Rod Monroe

Rod Monroe (born August 20, 1942) is a Canadian-born American politician who served in the Oregon Senate, representing District 24 in the middle part of Multnomah County, which includes most of eastern Portland and the city of Happy Valley.

For the American football player, see Rod Monroe (American football).

Rod Monroe
Member of the Oregon Senate
from the 24th district
In office
2007–2019
Preceded byFrank Shields
Succeeded byShemia Fagan
Metro Councilor
In office
1993–1996, 1998–2004[1]
Member of the Oregon Senate
from the 7th district
In office
1981–1989
Preceded byStephen Kafoury
Succeeded byShirley Gold
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
from the 12th district
In office
1977–1981
Preceded byGrace Olivier Peck
Succeeded byShirley Gold
Personal details
Born (1942-08-20) August 20, 1942
McBride, British Columbia
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseBillie
Alma materPortland State College (BA, MA)
ProfessionTeacher (retired)

Early life and education

Born in McBride, British Columbia,[2] Monroe was raised in Oregon and graduated from Portland's Franklin High School in 1960. He attended college at Warner Pacific University and received bachelor's and master's degrees from Portland State College (now Portland State University) in 1965 and 1969 respectively.[3][4]

Career

He became a teacher at Tigard High School in Tigard, Oregon in 1965, teaching history and government and later served on the David Douglas school board.[3]

In 1976, Monroe was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives, representing District 12 in Portland. He served two terms and then was elected to the Oregon Senate in 1980, representing the 7th district in Portland. He was re-elected to a second Senate term in 1984.[5] During this legislative tenure, Monroe was known for sponsoring safety-oriented legislation, such as mandatory seat belt laws, tougher drunk driving legislation, and bans on indoor smoking.[6]

Monroe ran for the Democratic nomination in the 1986 U.S. Senate election in Oregon, but came in second behind Jim Weaver.[7]

In 1988, he lost a close election in the Democratic primary to Oregon House Majority Leader Shirley Gold, who had been elected to Monroe's seat when he was elected to the Senate.[8] In the 1990 Democratic primary, Monroe sought to upset incumbent Judy Bauman for a seat in the Oregon House, but he was narrowly defeated.[9]

In 1992, Monroe was elected to the council of Metro.,[10] the regional government for greater Portland. He served three terms, where he advocated for federal funding of light rail projects and the Portland Streetcar, as well as for biking and pedestrian trails such as the Springwater Corridor.[3] In 2004, he was defeated for a fourth term by environmentalist Robert Liberty.[11]

In Oregon's 2006 legislative elections, Monroe was again elected to the Oregon Senate in the District 24 seat vacated by the retiring Frank Shields.[12]

In 2018, Monroe ran for reelection but was defeated in the Democratic primary by former state Representative Shemia Fagan. Fagan ran unopposed in the general election later that year and won the election to become Monroe's successor in the state Senate.[13]

Personal life

Monroe lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Billie.[3]

References
  1. "Metro Council Roster 1979 – 2018" (PDF). Metro. March 2018. pp. 4–6. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  2. "Oregon Blue Book: State Senators by District". Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  3. "Senator Rod Monroe". Oregon State Legislature. Archived from the original on August 29, 2010. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
  4. "Rod Monroe". Project VoteSmart. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
  5. "State Government Legislators and Staff". Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  6. Mapes, Jeff (December 3, 1987). "House's Gold seeks Monroe's Senate seat". The Oregonian.
  7. "Oregon US Senate Democratic Primary Race, May 20, 1986". ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved March 23, 2010.
  8. Ota, Alan K. (May 19, 1988). "New lawmakers predict more active, progressive Oregon Senate for 1989". The Oregonian.
  9. Bella, Rick (October 9, 1990). "Unopposed Bauman top fundraiser". The Oregonian.
  10. Mayer, James (October 2, 1992). "Metro voters to decide races, greenspaces issues, home rule". The Oregonian.
  11. Oppenheimer, Laura (November 3, 2004). "Liberty takes over Monroe's Metro seat". The Oregonian.
  12. "How Oregon voted – election results". The Oregonian. November 9, 2006.
  13. James, Tom (May 17, 2018). "Portland Democrat's primary loss set to shift Oregon Senate balance". Statesman Journal. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
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