Valerie Anne Hoyle (born February 14, 1964) is an American politician 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 2023. Until 2023, she served as the commissioner of Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) (commonly called the "Labor Commissioner"). 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 ...

, Hoyle formerly served 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 District 14, which includes West Eugene, Junction City, and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. She was appointed to the House in August 2009 and reelected to full terms in 2010, 2012 and 2014. In December 2021, Hoyle announced her candidacy for the

U.S. 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

. The seat was open after incumbent

Peter DeFazio Peter Anthony DeFazio (; born May 27, 1947) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving since 1987. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes Eugene, Springfield, Corvallis, Roseburg, Coos B ...

decided not to run for reelection.

Early life and education

Hoyle was born on

Travis Air Force Base Travis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base under the operational control of the Air Mobility Command (AMC), located three miles (5 km) east of the central business district of the city of Fairfield, in Solano County, Californi ...

Fairfield, California Fairfield is a city in and the county seat of Solano County, California, in the North Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is generally considered the midpoint between the cities of San Francisco and Sacramento, approximately fro ...

, in 1964. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from Emmanuel College in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Early career

In 1999, Hoyle and her family moved to

Lane County, Oregon Lane County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 382,971, making it the fourth-most populous county in Oregon. The county seat is Eugene. It is named in honor of Joseph Lane, Orego ...

, where she joined the education advocacy group Stand for Children. Before serving in the Oregon legislature, she worked in sales and marketing for bicycle manufacturers

Burley Design Burley Design (previously Burley Design Cooperative) LLC is a company in Eugene, Oregon, United States that has produced outdoor family products since 1978. Its blue and yellow children's bicycle trailers were among the first on sale, in the earl ...

and Cane Creek, and served as legislative aide and policy analyst for State Senator

Floyd Prozanski Floyd Prozanski (born 1954) is an American Democratic politician who is a current member of the Oregon State Senate, representing the 4th District, since 2004. He previously served in the Oregon House of Representatives, from 1995 through 20 ...

. She was also a director of the

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

of Lane County.

Oregon House of Representatives

Hoyle was appointed to the Oregon House of Representatives in August 2009 to replace Chris Edwards, who was appointed to the Oregon State Senate. In

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, she was reelected to a full term, defeating

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 ...

Dwight Coon and

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Kevin Prociw. On November 6, 2012, Hoyle again defeated Coon to win a second full term. Before the 2011 legislative session, Hoyle was elected assistant caucus leader of the Oregon House Democrats. During the 2011 legislative session, she was co-vice chair of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education, and served on the House Committees on Health Care and Business & Labor. She also served on the Governor's Health Care Transformation Team. On November 15, 2012, after House Democrats selected

Tina Kotek Tina Kotek (born September 30, 1966) is an American politician and the governor-elect of Oregon. Kotek served as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives from 2013 to 2022. She was the first openly lesbian person to serve as a speaker of ...

as speaker of the Oregon House, Hoyle was elected to lead the Oregon House Democrats as House majority leader for the 2013 Legislative Session. During the 2013 legislative session, she co-chaired the House Task Force on O&C Counties and was vice chair of the House Committee on Rules. Shortly before the 2014 legislative session, former State Representative Chris Garrett received an executive appointment to the Oregon Court of Appeals and Hoyle was named chair of the House Committee on Rules. Hoyle also served as a legislative co-chair of the Oregon Elder Abuse Prevention Workgroup. After Oregon Governor

John Kitzhaber John Albert Kitzhaber (born March 5, 1947) is an American former politician who served as the 35th governor of Oregon from 1995 to 2003, and as the 37th governor of Oregon from 2011 until his resignation in 2015. A member of the Democratic Part ...

resigned in February 2015, elevating

Kate Brown Katherine Brown (born June 21, 1960) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 38th governor of Oregon since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms as the state representative from the 13th district of the ...

to the governorship, ''

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 ...

'' named Hoyle as a possible successor to Brown as Oregon Secretary of State. Hoyle stepped down as majority leader in 2015 to run for Oregon secretary of state. In the 2016 Democratic primary, she came in second place, receiving 33.81% of the vote to Democratic nominee Brad Avakian's 39.06%.

Oregon labor commissioner

In 2018, Hoyle ran to become Oregon's 10th labor commissioner, a nonpartisan elected position. She won the race outright in May, receiving 52% of the vote and winning 17 of 36 counties. Former Tualatin mayor Lou Ogden received 36% and Jack Howard, a La Grande attorney and former Union County Commissioner, received 12%. The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries serves a four-year term, has offices in Portland, Eugene, Bend and Medford, oversees enforcement of wage and hour laws, including prevailing wage and civil rights enforcement, certifies apprenticeship programs, and provides employment law technical assistance for employers.

U.S House of Representatives

Elections

2022

On December 1, 2021, Hoyle announced her candidacy for

Oregon's 4th congressional district Oregon's 4th congressional district represents the southern half of Oregon's coastal counties, including Coos, Curry, Douglas, Lane, and Benton counties and most of Linn and Josephine counties. It is centered around the state's two colleg ...

in the

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 ...

. The seat was held by

, who announced that he was not running for reelection. Polling conducted by

Public Policy Polling Public Policy Polling (PPP) is an American polling firm affiliated with the Democratic Party. Founded in 2001 by businessman Dean Debnam, the firm is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Debnam currently serves as president and CEO of PPP, while T ...

in March 2022 found Hoyle to be favored in the Democratic primary. She benefited from more than $500,000 in spending by super PACs during the primary. In November 2022 Hoyle was elected to the House.

Caucus memberships

New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a congressional caucus, caucus in the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democratic Party (United States), Democrats, primarily Centrism, cent ...

Congressional Progressive Caucus The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the most Left-wing politics, left-leaning faction of the ...

Personal life

Hoyle lives outside

Springfield, Oregon Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Separated from Eugene to the west, mainly by Interstate 5, Springfield ...

, and is married with two adult children.

References

External links

Val Hoyle for Congress
campaign website
Commissioner Val Hoyle
official government website , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoyle, Val 1964 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Oregon Emmanuel College (Massachusetts) alumni Female members of the United States House of Representatives Living people Democratic Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives Oregon Commissioners of Labor and Industries People from Fairfield, California Politicians from Eugene, Oregon Women state legislators in Oregon