Ben Bowman grew up attending the Tigard-Tualatin School District (TTSD), from kindergarten through graduation. He was the middle child of three boys—and has the scars to prove it! His mom was a high school English teacher and his dad worked for the U.S. Postal Service. He is a seventh-generation Oregonian.
After graduating from Tualatin High School, he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon and his master’s degree from Stanford University. In his day job, he works as a school district administrator. Previously, he worked for former Rep. Margaret Doherty, who represented Tigard in the legislature for over a decade. Later, he founded a small business media company and hosted a podcast on Oregon politics and current events. He also worked as a policy analyst for the Oregon Department of Education.
In 2019, Ben was elected to the Tigard-Tualatin School Board and later was elected by his colleagues as chair of the board. Under his leadership (and with his fellow district leaders), TTSD achieved its highest graduation rates of all time and some of its smallest class sizes ever. He was part of a small group of district leaders who founded the Packed with Pride food pantry in 2020. He was elected to the legislature in 2022, representing House District 25 (Tigard, Metzger, and South Beaverton). In his first term, he was elected by his colleagues as House Majority Leader.
Ben has secured millions of dollars for our community, including $3 million for safety improvements on Hall Boulevard. In 2023, he was a chief architect of Oregon’s landmark Early Literacy Success Initiative, with $150 million allocated to support school districts in teaching young children how to read. He was the champion for launching the Dolly Parton Imagination Library statewide in Oregon—ensuring every Oregon kid, from birth to 5-years-old, is eligible to receive one free book per month in the mail.
Ben is the co-chair of the Oregon Future Caucus and a member of the New DEAL Leaders Program. He was selected to attend the Emerging Legislative Leaders Program through the State Legislative Leaders Foundation, and he graduated from the Western Legislative Academy through the Council of State Governments.
