Running for Oregon Senate wasn’t a personal aspiration for Senator Anderson, but rather a call of duty to help protect the coastal communities and State he loves.

While he is a Republican, he has a rare and proven ability to work across political party lines to come up with creative, collaborative answers that don’t add to the tax burden of coastal residents. Even Democrats voted for him because they understood the need for levelheaded balance in Salem, and they knew SenatorAnderson wouldn’t forget them.

Senator Anderson, along with his three brothers was raised in Wallowa County, Oregon by his father, Bob, an Episcopal minister and his mother, Ruth. He graduated from high school in Washougal, Washington. Later, he graduated from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon where he met his wife, Sue.

His collaborative approach was honed during his professional career. He worked in financial services for 35 years Portland, Eugene, Boise, Spokane, Seattle, Walnut Creek and back to Portland. He started with US Bank and retired working for Fannie Mae.

He and Sue purchased their home in Lincoln City in 1999 knowing that was where they wanted to retire. As an avid golfer, and newly retired, Anderson noticed the need in the community for support for the high school golf teams and created a junior golf program for 7-16 year olds.

Because of his financial background, Anderson was curious about the City Budget and how it worked. He joined the Budget Committee and also the Planning Commission. When a seat opened on the City Council with the two years remaining, Anderson ran for that position and won. From there, he ran for Mayor and was successful. Rather than running for another term as Mayor, Anderson ran for County Commissioner against a longtime incumbent and lost.

About this time, another City Council seat was vacated for an almost full 4-year term and Anderson was successful in gaining that seat. When the seat opened for Mayor, he ran again in 2018 for the seat he held until being elected to the Oregon Senate in 2020.

While serving on the North Lincoln Health District Board, Anderson  helped partner with Samaritan Health Services to bring a new $45 million hospital to Lincoln City without any new taxes levied to the citizens.

He also advocated for a new police station, and it was built without local tax dollars–utilizing revenue from tourism instead.

Over the 21 years, Senator Anderson and his wife have owned their home here on they coast, they have come to love the Coast even more than they anticipated.

Those many dedicated years of unpaid service to our coast’s communities have also proven that he has an exceptional ability to work creatively with leaders across political parties and make the coast a better place.