Jeff Kruse

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Jeff Kruse
Image of Jeff Kruse
Prior offices
Oregon State Senate District 1

Oregon House of Representatives

Education

Bachelor's

Willamette University, 1973

Personal
Religion
Christian

Jeff Kruse (b. September 7, 1951) is a former Republican member of the Oregon State Senate, representing District 1 from 2005 to 2018.

On February 8, 2018, Kruse announced that he would resign at the end of the 2018 legislative session. This came after an investigatory report found evidence that he had engaged in a pattern of sexual misconduct while serving in the legislature. He had been removed from his committee assignments in October 2017 due to the sexual misconduct allegations. To read more click here.

Kruse served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1996 to 2004. He previously served as Republican Whip in the Senate.

Biography

Kruse earned his B.S. in economics from Willamette University in 1973. His professional experience includes working as a supervisor for Oregon Turkey Growers, as a construction worker and the co-owner and farm laborer at Kruse Farms.[1]

Committee assignments

2017 legislative session

Kruse was removed from his committee assignments in October 2017 due to sexual misconduct allegations. To read more click here.

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Oregon committee assignments, 2017
Education
Health Care, Vice chair
Joint Marijuana Regulation

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Kruse served on the following committees:

2013-2014

In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Kruse served on the following committees:

2011-2012

2009-2010

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2016

See also: Oregon State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the Oregon State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on May 17, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 8, 2016.

Incumbent Jeff Kruse defeated Timm Rolek in the Oregon State Senate District 1 general election.[2][3]

Oregon State Senate, District 1 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Jeff Kruse Incumbent 73.53% 45,775
     Democratic Timm Rolek 26.47% 16,476
Total Votes 62,251
Source: Oregon Secretary of State


Timm Rolek ran unopposed in the Oregon State Senate District 1 Democratic primary.[4][5]

Oregon State Senate, District 1 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Timm Rolek  (unopposed)


Incumbent Jeff Kruse defeated Jessica Kensinger in the Oregon State Senate District 1 Republican primary.[4][5]

Oregon State Senate, District 1 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Jeff Kruse Incumbent 84.78% 15,662
     Republican Jessica Kensinger 15.22% 2,812
Total Votes 18,474


2012

See also: Oregon State Senate elections, 2012

Kruse won re-election in 2012. Kruse was unopposed in the May 15 Republican primary and defeated Eldon Rollins (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[6][7][8]

Oregon State Senate, District 1, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngJeff Kruse Incumbent 71.5% 40,361
     Democratic Eldon Rollins 28.5% 16,062
Total Votes 56,423

2008

See also: Oregon State Senate elections, 2008

On November 4, 2008, Kruse was re-elected to District 1 in the Oregon State Senate, defeating Eldon Rollins (D).[9][10] Kruse raised $84,844 for his campaign, while Rollins raised $3,548.[11]

Oregon State Senate, District 1 (2008)
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Jeff Kruse (R) 38,366
Eldon Rollins (D) 16,461

2004

See also: Oregon State Senate elections, 2004

Elections for the office of Oregon State Senate consisted of a primary election on May 18, 2004, and a general election on November 2, 2004.[12] Jeff Kruse was unopposed in the Republican primary for District 1, and Bruce Cronk was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Kruse defeated Cronk in the general election.[13][14]

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Jeff Kruse campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2016Oregon State Senate, District 1Won $215,465 N/A**
2012Oregon State Senate, District 1Won $108,458 N/A**
2008Oregon State Senate, District 1Won $84,844 N/A**
2004Oregon State Senate, District 1Won $70,299 N/A**
2002Oregon State House, District 7Won $140,748 N/A**
2000Oregon State House, District 45Won $59,370 N/A**
1998Oregon State House, District 45Won $34,617 N/A**
1996Oregon State House, District 45Won $35,984 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Oregon

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Oregon scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.








2018

In 2018, the 79th Oregon State Legislature, second session, was in session from February 5 through March 3. There was also a one-day special session on May 21, 2018.

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to small business issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills affecting local businesses.
Legislators are scored on their votes related to issues important to the organization.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to the union's priorities.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to education.
Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.


2017


2016


2015


2014


2013


2012


2011

Noteworthy events

Resignation following sexual harassment allegations (2018)

See also: Sexual assault and harassment in American politics (2017-2018)

On February 8, 2018, Kruse announced he would resign at the end of the 2018 legislative session, which was set to go through March 15, 2018.[15] The announcement followed the February 6 release of a legislative report on allegations against Kruse. It found that he "engaged in a pattern of conduct that was offensive to Senator Gelser and Senator Steiner Hayward, as well as other legislators and employees at the Capitol," and that, "there is a longstanding pattern of Senator Kruse engaging in unwelcome physical contact toward females in the workplace, including Senator Gelser and Senator Steiner Hayward, and that he stubbornly refused to change that behavior after being warned about it in March 2016."[16]

Kruse did not respond to the Statesman Journal's request for comment on the report. The Senate Committee on Conduct had a hearing on the report on February 22, 2018, after which it could recommend that Kruse be reprimanded, censured, expelled, or that no action be taken.[17]

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) and House Speaker Tina Kotek (D) called on Kruse to resign. Kotek said that the Senate should expel Kruse if he did not step down.[18]

On October 24, 2017, Kruse was accused by a female state senator of inappropriately touching her. Senate Minority Leader Ginny Burdick declined to identify the state senator but she said that others had made similar accusations against Kruse. One state senator, Sara Gelser, publicly accused Kruse of inappropriate behavior that began in 2011. Kruse denied touching women inappropriately. A fact-finding inquiry was initiated after the October 2017 accusations. He was stripped of all committee assignments until the resolution of the accusations.[19]

On November 15, Gelser filed a formal sexual harassment complaint against Kruse. Read the complaint here. Gelser's formal complaint triggered an outside investigation into her claims.[20] On November 21, state Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward (D) filed a formal sexual harassment complaint against Kruse. Read the complaint here. Kruse did not respond to requests for a comment on the complaint from The Oregonian.[20]

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Kruse has two children.[1]

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for "Jeff + Kruse + Oregon + Senate'"

All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Oregon State Senate, "Biography of Sen. Kruse," accessed May 23, 2014
  2. Oregon Secretary of State, "Candidate Filing Search," accessed August 25, 2016
  3. Oregon Secretary of State, "November 8, 2016 General Election official results," accessed December 21, 2016
  4. 4.0 4.1 Oregon Secretary of State, "Candidate Filing Search," accessed March 9, 2016
  5. 5.0 5.1 Oregon Secretary of State, "May 17, 2016 Primary Election Abstract of Votes President," accessed August 2, 2016
  6. Oregon Secretary of State, "Candidate Filings for the Senate," accessed April 11, 2012
  7. Oregon Secretary of State, "Official Results for May 15 Primary election," accessed April 30, 2015
  8. Oregon Secretary of State, "Official General Results for 2012," accessed April 30, 2015
  9. Oregon Secretary of State, "2008 Oregon Primary Election Results," accessed April 30, 2015
  10. Oregon Secretary of State, "2008 General Election Results," accessed April 30, 2015
  11. Follow the Money, "Oregon Senate spending, 2008," accessed May 23, 2014
  12. Oregon Secretary of State, "Election History Archive."
  13. Oregon Secretary of State, "Official 2004 primary election results," May 18, 2004
  14. Oregon Secretary of State, "Official 2004 general election results," November 2, 2004
  15. The Hill, "Oregon legislator resigns amid harassment allegations," February 9, 2018
  16. Oregon State Legislature, "FINAL INVESTIGATION REPORT REGARDING COMPLAINTS AGAINST SENATOR JEFF KRUSE," accessed February 7, 2018
  17. Statesman Journal, "Investigation: Sen. Kruse exhibited 'longstanding' pattern of sexual harassment," February 6, 2018
  18. Washington Post, "Oregon legislator groped, grabbed women right on the state Senate floor, says official report," February 7, 2018
  19. The Oregonian, "Second Oregon state senator accuses colleague of inappropriate touching," October 24, 2017
  20. 20.0 20.1 The Oregonian, "Second Oregon state senator publicly accuses Sen. Jeff Kruse of sex harassment," November 21, 2017
Political offices
Preceded by
-
Oregon State Senate District 1
2005–2018
Succeeded by
Dallas Heard (R)


Current members of the Oregon State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Rob Wagner
Majority Leader:Kayse Jama
Minority Leader:Bruce Starr
Senators
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
Mark Meek (D)
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
Vacant
District 27
District 28
District 29
Todd Nash (R)
District 30
Democratic Party (18)
Republican Party (11)
Vacancies (1)