Mark Francis Gamba is an American politician in the U.S. 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 ...

who currently serves 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 the 41st district in Milwaukie. Previously, Gamba served as mayor of Milwaukie.

Early life

Gamba was born and raised in Colorado. Gamba attended Glenwood Springs High School in

Glenwood Springs, Colorado Glenwood Springs is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality and the county seat of Garfield County, Colorado, Garfield County, Colorado, United States. According to the 2020 United States census, the ...

. He graduated in 1977

Career

Although he has lived in Oregon for over two decades, Gamba has worked all over the world as a photographer with many assignments from

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

. He has also worked as a

land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

. Gamba was a member of the Milwaukie Planning Commission and served as Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment of the League of Oregon Cities. In 2012, Gamba was elected to the Milwaukie City Council, defeating attorney Scott N Barbur.

Mayor

Gamba was elected Mayor of Milwaukie, running unopposed, in a 2015 special election to replace Jeremy Ferguson, who resigned to take a private sector job. As Mayor, Gamba helped to create the city's Climate Action Plan and also created a resolution declaring a climate emergency. Milwaukie was one of the first cities in Oregon to do both.

Congressional Campaign

In 2020, Gamba announced his intent to run for the Democratic nomination for

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 ...

Oregon's 5th congressional district Oregon's 5th congressional district stretches from the Southeast corner of Portland through the eastern half of the Willamette Valley and then reaches across the Cascades to take in Sisters and Bend. It includes a sliver of Multnomah County, ...

. Gamba was attempting to unseat long-term incumbent

Kurt Schrader Walter Kurt Schrader (born October 19, 1951) is an American politician and veterinarian who served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2023. His district covered most of Oregon's central coast, plus Salem, and many of Portland's south ...

. Gamba, a progressive, noted his concerns with Schrader's moderate and sometimes conservative stances on various issues, namely his support for gun rights, "A-" rating from the

NRA Political Victory Fund The Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) is the political action committee (PAC) of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). Founded in 1976, the Fund endorses political candidates on behalf of the NRA and contributes money to those candidate's ...

, and opposition to the

Green New Deal The Green New Deal (GND) calls for public policy to address climate change, along with achieving other social aims like job creation, economic growth, and reducing economic inequality. The name refers to the New Deal, a set of changes and ...

and

Medicare for All Act The Medicare for All Act (abbreviated M4A), also known as the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act or United States National Health Care Act, is a bill first introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Representative John ...

. Gamba lost to Schrader in the primary. Schrader was successfully defeated in the primary in the next election by progressive

Jamie McLeod-Skinner Jamie McLeod-Skinner (born May 31, 1967) is an American attorney, engineer, and politician who has run for office in Oregon on multiple occasions. She was the Democratic nominee for in the 2022 election. In an upset, McLeod-Skinner defeated s ...

, who lost to Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer in the general election.

State representative

In 2022, Gamba announced his intention to run for the

in District 41 after incumbent

Karin Power Karin Power (born 1982/83) is an American lawyer and Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician who previously served in the Oregon House of Representatives. She represented the Oregon's 41st House district, 41st district, which cove ...

decided to resign to focus on her main job. Gamba ran against nonprofit executive Kaliko Castille and former transit operator Christopher Draus in the primary, easily defeating them both. In the general election, Gamba defeated Milwaukie Public Safety Committee member Rob Reynolds.

Controversy

Speaking in support of a bill that would rise taxes to build infrastructure in Oregon, Gamba described people critical of the plan as "petulant children", and received criticism for his remarks.

Electoral history

References

External links

Legislative website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamba, Mark Mayors of places in Oregon Democratic Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly People from Milwaukie, Oregon Living people Year of birth missing (living people)