Brent Barton (born March 11, 1980) is a Democratic politician from the US state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. He was elected in 2008 to the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, the upper house being the Oregon State Senate. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of ...

, representing District 51, which encompasses parts of

Clackamas County Clackamas County ( ) is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 421,401, making it Oregon's third-most populous county. Its county seat is Oregon City. The county was named after the na ...

and

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland metropolitan area. The state's smallest and most populous county, it ...

, and includes all or part of the cities of Boring, Clackamas,

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, Estacada, and Oregon City. In the 2010 election, Barton ran unsuccessfully for the

Oregon State Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the State legislature (United States), statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. Ther ...

, declining to run for reelection to his House seat. In

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, he ran again for the House, this time defeating Republican Steve Newgard with 51% of the vote. He retired in 2016, and was succeeded by Mark Meek.

Early life and career

Barton grew up in Oregon and attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science, and a master's degree in sociology in 2002 at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

. His father, William A. Barton, has been considered one of the best lawyers in America in several areas of law,William Barton.
Best Lawyers. Retrieved on May 1, 2007. and is known for representing a plaintiff in a high-profile case against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland. While at Stanford, Brent served as an aide for Oregon Congresswoman Darlene Hooley. He was also a

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

intern in 2000 between his sophomore and junior years. Barton went on to earn a JD from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, then returned to Oregon where he worked as a criminal prosecutor, volunteered as a high school teacher, and served on the board of directors of the Oregon Bus Project. In 2007, he was hired to the litigation department of the Portland office of the

Perkins Coie Perkins Coie LLP ( ) is an American law firm based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1912, it is recognized by The American Lawyer as being one of the top 50 firms in the US. It is the largest law firm headquartered in the Pacific Northwest and ...

law firm. Brent left Perkins Coie and joined Barton Trial Attourneys in 2010, and made partner in the firm in 2016.

Political career

In 2008, Barton was unopposed for the Democratic nomination for House District 51 and faced incumbent Linda Flores in the general election. During the campaign Flores accused him of exaggeration regarding his time as criminal prosecutor while at Harvard Law. Barton defeated Flores 52% to 48% in the November general election to win the seat. In the 2009 session, Barton served on the Judiciary and Consumer Protection committees, and as Vice-Chair of the Business and Labor Committee. In 2010, Barton ran for the

seat in District 26 vacated by retiring Senator Rick Metsger, but lost to Republican candidate Chuck Thomsen 47% to 53%. Barton ran for a House seat again in 2012; he was again unopposed for the Democratic nomination for House District 40, and defeated Republican Steve Newgard in the general election.

Electoral history

References

External links

Legislative website

Project VoteSmart biography

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Brent Democratic Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly Politicians from Oregon City, Oregon Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences alumni Harvard Law School alumni Living people 1980 births Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge People associated with Perkins Coie