Bill Bradbury (born May 29, 1949) is an American politician who served as a member of the Oregon Legislative Assembly and as the 23rd Oregon secretary of state from 1999 to 2009. Bradbury was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2010 Oregon gubernatorial election. In 2010, he was appointed to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council by Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski. Early life and education Bradbury was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1949, the third child of William and Lorraine Bradbury. He grew up in Chicago where his father was an associate professor of sociology at the University of Chicago. In September 1958, Bill's mother and father were killed in an automobile accident in Montana. Bill and his sister Kathy were injured, but survived, and moved to Swarthmore, Pennsylvania to be raised by their aunt and uncle. Bradbury graduated from the University of Chicago Laboratory High School in 1967. He attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio where he studied communications, and moved to Oregon in 1969 where he worked as a news reporter, director, and producer in Bandon, Eugene, and Portland. Career State representative (1981–1995) Bradbury was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives from Curry and southern Coos County in 1980. He was elected to the Oregon State Senate in 1984, where he was elected by his colleagues to serve in the leadership posts of Senate majority leader in 1986, and senate president in 1993. During Bradbury's time as president of the Senate, Jeff Golden, now Senator from District 3, served as his chief of staff. As a legislator, Bill focused on environmental protection and economic development. He worked to pass legislation to establish Small Business Development Centers at community colleges around the state, to develop the Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program (STEP), to develop a relief plan to assist displaced timber workers, and prevent offshore oil drilling off the Oregon Coast. Bradbury left the Oregon Legislature in 1995 and founded and became the executive director of For the Sake of the Salmon, a regional non-profit organization which sought to restore salmon stocks and watershed restoration. MSNBC calls Bradbury an "environmental activist". Secretary of state (1999–2009) Following the resignation of Phil Keisling, Governor John Kitzhaber appointed Bradbury to be Oregon Secretary of State in November 1999. He was elected to the office in 2000, and re-elected in 2004, serving for nine years. As the state's second-highest-ranking constitutional officer, he