also joined by
Constitution Party nominee Carlos Luceros, a computer software consultant who wanted to invest even more resources in education;
Libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
Mitchell T. Shults, an
Intel executive who ran on a platform of reduced state spending, sale of state owned lands, and reform of the state employees' retirement system; and Leonard Zack of the
Reform Party, a food service worker whose campaign centered on environmental issues.
First term as treasurer
In a ceremony at the
Gus Solomon Federal Courthouse in downtown Portland on January 1, 2001, Edwards, 39, was sworn in as the youngest Oregon State Treasurer in at least fifty years.
The record of his predecessor would be difficult to meet: during Hill's two terms in office, the treasury's investments had increased in value by nearly 150 percent, and debt had been decreased 25 percent. Edwards faced a host of difficult issues, including an economic slowdown, the potential downgrade of the state's credit rating, and serious reductions in federal contributions to the state's revenues.
By 2003, with what the state's chief economist Tom Potiowsky described as a "
jobless recovery
A jobless recovery or jobless growth is an economic phenomenon in which a macroeconomy experiences growth while maintaining or decreasing its level of employment. The term was coined by the economist Nick Perna in the early 1990s.
Causes
Econom ...
" dragging on, Edwards was coping with announcements of large state budget shortfalls which forced the legislature to make deep cuts in services and increase both taxes and borrowing.
2004 reelection campaign
After the 2004 Democratic primary in which Edwards was unopposed, he won reelection to a second term over his three general election challengers:
Republican Jeff Caton,
Constitution Party nominee Carole D. Weingarden, and
Libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
Mitch Shults. The final tally was Edwards, 889,974; Caton, 688,551; Shults, 52,819; and Weingarden, 49,875.
Electoral history
References
External links
Oregon State Treasuryofficial state site
Oregon Blue Book - Earliest Authorities in OregonOregon Secretary of State - Oregon State Treasury Administrative OverviewFollow the Money - Randall Edwards2004 campaign contributions
Project Vote Smart - Randall T. Edwards (OR)profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Randall
1961 births
Living people
Colorado College alumni
George Washington University School of Business alumni
Members of the Oregon House of Representatives
State treasurers of Oregon
Politicians from Eugene, Oregon
Politicians from Walla Walla, Washington
Politicians from Portland, Oregon