Beverly A. Clarno (born March 29, 1936) is an American politician who served as the 27th Oregon Secretary of State from 2019 to 2021. She was the only Republican statewide official in Oregon at the time. Clarno previously served as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives and Oregon State Senate. As of 2024, she is the most recent Republican to have held statewide office in Oregon.

Bev Clarno
27th Secretary of State of Oregon
In office
March 31, 2019 – January 4, 2021
GovernorKate Brown
Preceded byLeslie Cummings (acting)
Succeeded byShemia Fagan
Member of the Oregon State Senate
from the 27th district
In office
January 2001 – August 1, 2003
Preceded byNeil Bryant
Succeeded byBen Westlund
59th Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives
In office
January 9, 1995 – January 13, 1997
Preceded byLarry Campbell
Succeeded byLynn Lundquist
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
from the 55th district
In office
January 1989 – January 1997
Preceded byBill C. Bellamy
Succeeded byBen Westlund
Personal details
Born (1936-03-29) March 29, 1936 (age 88)
Langlois, Oregon, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationMarylhurst University (BA)

Early life and education

edit

Clarno was born in Langlois, Oregon.[1] She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Marylhurst University.

Career

edit

Clarno was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1989. She became Speaker of the House in 1995, succeeding Larry Campbell.[2] She served in the House until 1996, opting to instead run for Oregon State Treasurer, though she was defeated by incumbent Democrat Jim Hill.[3]

In 2000, she was elected to the Oregon State Senate,[4] where she served one term. She resigned on August 1, 2003 to take a position with the George W. Bush administration as a regional representative for the United States Department of Health and Human Services.[5][6][7]

Governor Kate Brown appointed Clarno as Oregon Secretary of State to complete the term of Dennis Richardson following his death in 2019.[8][9][10] Brown announced that she was only interested in appointing a successor to Richardson who wanted the day-to-day responsibilities of the office and would not run for election to a full term, a condition to which Clarno agreed upon her appointment.[11] As Oregon does not have a Lieutenant governor position, the Secretary of State serves in a similar role and is first in the line of succession to the Governor. As Clarno was an appointee, however, she was ineligible to become Governor, leaving State Treasurer Tobias Read next in the line of succession until Shemia Fagan assumed office on January 4, 2021.[12]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Eure, Rob (November 11, 1994). "Clarno ahead of her schedule". The Oregonian. p. C4.
  2. ^ Green, Ashbel S. (January 29, 1995). "Work detail". The Oregonian.
  3. ^ Lednicer, Lisa Grace (May 18, 2000). "Careers: Some longtime politicians defeated Tuesday say they'll try again". The Oregonian. p. C1.
  4. ^ Lednicer, Lisa Grace (November 10, 2000). "Control of Oregon Senate undecided: The tight race will determine whether Republicans get a two-seat edge or Democrats secure a 15-15 tie". The Oregonian. p. D1.
  5. ^ Har, Janie (August 7, 2003). "Westlund will fill vacant Senate seat". The Oregonian. p. C1.
  6. ^ Har, Janie (July 23, 2003). "Bev Clarno will leave Senate for federal job". The Oregonian. p. C1.
  7. ^ Dake, Laura (August 27, 2013). "Clarno: 'Never say never'". The Bulletin (Bend). Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  8. ^ "Clarno sworn in as secretary of state at Redmond home". KTVZ. April 1, 2019. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  9. ^ Manning, Jeff; Lehman, Chris (March 29, 2019). "Gov. Brown names Bev Clarno, 83, as new secretary of state". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  10. ^ VanderHart, Dirk (March 29, 2019). "Bev Clarno, Former House Speaker, Will Be Oregon's Next Secretary Of State". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on March 29, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  11. ^ VanderHart, Dirk (March 29, 2019). "Bev Clarno, Former House Speaker, Will Be Oregon's Next Secretary Of State". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  12. ^ "Some Oregon Republicans are having regrets about effort to recall Gov. Kate Brown". July 25, 2019. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
Political offices
Preceded by Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives
1995–1997
Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State of Oregon
2019–2021
Succeeded by