Annabelle Jaramillo
Benton County Commissioner, Position 3
In office
January 2001  January 2021
ConstituencyBenton County, Oregon
Personal details
BornColorado
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseRichard Medley[1]
Alma materPortland State University
ProfessionCounty Commissioner and Forester

Annabelle Jaramillo (born 1940 or 1941) is a retired Latina American politician from the state of Oregon.[2] She served on the Board of Commissioners of Benton County for five terms, from 2001 to 2021.[1][3][2] Jaramillo was one of the first Latinas to hold elected office in Oregon.[4][5] While in office, she was a strong advocate for minority and LGBT civil rights.[2]

Early life and education

In the late 1940s, Jaramillo's mother attempted to enroll her in third grade in Colorado, only to find that the school was racially segregated. Her mother immediately staged a brief sit-in and successfully pushed the school to integrate.[2] Jaramillo became the first student of color in her classroom. This experience inspired Jaramillo to support civil rights and LGBT rights throughout her life.[6]

Jaramillo has bachelors and Master's degrees in biology from Portland State University.[1][7]

Career

Early Career

Jaramillo's initial career was as a research botanist for the US Forest Service.[3] In that role, she gradually became more involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts for Forest Service employees. She eventually became the president of National Image Inc., an organization that advocated for equal employment opportunities for Hispanics in the federal government.[2] Jaramillo then moved on to a number of managerial positions in Oregon's state government, including serving as Citizens' Representative for Governor John Kitzhaber, from 1995-2000 and as the Executive Director of the Oregon Commission on Hispanic Affairs.

Political career

Jaramillo served on the Board of Commissioners of Benton County for five terms, from 2001 to 2021.[1][3][2]

Volunteer

Jaramillo has been a member of numerous public and nonprofit boards. She served as president of the Oregon Women's Political Caucus. She also served on the Oregon Progress Board, the Oregon Sustainability Board, and the Federal Forestlands Advisory Committee.[7]

LGBT rights advocacy

In 1991, Jaramillo managed a successful campaign in Corvallis to defeat a discriminatory charter amendment promoted by the Oregon Citizens Alliance. In 2004, Jaramillo and fellow Benton County Commissioner Linda Modrell voted (2-1) for the county to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, following Multnomah County's lead and in defiance of requests by Governor Ted Kulongoski and Attorney General Hardy Myers.[8] Following threats of arrest by the Attorney General, the Benton County Commission voted (3-0) to instead to stop issuing all marriage licenses - straight and gay.[9] Benton County only resumed issuing marriage licenses to straight couples five months later, following a court order.[10] Jaramillo later reflected, "If we were going to end up with discrimination, we weren't going to issue marriage licenses to anyone."[6]

Electoral history

1988 Oregon House of Representatives 34th district election[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican John Schoon (incumbent) 11,602 62.65%
Democratic Annabelle Jaramillo 6,915 37.34%
Independent Miscellaneous 1 0.00%
Total votes 18,518 100.00%
1998 Benton County Commissioner, Position 1 Democratic primary[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Linda Modrell 3,103 46.18%
Democratic Annabelle Jaramillo 2,709 40.32%
Democratic George C. Gorsch 882 13.13%
Democratic Write-ins 25 0.37%
Total votes 6,719 100.00%
2000 Benton County Commissioner, Position 3 election[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Annabelle Jaramillo 17,894 51.39%
Republican Carolyn Oakley 16,809 48.28%
Independent Write-ins 114 0.33%
Total votes 34,817 100.00%
2004 Benton County Commissioner, Position 3 election[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Annabelle Jaramillo (incumbent) 23,188 55.99%
Republican David E. Smith 18,123 43.76%
Independent Write-ins 106 0.26%
Total votes 41,417 100.00%
2008 Benton County Commissioner, Position 3 election[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Annabelle Jaramillo (incumbent) 24,344 60.80%
Republican Chris Nusbaum 15,549 38.83%
Independent Write-ins 148 0.37%
Total votes 40,041 100.00%
2012 Benton County Commissioner, Position 3 election[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Annabelle Jaramillo (incumbent) 23,263 59.35%
Republican Betsy Close 15,767 40.23%
Independent Write-ins 165 0.42%
Total votes 39,195 100.00%
2016 Benton County Commissioner, Position 3 election[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Annabelle Jaramillo (incumbent) 23,062 52.86%
Republican Paul Cauthorn 16,962 38.88%
Pacific Green Timothy L Dehne 3,490 8.00%
Independent Write-ins 117 0.27%
Total votes 43,631 100.00%

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hall, Bennett (2012-10-19). "Position 3 commissioner candidates". Corvallis Gazette-Times. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hall, Bennett (2020-12-30). "Democratic Party stalwart Annabelle Jaramillo a fighter for equality and the environment". Gazette Times. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
  3. 1 2 3 "Annabelle Jaramillo, Benton County Commissioner, Chair Biographical Summary". Benton County, Oregon. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  4. Pachon, Harry; DeSipio, Louis (June 1992). "Latino Elected Officials in the 1990s". PS: Political Science and Politics. 25 (2): 212–217. doi:10.2307/419710. JSTOR 419710. S2CID 154620996. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
  5. Kimberly, Jensen. "Susan Castillo (1951-)". Oregon Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
  6. 1 2 "Voices for Equality: Annabelle Jaramillo". Basic Rights Education Fund. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Annabelle Jaramillo". Democratic Party of Oregon. Archived from the original on December 10, 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  8. "Second Oregon county says gay couples can marry". CNN. 2004-03-17. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  9. "Oregon county bans all marriages". NBC. 2004-03-24. Archived from the original on 2022-05-16. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  10. "Oregon county will resume issuing marriage licenses". Associated Press. 2004-08-24. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  11. "OFFICIAL ABSTRACT OF VOTES GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 8, 1988". Oregon Secretary of State. 1988-12-08. p. 20. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  12. "OFFICIAL FINAL TOTAL 5/98" (PDF). Benton County Clerk. 1998-05-19. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  13. "BENTON COUNTY OFFICIAL ELECTION RETURNS CUMULATIVE RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 7TH, 2000" (PDF). Benton County Clerk. 2000-11-07. p. 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  14. "BENTON COUNTY OFFICIAL ELECTION RETURNS CUMULATIVE RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 2, 2004" (PDF). Benton County Clerk. 2004-11-02. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  15. "OFFICIAL FINAL Benton County, Oregon ELECTION TOTALS GENERAL ELECTION November 8, 2008" (PDF). Benton County Clerk. 2008-11-17. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  16. "SUMMARY REPORT Benton County, Oregon General Election November 6, 2012" (PDF). Benton County Clerk. 2012-11-20. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  17. "SUMMARY REPORT Benton County, Oregon FINAL CERTIFIED RETURNS OFFICIAL RESULTS" (PDF). Benton County Clerk. 2016-11-22. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
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