Ben Bowman is a 7th generation Oregonian with deep roots in the region and communities he represents. His parents were involved members of the community, his mom was a high school English teacher and his dad worked for the postal service. This upbringing showed him the importance of working at the community level to improve lives and neighborhoods. After graduating from Tualatin High School, Ben earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon, and later his master’s degree in education policy from Stanford University.
In 2019, he was elected to the Tigard-Tualatin School Board. He served as Vice Chair in 2020 and as Chair in 2021. During his time on the board, he helped move the Tigard-Tualatin School District (TTSD) forward in supporting students’ social, emotional, and mental health needs as well as enhancing educational equity and academic achievement. Whether eliminating extracurricular pay-to-play fees or establishing TTSD’s first-ever “Hate Speech and Bias Incident” policy to expose and eradicate injustice and inequity in our public schools. During his service, the district saw some of its smallest class sizes and achieved its highest graduation rate on record.
Ben is an established voice in Oregon's public sector. Previously, he worked for former State Rep. Margaret Doherty, who represented Tigard in the legislature for over a decade. Ben was a staffer for former Majority Leader and current Congresswoman, Val Hoyle. He has experience working for the Oregon Department of Education. He currently works for the Gladstone School District.
Since joining the House of Representatives as one of the chamber’s youngest members, Ben has tackled a variety of policy issues from education to healthcare to transportation policy. In 2023, one of Ben’s top priorities was making Hall Boulevard safe, walkable, and accessible for the Tigard community. He secured $3 million to get the ball rolling on long overdue improvements to Hall Boulevard’s transportation infrastructure.
Ben knows investing in younger Oregonians ensures our state’s future and is why he fought to secure funding for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, a program that works to put books in the hands of more children in Oregon, from birth to age five. Ben worked with Rep. Jason Kropf (D-Bend) to invest $144.3 million to support evidence-based, culturally responsive literacy strategies and was appointed to serve on the Early Literacy Educator Preparation Council.
Ben is known for working across the aisle to solve challenges facing Oregonians across the state. He’s consistently looked beyond partisan differences to seek a bigger understanding and builds relationships with members that have other political viewpoints, demonstrated by the years that he co-hosted a political podcast in Oregon called OR Bridge with Republican staffer and operative, Reagan Knopp.
Ben was elected by his colleagues to be House Majority Leader in March of 2024 to lead the Democratic Caucus with the same hard work, determination, and integrity he has brought to every facet of his work.
He lives in Tigard with his partner Juan, and their dogs, Oso and Ruby. You’ll often see them walking the trails in Cook Park.
