Mary King

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Mary King

Working Families Party, Pacific Green Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Stanford University, 1979

Ph.D

University of California, Berkeley, 1991

Personal

Profession

Economics Professor

Contact

Campaign website

Mary King (Pacific Green Party, Working Families Party) ran for election for Oregon Treasurer. King lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

King completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Mary King earned a bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 1979 and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1991. King's career experience includes working as an economics professor.

Elections

2024

See also: Oregon Treasurer election, 2024

General election

General election for Oregon Treasurer

Elizabeth Steiner Hayward defeated Brian Boquist and Mary King in the general election for Oregon Treasurer on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Elizabeth Steiner Hayward (D)	49.4	1,050,119
		Brian Boquist (R / Constitution Party)	43.2	919,794
		Mary King (Pacific Green Party / Working Families Party)	7.3	155,473
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	1,882

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,127,268
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Oregon Treasurer

Elizabeth Steiner Hayward defeated Jeff Gudman in the Democratic primary for Oregon Treasurer on May 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Elizabeth Steiner Hayward	78.5	335,079
		Jeff Gudman	21.0	89,459
		Other/Write-in votes	0.6	2,418

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 426,956
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Brett Baker (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Oregon Treasurer

Brian Boquist advanced from the Republican primary for Oregon Treasurer on May 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brian Boquist	98.9	251,064
		Other/Write-in votes	1.1	2,914

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 253,978
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for King in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Mary King completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by King's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm an economist, retired from the PSU faculty. I became an economist to learn how to eliminate poverty, extreme economic inequality and the exploitation of women, people of color and working people - while taking care of people and our planet.

Trying to improve the student experience at PSU, I served for 6 years as Chair of the Economics Department and 4 years as President and Chief Negotiator for my union. I was a founding board member of Family Forward Oregon and Vice President of the board of the Oregon Center for Public Policy.

I spent three years, working like mad with a big, strong group of dedicated volunteers to resoundingly win free, high-quality preschool for all 3 and 4 year-olds in Multnomah County by Fall 2030, with living wages for teachers, lots of supports for children and providers, a budget for expanded facilities, funded by a small tax on the very affluent. The program is a national model, available year-round, full-time with lots of choices for families in terms of language, cultural context and schedule, to include - in the near future - weekend days as well as other "non-traditional" hours. Economists love early childhood education and care, a powerful investment in people and the economy.

My family, including grown children and grandkids are all Oregonians who share my love of our beautiful state. We spend a lot of time outdoors, camping, hiking, swimming and kayaking and consider ourselves lucky to live here.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• We need to shift some of Oregon's $140 billion of investments into ones that better serve Oregonians, creating good, family wage jobs, supporting local businesses and fighting climate change while providing dignified retirements for teachers and other public employees. We should phase out of investments in Wall Street's "corporate raider" private equity funds, which destroy jobs, businesses and affordable housing - and aren't even paying off. We should divest from fossil fuels while we can still get top dollar for them, and from arms manufacturers and countries in violation of international law. Underfunding PERS led to risky investments and taking huge chunks from school & other public budgets.
• We should start a state bank to collaborate with community banks and private partners to build stronger local economies all around the state. A state bank can manage Oregon's money, saving us from paying high fees to Wall Street. It can support students, farmers and small businesses with low-interest loans. There are big federal dollars available to help kick-start state banks, intended to finance more green start-ups, which could take advantage of Oregonians' skills and interests in these areas.
• Oregon's economy is bigger than 3/4s of the world's countries. We have the resources and responsibility to expand public investments with high payoffs in housing, schools and youth training, childcare and the whole spectrum of health care, while combating climate change and building climate resilience. We can bond more, and raise more revenue by some mix of raising the state income tax on the very affluent, creating a small wealth tax on households with over $30 million in financial assets (stocks & bonds), and ending mortgage interest tax deductions on McMansions and second homes. The State Treasurer helps manage our State Forests, where we can let the trees grow much older and sell carbon credits to fund rural schools.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

The overlooked power of public investment. Public education was responsible for most of the economic growth in the U.S. in the 20th century. Too few people realize that every $1 spent on high-quality early childhood programs returns $7 to $12 to the economy. Creating the full range of affordable housing, with supports for addiction, mental health and job skills is much cheaper than arresting people, jailing them and treating health issues in the emergency room. A well educated and highly skilled labor force attracts business investment and raises wages for everyone. The U.S. is over-reliant on the market, which is expensive but can't and won't provide decent housing, health care, child care, or education for everyone.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Always putting the public interest first, and remembering that most people's concerns are not represented by the lobbyists that you hear from all day.

What legacy would you like to leave?

A greener and more people-centered economy.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

A solid understanding of economics, finance and the way that the economy works. We need to be asking more questions as consultants sell us their products and services.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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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.

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Mary King campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Oregon Treasurer	Lost general	$38,544	$57,660
Grand total			$38,544	$57,660
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also

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Candidate

Oregon Treasurer

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