More Earl Blumenauer Items Found

We've started doing some posts on current members of the Oregon congressional delegation and our first one was on Congressman Earl Blumenauer. Since that post a few more items have shown up. Here is a t-shirt and a set of colorful bicycles that the Blumenauer campaign gives out.

Getting the images taken for our next post of Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici.

Oregon's Earl Blumenauer on the Trail since 1970

1981 City Council Button

Earl Blumenauer has been a fixture of Portland politics since the 1970s. One of the few that has served in just about every level of government offered in Portland.  He got his start by organizing the Go 19 campaign in 1970. This would have lowered the voting age in Oregon to 19. While this effort was unsuccessful, it helped push pressure towards the passage of the twenty-sixth Amendment that lowered the voting age to 18 in 1972.

Winning a seat in the Oregon House of Representatives in 1972 and was re-elected in 1974 and 1976. During this time he was also attending law school and working at Portland State University. In 1978 he won a seat on the Multnomah County Commission and during his term sought a seat on the Portland City Council in 1981. He would lose this race to Margaret Strachan.

It wouldn't be until the late 80s when another opportunity opened up for Blumenauer to vie for a seat on the city council. This time he would win and serve there until his election to congress in 1996.

While on the city council, Blumenauer was able to work on transportation issues and was the Commissioner of Public Works for the city. It was during his time on the city council that Blumenauer went up against Vera Katz in the open mayoral election in 1992. While he would lose this race, he continued to serve on the city council and that allowed him the opportunity to run to replace Ron Wyden after he advanced to the U.S. Senate in 1996.