Chuck Riley (born May 31, 1939) is an American politician who served as a member of 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 ...

for the 15th district, which includes Hillsboro, Forest Grove, and Cornelius in western Washington County. He served three terms 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 2005 to 2011. Riley was the Democratic nominee for Senate District 15 in 2010, losing to incumbent state senator

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 ...

. However, Riley prevailed in a rematch against Starr in 2014, winning in the tightest Oregon legislative election of the year.

Early life and education

Chuck Riley the son of Oscar Edwin Riley and Jessie May (Spangler) Riley was born in 1939 in Illinois where he grew up on his father's farm.Chuck Riley: Biography.
Oregon House of Representatives. Retrieved on October 16, 2008. In 1957, he graduated from

Mount Vernon High School Mount Vernon High School could refer to: *Mount Vernon High School (Arkansas) — Mount Vernon, Arkansas * Mount Vernon High School (Illinois) — Mount Vernon, Illinois *Mount Vernon High School (Fortville, Indiana) * Mount Vernon High Sch ...

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

before enrolling in college.Anderson, David R. "How to Grow: The big question for Hillsboro", ''

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 19, 2000, West Zoner, p. 19. He took some classes at 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 University ...

, majoring in mathematics, before enlisting in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

in 1958."The candidates", ''

'', April 20, 2006, Graphics, p. 7. Riley remained in the Air Force until 1961 and spent some time at the Army Language School learning

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. He later attended

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

as an art major and worked for the school before moving to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where he worked at the

Jet Propulsion Lab The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...

and for

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria. Santa Barba ...

. After moving to Oregon, Riley enrolled at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

, where he majored in art.

Career

In 1979, he moved to Oregon and settled in Washington County west 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 ...

.Stern, Henry. "Computer consultant will enter primary ", ''

'', November 23, 2001, West Zoner p. C2. He moved to Hillsboro in 1992 and worked for First Interstate Bank as a systems analyst. Riley also worked in the same position with Blue Cross of Oregon. He later ran his own computer consulting business.Suh, Elizabth. "Both partys' candidates unopposed in District 29", ''

'', April 10, 2008, Metro West p. R4.

Oregon House of Representatives

In 2000, Riley enter politics and ran for a seat on the Hillsboro City Council, losing to incumbent Karen McKinney. The following year he ran for a seat in the

as a Democrat to represent District 29, running unopposed in the primary election. In the November general election he lost to Republican Mary Gallegos by a total of 434 votes.Boone, Jerry. "At age 65, he's ready to take on legislature", ''

'', January 5, 2005, West Zoner p. C1. In May 2004, Riley defeated Elena Uhing in the Democratic primary for the same district. Riley then defeated Gallegos in the November 2004 election for the same seat. In 2006, he faced off against Terry Rilling in the district that has more Democratic voters than Republicans. Riley won with 55% of the vote to Rilling's 45% in the November election. In the 2007-08 Legislature, Riley was chairman of the Government Accountability and Information Technology Committee in the House. During the 2008 special session he also served on the Consumer Protection and the Workforce and Economic Development committees. Riley faced Rilling again in the November 2008 election for the House seat after Republican primary winner Jeff Duyck was later declared ineligible.Rehkopf Smith, Jill
“House District 29: Riley-Rilling rematch offers distinctions”
''

''. Duyck's property spans two districts and the county elections office miscalculated where he was registered to vote and thus which seat he was eligible to run for.

Oregon Senate

In 2009, he announced he would run for a seat in the

in 2010, challenging incumbent Republican

in District 15. Riley lost to Starr, and in 2011 ran for a seat on the school board for

Portland Community College Portland Community College (PCC) is a public community college in Portland, Oregon. It is the largest post-secondary institution in the state and serves residents in the five-county area of Multnomah, Washington, Yamhill, Clackamas, and Colu ...

, losing in May to Deanna Palm. In 2014, Riley ran again for the Oregon Senate against Starr. The contest was one of the most expensive legislative races in the state and was decided by the closest vote margin, with Riley edging out Starr by just a few hundred votes. He was sworn into the Senate on January 12, 2015, and serves on the Senate Committee on Business and Transportation, the Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue, the Joint Committee on Tax Credits, and the Joint Committee on Audits. Additionally, he serves as co-chair of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Information Technology. In April 2015, gun rights activists filed a recall petition against Riley. The recall was initiated over Riley's support for "mandatory vaccinations, repealing the gain share tax, increasing the minimum wage, background checks for private gun sales and voting to under-fund the state education system." The recall effort was dropped when organizers could not collect sufficient signatures to place the recall question on the ballot. On Jan 9, 2017 Riley sponsored SB115 in the Senate. The bill would have banned the sale of leaded aviation fuel in Oregon, starting in 2020.

Personal life

Riley to Katie Riley, who teaches at

Oregon Health & Science University Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is a public research university focusing primarily on health sciences with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland, Oregon. The institution was founded in 1887 as the University of Oregon Medi ...

. They have four children.

References

External links

2000 Voter’s Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Chuck Democratic Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives Democratic Party Oregon state senators Politicians from Hillsboro, Oregon People from Illinois University of Illinois alumni Portland State University alumni 1939 births Living people Businesspeople from Oregon Defense Language Institute alumni 21st-century American politicians