Sara Gelser
| Sara Gelser | |
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| Member of the Oregon Senate from the 8th district |
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Assumed office January 2015 |
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| Preceded by | Betsy Close |
| Member of the Oregon House of Representatives from the 16th district |
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In office December 2, 2005 – January 2015 |
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| Preceded by | Kelley Wirth |
| Succeeded by | Dan Rayfield |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 20, 1973 Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Peter Gelser |
| Religion | Lutheran ELCA/Quaker |
Sara Gelser (born December 20, 1973) is a Democratic American politician from Oregon.
Since 2015, she is a member of the Oregon State Senate from District 8. From 2005 to 2015, she served in the Oregon House of Representatives for District 16, representing Corvallis and Philomath. Prior to her service in the Legislature, Gelser served on the Corvallis School Board and worked for the Oregon Department of Human Services. In 2010, she was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve on the National Council on Disability, and was confirmed to the position by the US Senate. In 2011, she was named a German Marshall Memorial Fellow. In November 2014, she was elected to the Senate, taking office in January 2015.
Sara Anne Acres was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is the oldest of four children born to John and Jo Acres. Although her childhood homes included New Jersey, Ohio and Indiana, she lived in Las Vegas for ten years before going to college in Indiana at age 16. There, she earned a BA in history from Earlham College in 1994 and married her husband, Peter Gelser. The couple moved to Corvallis, Oregon in 1994 to start their family. In 1999, she earned a master's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Oregon State University.
Gelser first ran for the House in 2004, and was unsuccessful in her effort to unseat an incumbent legislator. However, when that legislator resigned the following year, Gelser was appointed to the House. She was then reelected to the House for four additional terms. She served as Chair of the House Education Committee in 2009 and 2013, and Co-Chair of the House Education Committee during the 2011 session when the chamber was tied. During her legislative tenure she also served on the following committees: House Select Committee on Education, House Committee on Child Welfare, Human Services and Women's Wellness, Health Care, Rules, Revenue, Human Services and Housing and the Joint Committee on Tax Credits. She served as Assistant Caucus Leader from 2006–2011, and for the 2011 session served as Deputy Democratic Whip. She was co-chair of the Oregon Women's Health and Wellness Alliance, and was a founding member of the Seniors and Disabilities Caucus.
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