State Representative Brad Witt

About Brad Witt

Brad is running because he believes Americans and the citizens of Oregon’s First Congressional District are ready to break through the barriers that divide us. Brad is dedicated to finding commonsense solutions to the challenges that face not just Oregon but the nation. He believes everyone should be treated fairly, and that representation should not be available only to those who can afford to buy the best lobbyists.

This race is about whom can best serve the individuals and families of District 1. Brad is an effective legislators and a professional negotiator who brings a set of powerful skills that will give Oregonians a tough and resilient voice in Congress. Brad is a statesman who will stand up for the people in his district and he will not cave in to special interests.

Brad is active in politics because he wants to help people achieve greater opportunities for living wage jobs, affordable health care and other quality of life issues. Brad was appointed in 2005 to the Oregon House to represent District 31, which encompasses the counties and communities along the lower Columbia River and Multnomah Channel, an area that has been hit hard by unemployment.

Brad has been re-elected three times and has established himself as a fair, transparent and effective legislator.  His record shows that he is dedicated to making life better for all Oregonians by fighting to adequately fund education, expand insurance coverage for all children, establish the Oregon Health Advisory and Health Care Exchange, regulate payday loans, and promote green jobs and sensible development.

Brad’s passion for fair treatment for working people led him to a career as a union representative in the seafood, grocery and forest industries. He has worked with the national AFL-CIO and as a researcher for the Western Council of Industrial Workers. Brad was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Oregon AFL-CIO in 1992 and served for 14 years.

During his career, Brad Witt has served on the Management/Labor Advisory Committee on Workers Compensation and has handled issues surrounding:

Workers’ compensation, health and safety
Workforce and economic development
Natural resources issues for the AFL-CIO
Served on the Management/Labor Advisory Committee on Workers Compensation

Brad has served extensively on a variety of State Boards including:

Forestry
Watershed Enhancement
Workforce Enhancement
Workers’ Compensation
Forest Resources Institute

Having served on those boards, Brad was also a leader as Co-Chair of the bi-state Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership, and served as a member of:

Pesticide Use Reporting Work Group
Oregon OSHA Safe Employment Committee
Oregon OSHA Education and Training Committee

Brad has deep roots in America. His family arrived in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1638.  After 100 years of living under the rule of the King of England, they became patriots and fought in the Revolutionary War.

Brad was born in rural Barre, Massachusetts. He learned democracy first hand at New England’s famous town hall meetings. Hard work and family values were ingrained in Brad through his family and Boy Scouts. He earned the Eagle Scout, God and Country and the Order of the Arrow.

Brad worked his way through the University of Massachusetts Amherst by working in sawmills. Following the completion of his teaching credentials, Brad taught a year of high school economics where he was given a class of kids on the verge of failing. Not one of these students failed, and each student went on to a better life because a young teacher named Mr. Witt effectively challenged them to succeed.  After teaching for a year he returned to the university to take a year of concentrated studies in economics and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history with a minor in economics.

After graduation, Brad moved to Eugene, Oregon and enrolled in the University of Oregon’s Labor and Industrial Relations program. He found a job as a hod carrier on a construction site. Working days as a hod carrier and in a saw mill, he went to school and earned a Master’s degree in Labor and Industrial Relations. Upon completion of  his master’s degree, Brad moved to Clatskanie, Oregon where he settled on a farm to raise his family.

Brad continues to live in Clatskanie where he grows hay on his farm. His son, Brian, works in computer technology. Brad’s daughter, Jessica, is a law student at Willamette College of Law. In his free time, Brad enjoys spending time with family and friends, music, hiking, mountain biking, and hunting.