Kurt Schrader


Walter Kurt Schrader is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, his district covers Salem and Newport. Schrader previously served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly from 1997 to 2008.

Early life, education, and early career

Schrader was born in Connecticut and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University in 1973. While at Cornell, Schrader met Martha Northam and the two were married in 1975. Schrader earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Illinois in 1977. A year later, the Schraders moved to Oregon, and Kurt opened the Clackamas County Veterinary Clinic in Oregon City, to begin his veterinary practice.
Schrader served for 16 years on the Canby Planning Commission.

Oregon Legislature

Elections

Before winning his first election in 1996, Schrader served four terms in the Oregon House of Representatives. Schrader ran for the Oregon House of Representatives in 1994, where he lost to Republican Jerry Grisham in the general election by 38 votes. In 1996, Schrader ran again; and this time defeated Paul Kraxburger. He was subsequently reelected to the House in 1998 and 2000.
In 2002, Schrader ran for the Oregon State Senate seat vacated by the retiring Verne Duncan, representing the 20th district in southwestern Clackamas County, including the cities of Barlow, Canby, Gladstone, Johnson City, Oregon City and portions of Milwaukie. He defeated fellow Oregon House member Kathy Lowe in a contentious Democratic primary, and then faced no Republican opposition in the general election. Martha Schrader was the Democratic nominee to succeed her husband, but lost in the general election to Wayne Scott. She served as a Clackamas County commissioner until 2009, when she was appointed by the same commission to replace her husband in the State Senate.

Committee assignments

In the Oregon Senate, Schrader served as co-chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee in the 2003 and 2005 sessions, as well as chair of the Interim Joint Legislative Audit Committee in the 2005 session. To prepare for his U.S. House seat, Schrader resigned effective December 17, 2008.

U.S. House of Representatives

Election

;2008
In May 2008, Schrader won the Democratic nomination for for the seat being vacated by Darlene Hooley. In the general election, Schrader defeated Republican Mike Erickson, winning election to the U.S. House. Schrader won the election with 54 percent of the vote to Erickson's 38 percent. Schrader won all seven of the counties in the 5th congressional district, though he posted a plurality win in Polk County.
;2010
Schrader was challenged by Republican nominee and Oregon State Representative Scott Bruun and Pacific Green nominee Chris Lugo. Despite several polls showing Bruun ahead and pollster Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight predicting Schrader would likely lose his bid for reelection, the final vote tally had Schrader winning by a fairly comfortable five-point margin, picking up 51% of the vote to Bruun's 46%. It was the closest House race in Oregon in 2010, a year in which Republicans picked up at least 63 House seats, but only one on the West Coast.
2012
Schrader won re-election 54.1% to 42.6%.
2014
Schrader won 53.9% to 39.4%
2016
Schrader won 53.6% to 43.1%. He was absent from the Congressional swearing-in on January 3, 2017, because he was on his honeymoon. He was the only member of Congress not to be sworn in that day.

Tenure

Schrader voted for the Budget Control Act. He voted both in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and for funding SCHIP.
Schrader is a political moderate, breaking with his party more frequently than 63% of the Democratic Caucus.
On December 17, 2009, Schrader announced that he would become a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.
Schrader was ranked as the 50th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress in the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy that ranks members of the United States Congress by their degree of bipartisanship. In December 2016, he severely criticized the election of Nancy Pelosi as House Minority Leader. "I'm very worried we just signed the Democratic Party's death certificate for the next decade and a half," he said.
;Abortion
Representative Schrader is pro-choice and has received a 100 rating from both Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League. In May 2012, Schrader opposed and voted against the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2012, introduced by Republican Representative Trent Franks of Arizona. The bill proposed imposing criminal penalties for giving abortions in special cases, notably when based on gender, race or color of the child or parent.
;Environment
Schrader has received a score of 66% from Environment America and an 83% from the Sierra Club for his environmental positions. The League of Conservation Voters gave him a score of 93. Schrader, along with U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, helped award a grant in September 2012 from the Department of Energy to the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center. The grant will be used to create a new ocean energy test facility to test wave energy.
;Health care
Schrader received a 100% rating from the Children's Health Fund. In 2016, he received an 86% from American Public Health Association. He supports the Affordable Care Act. Schrader is the co-chair of the New Dem Health Care Task Force, which set forth an agenda of "more effectively implementing health care policy in this country that improves payment and delivery systems."
In July 2017, Schrader led a group of ten House Democrats who proposed a plan to improve Obamacare. The plan included a $15 billion "annual reinsurance fund to pay health insurers that enroll higher-cost, sicker individuals."
;Agriculture regulation
In March 2017, Schrader told a district audience that the Trump administration seemed determined to deregulate agriculture. He admitted that agriculture regulations "were a bit of an overreach," causing problems for both dairy and dirt farmers.
;Veterinary medicine
Schrader coauthored the Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act of 2014, a bill that would amend the Controlled Substances Act to clarify that veterinarians are not required to have separate registrations to dispense controlled substances outside of their principal place of business, such as when treating animals on a farm.
In 2010, Schrader told a magazine for veterinarians that being a veterinarian "gives you almost an immediate cache with both the animal welfare folks and the livestock folks," enabling one to "intercede and broker solutions to problems that ordinarily would be very difficult for people to handle." He also said that it was good he had attended veterinary college and "learned how to study 24/7, because that's what I have been doing in Congress since I got here."
;Gun control
In December 2017, Schrader was one of only six House Democrats to support legislation allowing concealed handgun licensees to carry their weapons in all 50 states. He is one of the few Democrats to receive funding from the NRA. Schrader has received 2,500 dollars in donations.
;Minimum wage bill
In July 2019 Schrader was one of Six Democrats in the House of Representatives to oppose a bill which would incrementally increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15.00 an hour by 2025.
, 2017

Committee assignments

YearDemocraticVotesPctRepublicanVotesPct3rd PartyPartyVotesPct3rd PartyPartyVotesPct3rd PartyPartyVotesPct3rd PartyPartyVotesPct3rd PartyPartyVotesPct
2008Kurt Schrader181,57754.3%Mike Erickson128,29738.3%Sean BatesIndependent6,8302.0%Douglas PattersonConstitution6,5582.0%Alex PolikoffPacific Green5,2721.6%Steve MilliganLibertarian4,8141.4%Write-ins1,326<1.0%
2010Kurt Schrader145,31951.2%Scott Bruun130,31346.0%*Chris LugoPacific Green7,5572.7%*Write-ins367<1.0%
2012Kurt Schrader177,22954.0%Fred Thompson139,22342.4%Christina Jean LugoPacific Green7,5162.3%Raymond BaldwinConstitution3,6001.1%Write-ins402<1.0%
2014Kurt Schrader150,94453.7%Tootie Smith110,33239.3%Marvin SandnesIndependent7,6742.7%Raymond BaldwinConstitution6,2082.2%Daniel K. SouzaLibertarian5,1981.8%Write-ins732<1.0%
2016Kurt Schrader199,50553.5%**Colm Willis160,44343.0%Marvin SandnesPacific Green12,5423.4%Write-ins618<1.0%
2018Kurt Schrader197,18755.0%**Mark Callahan149,88741.8%Daniel K. SouzaLibertarian6,0541.7%Marvin SandnesPacific Green4,8021.3%Write-ins539<1.0%

* In the 2010 election, Scott Bruun was co-nominated by the Oregon Independent Party and Chris Lugo was co-nominated by the Oregon Progressive Party.
** In the 2016 and 2018 elections, Kurt Schrader was co-nominated by the Oregon Independent Party.

Personal life

Schrader and former Oregon state senator Martha Schrader divorced in 2011. Every one of Schrader's predecessors in the 5th District has also divorced while serving in that office: Denny Smith, Mike Kopetski, Jim Bunn and Darlene Hooley.
He has five children. On December 31, 2016, Schrader married Pepco executive and former lobbyist Susan Mora.
Schrader's district residence is the Kraft-Brandes-Culberston Farmstead in Canby, also known as Three Rivers Farm, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.