Rod Monroe

Infobox Politician
name= Rod Monroe


imagesize=
state_senate= Oregon
district = 24^th
term= 2007–
preceded= Frank Shields
succeeded=
state_senate2= Oregon
district2 = 7^th
term2= 1981–1989
preceded2=Stephen Kafoury
succeeded2=Shirley Gold
state_house3= Oregon
district3 = 12^th
term3= 1977–1981
preceded3=Grace Olivier Peck
succeeded3=Shirley Gold
date of birth= August 20 1942
place of birth= Portland, Oregon
date of death=
place of death=
party= Democrat
spouse= Billie
profession= Teacher (retired)
religion=
footnotes=

Rod Monroe (born August 20 1942) is a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. He currently serves 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.

Early life and career

Monroe was born in Portland, where he graduated from Franklin High School in 1960. He attended college at Warner Pacific College and received bachelor's and master's degrees from Portland State College (now Portland State University) in 1965 and 1969 respectively.cite web|url=http://www.leg.state.or.us/monroe/bio.htm|title=Senator Rod Monroe|publisher=Oregon State Legislature|accessdate=2008-10-09] cite web|title=Rod Monroe|url=http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=56601|publisher=Project VoteSmart|accessdate=2008-10-09] 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.

Political career

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.cite web|url=http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/legislative/histleg/statehood/statehood.htm|title=State Government Legislators and Staff|publisher=Oregon Secretary of State|accessdate=2008-10-09] 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.cite news|title=House's Gold seeks Monroe's Senate seat|last=Mapes|first=Jeff|date=1987-12-03|work=The Oregonian] 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.cite news|title=New lawmakers predict more active, progressive Oregon Senate for 1989|last=Ota|first=Alan K.|date=1988-05-19|work=The Oregonian] In the 1990 Democratic primary, Monroe sought to upset incumbent Judy Bauman for a seat in the Oregon House, but he was narrowly defeated.cite news|title=Unopposed Bauman top fundraiser|last=Bella|first=Rick|date=1990-10-09|work=The Oregonian]

In 1992, Monroe was elected to the council of Oregon's regional governmental agency, Metro.cite news|title=Metro voters to decide races, greenspaces issues, home rule|last=Mayer|first=James|date=1992-10-02|work=The Oregonian] 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. In 2004, he was defeated for a fourth term by environmentalist Robert Liberty.cite news|title=Liberty takes over Monroe's Metro seat|last=Oppenheimer|first=Laura|date=2004-11-03|work=The Oregonian]

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.cite news|title=How Oregon voted - election results|date=2006-11-09|work=The Oregonian]

Personal

Monroe lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Billie.

References

External links

* [http://www.leg.state.or.us/monroe/ Legislative website]
* [http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=56601 Project VoteSmart biography]