James Lee Bunn (born December 12, 1956) is an American politician from

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 ...

. A native of Yamhill County, he served in 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 ...

before election to 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 ...

, where he served for one term before losing re-election. A Republican, he now works as a correctional officer for the county.

Early life and education

James Lee Bunn was born in McMinnville and graduated from Dayton High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern Nazarene College in 1979, and remains a member of the

Church of the Nazarene The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism during the late 19th century. The denomination has its headquarters in Lenexa, Kansas. and it ...

Career

Bunn worked in

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

, and from 1987 until his election to Congress, served in the

Oregon National Guard The Oregon Military Department is an agency of the Government of Oregon, government of the U.S. state of Oregon, which oversees the armed forces of the state of Oregon. Under the authority and direction of the Governor of Oregon, governor as ...

. A Republican, he was a member of the

from 1987 to 1995, where he served as Republican

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

from 1990 to 1995.

United States House of Representatives

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, he was elected to the

, representing . During his one term in the House from 1995 to 1997, Bunn divorced his wife of 17 years, with whom he had five children, and married Sonja Skurdal, an aide in his congressional office whom he made his

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

. Bunn then paid Skurdal more than any other congressional aide in Oregon at that time. In the 1996 election, this scandal contributed to his loss to Democrat

Darlene Hooley Darlene Kay Olson Hooley (born April 4, 1939) is an American politician and former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon who represented the state's . A high school teacher by profession, she served as a city counc ...

Later career

After leaving Congress, Bunn became a

sheriff's deputy A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is commonly ...

at the Yamhill County jail. In 2008, he was a candidate for 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 ...

in the state's 24th district which includes McMinnville, but was defeated in the primary by Jim Weidner. Bunn ran again for congress in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

but came in 5th in the primary out of 7 candidates.

Personal life

Bunn's family includes other notable public figures, such as his brother Stan Bunn, a former

Oregon superintendent of public instruction The Superintendent of Public Instruction, sometimes referred to as the State Superintendent of Schools, was a constitutional officeOR Const. art. VIII. within the executive branch of the Government of Oregon, Oregon state government from 1872 to 2 ...

and member of both houses of the state legislature. Another brother, Tom Bunn, is a former Yamhill County commissioner and was briefly a state senator. All three brothers served in the legislature for a short time in from July 1992 to January 1993.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bunn, Jim 1956 births American members of the Church of the Nazarene American prison officers Businesspeople from Oregon Businesspeople in agriculture Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Living people Northwest Nazarene University alumni Republican Party Oregon state senators People from Dayton, Oregon People from McMinnville, Oregon Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Oregon United States Army soldiers 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly