Annabelle Jaramillo

Annabelle Jaramillo (born 1940 or 1941) is a retired Latina American politician from the state of Oregon.^[2] She served on the Board of Commissioners of Benton County for five terms, from 2001 to 2021.^[1][3][2] Jaramillo was one of the first Latinas to hold elected office in Oregon.^[4][5] While in office, she was a strong advocate for minority and LGBT civil rights.^[2]

Annabelle Jaramillo
Benton County Commissioner, Position 3
In office January 2001 – January 2021
Constituency	Benton County, Oregon
Personal details
Born	Colorado
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Richard Medley[1]
Alma mater	Portland State University
Profession	County Commissioner and Forester

Early life and education

In the late 1940s, Jaramillo's mother attempted to enroll her in third grade in Colorado, only to find that the school was racially segregated. Her mother immediately staged a brief sit-in and successfully pushed the school to integrate.^[2] Jaramillo became the first student of color in her classroom. This experience inspired Jaramillo to support civil rights and LGBT rights throughout her life.^[6]

Jaramillo has bachelors and Master's degrees in biology from Portland State University.^[1][7]

Career

Early career

Jaramillo's initial career was as a research botanist for the US Forest Service.^[3] In that role, she gradually became more involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts for Forest Service employees. She eventually became the president of National Image Inc., an organization that advocated for equal employment opportunities for Hispanics in the federal government.^[2] Jaramillo then moved on to a number of managerial positions in Oregon's state government, including serving as Citizens' Representative for Governor John Kitzhaber, from 1995-2000 and as the Executive Director of the Oregon Commission on Hispanic Affairs.

Political career

Jaramillo served on the Board of Commissioners of Benton County for five terms, from 2001 to 2021.^[1][3][2]

Volunteer

Jaramillo has been a member of numerous public and nonprofit boards. She served as president of the Oregon Women's Political Caucus. She also served on the Oregon Progress Board, the Oregon Sustainability Board, and the Federal Forestlands Advisory Committee.^[7]

LGBT rights advocacy

In 1991, Jaramillo managed a successful campaign in Corvallis to defeat a discriminatory charter amendment promoted by the Oregon Citizens Alliance. In 2004, Jaramillo and fellow Benton County Commissioner Linda Modrell voted (2-1) for the county to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, following Multnomah County's lead and in defiance of requests by Governor Ted Kulongoski and Attorney General Hardy Myers.^[8] Following threats of arrest by the Attorney General, the Benton County Commission voted (3-0) to instead to stop issuing all marriage licenses - straight and gay.^[9] Benton County only resumed issuing marriage licenses to straight couples five months later, following a court order.^[10] Jaramillo later reflected, "If we were going to end up with discrimination, we weren't going to issue marriage licenses to anyone."^[6]

Electoral history

1988 Oregon House of Representatives 34th district election^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John Schoon (incumbent)	11,602	62.65%
	Democratic	Annabelle Jaramillo	6,915	37.34%
	Independent	Miscellaneous	1	0.00%
Total votes			18,518	100.00%

1998 Benton County Commissioner, Position 1 Democratic primary^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Linda Modrell	3,103	46.18%
	Democratic	Annabelle Jaramillo	2,709	40.32%
	Democratic	George C. Gorsch	882	13.13%
	Democratic	Write-ins	25	0.37%
Total votes			6,719	100.00%

2000 Benton County Commissioner, Position 3 election^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Annabelle Jaramillo	17,894	51.39%
	Republican	Carolyn Oakley	16,809	48.28%
	Independent	Write-ins	114	0.33%
Total votes			34,817	100.00%

2004 Benton County Commissioner, Position 3 election^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Annabelle Jaramillo (incumbent)	23,188	55.99%
	Republican	David E. Smith	18,123	43.76%
	Independent	Write-ins	106	0.26%
Total votes			41,417	100.00%

2008 Benton County Commissioner, Position 3 election^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Annabelle Jaramillo (incumbent)	24,344	60.80%
	Republican	Chris Nusbaum	15,549	38.83%
	Independent	Write-ins	148	0.37%
Total votes			40,041	100.00%

2012 Benton County Commissioner, Position 3 election^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Annabelle Jaramillo (incumbent)	23,263	59.35%
	Republican	Betsy Close	15,767	40.23%
	Independent	Write-ins	165	0.42%
Total votes			39,195	100.00%

2016 Benton County Commissioner, Position 3 election^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Annabelle Jaramillo (incumbent)	23,062	52.86%
	Republican	Paul Cauthorn	16,962	38.88%
	Pacific Green	Timothy L Dehne	3,490	8.00%
	Independent	Write-ins	117	0.27%
Total votes			43,631	100.00%

References

1. Hall, Bennett (2012-10-19). "Position 3 commissioner candidates". Corvallis Gazette-Times. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
2. Hall, Bennett (2020-12-30). "Democratic Party stalwart Annabelle Jaramillo a fighter for equality and the environment". Gazette Times. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
3. "Annabelle Jaramillo, Benton County Commissioner, Chair Biographical Summary". Benton County, Oregon. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
4. Pachon, Harry; DeSipio, Louis (June 1992). "Latino Elected Officials in the 1990s". PS: Political Science and Politics. 25 (2): 212–217. doi:10.2307/419710. JSTOR 419710. S2CID 154620996. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
5. Kimberly, Jensen. "Susan Castillo (1951-)". Oregon Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
6. "Voices for Equality: Annabelle Jaramillo". Basic Rights Education Fund. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
7. "Annabelle Jaramillo". Democratic Party of Oregon. Archived from the original on December 10, 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
8. "Second Oregon county says gay couples can marry". CNN. 2004-03-17. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
9. "Oregon county bans all marriages". NBC. 2004-03-24. Archived from the original on 2022-05-16. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
10. "Oregon county will resume issuing marriage licenses". Associated Press. 2004-08-24. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
11. "OFFICIAL ABSTRACT OF VOTES GENERAL ELECTION NOVEMBER 8, 1988". Oregon Secretary of State. 1988-12-08. p. 20. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
12. "OFFICIAL FINAL TOTAL 5/98" (PDF). Benton County Clerk. 1998-05-19. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
13. "BENTON COUNTY OFFICIAL ELECTION RETURNS CUMULATIVE RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 7TH, 2000" (PDF). Benton County Clerk. 2000-11-07. p. 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
14. "BENTON COUNTY OFFICIAL ELECTION RETURNS CUMULATIVE RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 2, 2004" (PDF). Benton County Clerk. 2004-11-02. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
15. "OFFICIAL FINAL Benton County, Oregon ELECTION TOTALS GENERAL ELECTION November 8, 2008" (PDF). Benton County Clerk. 2008-11-17. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
16. "SUMMARY REPORT Benton County, Oregon General Election November 6, 2012" (PDF). Benton County Clerk. 2012-11-20. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
17. "SUMMARY REPORT Benton County, Oregon FINAL CERTIFIED RETURNS OFFICIAL RESULTS" (PDF). Benton County Clerk. 2016-11-22. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-22.

External links

• Jaramillo Papers at Oregon State University
• Jaramillo's Campaign Finance Filings with Oregon Secretary of State