Background
Atkinson, Jason A. was born on November 6, 1970 in Sacramento.
politician member of the Oregon House of Representatives member of the State Senate of Oregon
Atkinson, Jason A. was born on November 6, 1970 in Sacramento.
He finished third of the eight candidates, with 22% of the vote, behind the nominee, Ron Saxton, who garnered 43% and Kevin Mannix, who received 30%.
He served as a senator in the Oregon State Senate from 2001 to 2013. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for Governor of Oregon in 2006, but was reelected to the Senate in 2008. He stated his intention to run in the 2010 Oregon gubernatorial election, but withdrew from the race in 2009.
He served as a Republican representing District 51, which includes Jackson and Josephine counties. He served one term before election to the Oregon State Senate in 2000. Atkinson was elected from District 25, once again representing Jackson and Josephine counties in Southern Oregon.
In 2002, the district was changed to District 2. Atkinson was re-elected to a second four-year Oregon Senate term without opposition in 2004. In the State Senate he has served as Deputy Majority Leader, Majority Whip and Committee Chair.
In 2006, Atkinson ran for the Republican nomination for Governor of Oregon. He decided not to run for reelection in 2012. Atkinson is also notable for his work on the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement.
Dams and diversions in the upper basin of the Klamath River have caused water quality issues on the lower half of the river, with resulting conflict between several Native American tribes, and between the Indians and white ranchers and farmers. Environmental groups and tribes have proposed broad changes to water use in the Klamath Basin, principally the removal of at least four dams on the river to expand fish habitat. After a fifteen-year negotiation process, these people put forth their concerns in what is now the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, a water management plan signed by local communities, governments, tribal groups, environmentalists, and fishermen.
The proposal was endorsed by the U.S. Department of the Interior but was not authorized by the United States Congress. Atkinson was instrumental in helping to create the plan and he pushed strongly for Congress to endorse it. In 2014, he produced and narrated a documentary film, A River Between Us, describing the controversy and the peoples involved.
However, the plan was not endorsed before Congress adjourned at the end of 2015.
The Atkinsons are of the Presbyterian faith.
In 1998, Atkinson was elected to his first public office as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives. Atkinson has stated his belief that members of Congress did not take the plan or the people seriously enough to realize the plan's importance to environmental restoration.
Married Stephanie Atkinson.