Jason R. R. Conger ( ; born March 27, 1968) is an American attorney and Republican politician from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 served in 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 54 in

Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in central Oregon and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is located to the east of the Cascade Range, on the Deschutes River. The site became known by pioneers as a ford (cros ...

, from 2011 to 2015. He ran for the Republican nomination for

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in 2014.

Early life and career

Conger was born in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

on March 27, 1968. His parents were describes as heavily involved in the "drug and

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

scene of

Haight-Ashbury Haight-Ashbury () is a district of San Francisco, California, named for the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. It is also called the Haight and the Upper Haight. The neighborhood is known as one of the main centers of the countercultu ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. As a child, he moved around the western states with his parents. His parents separated when he was eight years old. He went with his father, who lived an itinerant life. Conger left his father when he was 16 and began living on his own in Crescent City,

.Mapes, Jeff
"Jason Conger searches for footing in GOP Oregon Senate race as abortion, health care issues loom"
, ''The Oregonian'', Portland Oregon, March 28, 2014. Eventually, Conger earned his high school diploma at Sunset High (continuation) while working at a succession of menial jobs. He ran for the Crescent City Council after four of the five council members were recalled, but was not elected. After losing the city council election, he went to work for Frank Riggs, who was running for a seat in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, representing a district in northwest California. Riggs was elected to Congress in 1990, and Conger was given a staff job in Riggs’ office in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. Conger later returned to the northern California, where he worked in Riggs’ district office. Conger then attended

Humboldt State University California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt (Cal Poly Humboldt or Humboldt) is a public university in Arcata, California. It is one of Cal Poly (disambiguation), three polytechnic universities in the California State University (CSU) sys ...

, where he earned an undergraduate degree in 1997. After graduation, he applied for admission to

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 ...

and was accepted. He was awarded a J.D. degree from Harvard in 2000. He then went to work for a large international law firm in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. By the early 2000s, Conger had built a successful corporate law practice. He specialized in corporate mergers, stock and bond offerings, and high-tech start-ups. In 2004, he persuaded his firm to let him move his practice to

. In 2009, Conger became a partner in Miller Nash, a

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

-based law firm. However, his law office remained in Bend.

Political career

Conger was first elected to the

in 2010, defeating incumbent Judy Stiegler. He was re-elected in 2012, serving as Assistant Republican Leader in the party leadership. Conger's term in Oregon legislature was highlighted with several measures. He gathered Republican support for an early version of Senate Bill 478, which would establish and maintain list of dangerous chemicals used in children's medicine. He successfully led the effort to establish the

Oregon State University Cascades Campus Oregon ( , ) is a 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, while the Snake River delineates much ...

in Bend. Conger also spearheaded the drive to reform the Oregon state employees’ pension fund and defended the state’s charitable tax deduction.

U.S. Senate campaign

In October 2013, Conger announced his decision to run for the Republican nomination for the

seat held by

Jeff Merkley Jeffrey Alan Merkley (born October 24, 1956) is an American politician who is the junior United States senator from Oregon. He was first elected to the Senate in 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1999 to 2009 as the repres ...

. Conger lost to Portland neurosurgeon

Monica Wehby Monica Wehby ( ; born May 7, 1962) is an American physician and politician from the state of Oregon. She was the Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee for the United States Senate from Oregon in the 2014 United States Senate electi ...

in the Republican primary."Election Update", ''The Bulletin'', Bend, Oregon, May 22, 2014, p. B2.

Personal

Conger met his wife, Amy, when he was 17 and living in Crescent City. They were married four years later. The Congers live in Bend with their five children. The Congers selected Bend as their home because they wanted a small-town environment to raise their children, who were home-schooled much of the time.

Electoral history

References

External links

Official page
at the

Oregon Legislative Assembly The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the State legislature (United States), state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper house, upper and lower chamber: the Oregon State Senate, Sena ...

Campaign website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conger, Jason 1968 births Living people Harvard Law School alumni California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt alumni Republican Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly Oregon lawyers Politicians from Bend, Oregon Place of birth missing (living people)