Bruce Cuff

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Bruce Cuff

Republican Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

May 19, 2020

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Army National Guard

Years of service

1988 - 1989

Service / branch

U.S. Army

Years of service

1981 - 1986

Personal

Profession

Real-estate broker

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

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Bruce Cuff (Republican Party) ran for election to the Oregon House of Representatives to represent District 17. He lost in the Republican primary on May 19, 2020.

Cuff had previously run for governor in the 2016 special election and the 2014 election.

Biography

Cuff is a real estate broker in the Salem, Oregon area.

Prior to working as a real-estate broker, Cuff worked as a sales manager for Superior Tire Service, Inc. and as a lobbyist with the Oregon Association of Evangelicals.

Military service

Cuff also served in the United States Army in a variety of positions from 1981-1986 and as a reservist from 1988-1989.

Education

• B.A. in political science, Willamette University (1989)

Elections

2020

See also: Oregon House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Oregon House of Representatives District 17

Jami Cate defeated Paige Hook and Tim Dehne in the general election for Oregon House of Representatives District 17 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jami Cate (R)	69.2	26,398
		Paige Hook (D / Working Families Party)	28.8	10,988
		Tim Dehne (Pacific Green Party)	1.8	693
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	60

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 38,139
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 17

Paige Hook advanced from the Democratic primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 17 on May 19, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Paige Hook	95.3	4,147
		Other/Write-in votes	4.7	206

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,353
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 17

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 17 on May 19, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jami Cate	26.6	2,903
		Scott Sword	26.3	2,870
		Timothy Kirsch	15.7	1,715
		Bruce Cuff	13.0	1,414
		Susan Coleman	9.2	1,004
		Dylan Richards	8.7	952
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	37

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,895
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Pacific Green Party convention

Pacific Green Party convention for Oregon House of Representatives District 17

Tim Dehne advanced from the Pacific Green Party convention for Oregon House of Representatives District 17 on June 6, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Tim Dehne (Pacific Green Party)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: Oregon gubernatorial election, 2018

General election

General election for Governor of Oregon

The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of Oregon on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kate Brown (D)	50.1	934,498
		Knute Buehler (R)	43.7	814,988
		Patrick Starnes (Independent Party of Oregon)	2.9	53,392
		Nick Chen (L)	1.5	28,927
		Aaron Auer (Constitution Party)	1.1	21,145
		Chris Henry (Progressive Party)	0.6	11,013
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	3,034

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,866,997 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Alex DiBlasi (G)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Oregon

Incumbent Kate Brown defeated Ed Jones and Candace Neville in the Democratic primary for Governor of Oregon on May 15, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kate Brown	83.8	324,451
		Ed Jones	8.6	33,464
		Candace Neville	7.5	29,110

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 387,025
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Oregon

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Oregon on May 15, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Knute Buehler	46.1	144,103
		Sam Carpenter	29.0	90,572
		Greg Wooldridge	20.2	63,049
		Bruce Cuff	1.6	4,857
		Jeff Smith	1.5	4,691
		Dave Stauffer	0.7	2,096
		Jonathan Edwards	0.3	861
		Keenan Bohach	0.3	787
		Brett Hyland	0.2	755
		Jack Tacy	0.2	512

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 312,283
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Independent Party of Oregon primary election

Independent Party of Oregon primary for Governor of Oregon

Patrick Starnes defeated Skye Allen and Dan Pistoresi in the Independent Party of Oregon primary for Governor of Oregon on May 15, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Patrick Starnes	58.7	6,030
		Skye Allen	23.4	2,405
		Dan Pistoresi	18.0	1,846

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 10,281
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Shawn Liebling (Independent Party of Oregon)

Independent Party of Oregon primary election

Patrick Starnes defeated Skye Allen and Dan Pistoresi in the Independent Party of Oregon primary for governor of Oregon.

Oregon Independent Party of Oregon Gubernatorial Primary, 2018
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Patrick Starnes	25.36%	6,030
Skye Allen	10.11%	2,405
Dan Pistoresi	7.76%	1,846
Write-in votes	56.76%	13,497
Total Votes		23,778
Source: Oregon Secretary of State, "May 15, 2018, Primary Election Abstract of Votes," accessed July 26, 2018

2016

See also: Oregon gubernatorial special election, 2016

Cuff ran unsuccessfully for governor of Oregon in the 2016 special election to complete the term of Governor John Kitzhaber (D), who resigned in February 2015 and was replaced by Kate Brown (D).

Results

 

Bud Pierce defeated Allen Alley, Bruce Cuff, Bob Niemeyer and Bob Forthan defeated in the Republican primary for governor.

Republican primary for governor, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Bud Pierce	47.03%	143,387
Allen Alley	29.25%	89,180
Bruce Cuff	11.55%	35,201
Bob Niemeyer	10.15%	30,933
Bob Forthan	1.23%	3,756
Write-in votes	0.8%	2,435
Total Votes		304,892
Source: http://oregonvotes.gov/results/2016P/1314035914.html

2014

See also: Oregon gubernatorial election, 2014

Cuff ran for election to the office of governor of Oregon but failed to win the Republican nomination in the primary on May 20.

Results

Governor of Oregon, Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Dennis Richardson	65.9%	163,695
Gordon Challstrom	9.9%	24,693
Bruce Cuff	9.6%	23,912
Mae Rafferty	6.8%	16,920
Tim Carr	6%	14,847
Darren Karr	1%	2,474
Write-ins	0.8%	2,011
Total Votes		248,552
Election results via Oregon Secretary of State.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Bruce Cuff did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2018

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys

Bruce Cuff participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on April 14, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Bruce Cuff's responses follow below.

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

“

1) Solving $25 Billion ($50 billion) PERS deficit with 4 step plan. 1. All new hires for state only have a 401k type retirement. 2. All elected officials OUT of PERS. 3. Lower/Eliminate business taxes to stimulate private sector business 4. Give parents 70% voucher for private school, encouraging teachers to come out of public system, re-open our community schools with private schools, bring vocational training back to all junior high and high schools, remove caps on charter and on-line schools. 2) Education - Vocation training, vouchers for private schools to enhance competition, remove caps on charter schools and online schools. 3) Get Natural Resource based business (Logging, mining, ranching, farming, fishing) up and running with less regulation, red-tape and lower/eliminate business taxes on these.

”

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?

“

Solving the Rural/Urban divide in Oregon. Rural Oregon feels controlled by urban sectors of our state because they have successful stripped their livelihood from them when logging was shut down AND the Federal "overreach" from the BLM and US Forest Service is not being fought from the State Government level. Many times Counties and individual Oregonians try to "right and wrong" and find themselves in court or losing their livelihood to the continued harassment from these agencies. The Governor needs to stand up and bring a stop to these unconstitutional actions.

”

Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Bruce Cuff answered the following:

In most states, governors have the power to make line-item vetoes. If that is true in your state, what would be your philosophy for how and when to use this power?

“

Oregon has the line item veto. I would use it to de-fund programs I believe to be unconstitutional. Of the US Constitution or the Oregon Constitution does not give this specific power to the State Government, it gets vetoed.

”

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

“

Solving the PERS deficit. This has been neglected so long. Promises have been made way beyond Oregonians ability to pay with our current 1 job in 6 being in Government. We have 4 million people, 1.8 million employed with 300,000 of those jobs being government. This is unsustainable. 30,000 Federal Jobs, 270,000 State and Local government jobs with about 250,000 in the PERS system. We have 125,000 retirees currently retired and about 70,000 of the 250,000 eligible for retirement. This is a disaster waiting to happen (and it is happening daily.) We need to expand the public sector jobs by reducing/eliminating business taxes and regulation, get our natural resource based businesses up and running and get to 1 in 10.jobs being in the government as quickly as we can. If we are not successful in doing this then PERS will go bankrupt and each individual account will have to be "re-negotiated" with those who have been overpaid (retirement income being over 5 figures per month, retirement wages being over 100% of final wage etc.).

”

2016

Cuff's Facebook page offered the following statement:

“	"We the People" need to get local control of our public lands. Counties need to be managing these lands so revenue can go to funding schools and local gov.	”

The page also described him as a "conservative Republican." His campaign website stated his support for local governance and state management of federal lands.

2014

According to a story in The Oregonian during Cuff's 2014 campaign, his platform included the following issues:

“	Among them: He would upend the public schools system by giving parents vouchers worth 60 percent of what the state pays per child for education. Parents could then choose where to send their children to school, and allow even low-income families to select private schools. He would call for a gradual lowering of individual and business income taxes, so that after 10 years taxes on both would be about 4 percent. He says he wouldn't have to worry about how to replace the money or cut services.	”

Campaign finance summary

---

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Bruce Cuff campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2020	Oregon House of Representatives District 17	Lost primary	$13,718	N/A**
2014	Oregon Governor	Lost	$15,541	N/A**
2010	Oregon House District 017	Lost	$1,800	N/A**
2008	Oregon House District 017	Lost	$20,389	N/A**
Grand total			$51,448	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Cuff's hometown is Brooks, Ore.

See also

2020 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

Coronavirus Weekly Updates Documenting America's Path to Recovery The Heart of the Primaries The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel Union Station

External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic
• Campaign website (gubernatorial election)
• Campaign Facebook page (gubernatorial election)

Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the Oregon House of Representatives

Leadership

Speaker of the House:Julie Fahey

Majority Leader:Ben Bowman

Minority Leader:Jeffrey Helfrich

Representatives

District 1

Court Boice (R)

District 2

Virgle Osborne (R)

District 3

Dwayne Yunker (R)

District 4

Christine Goodwin (R)

District 5

Pam Marsh (D)

District 6

Kim Wallan (R)

District 7

John Lively (D)

District 8

Paul Holvey (D)

District 9

Boomer Wright (R)

District 10

David Gomberg (D)

District 11

Jami Cate (R)

District 12

Charlie Conrad (I)

District 13

Nancy Nathanson (D)

District 14

Julie Fahey (D)

District 15

Shelly Boshart Davis (R)

District 16

Dan Rayfield (D)

District 17

Ed Diehl (R)

District 18

Rick Lewis (R)

District 19

Tom Andersen (D)

District 20

Paul Evans (D)

District 21

Kevin Mannix (R)

District 22

Tracy Cramer (R)

District 23

Anna Scharf (R)

District 24

Lucetta Elmer (R)

District 25

Ben Bowman (D)

District 26

Courtney Neron (D)

District 27

Ken Helm (D)

District 28

Dacia Grayber (D)

District 29

Susan McLain (D)

District 30

Nathan Sosa (D)

District 31

Brian Stout (R)

District 32

Cyrus Javadi (R)

District 33

Shannon Isadore (D)

District 34

Lisa Reynolds (D)

District 35

Farrah Chaichi (D)

District 36

Hai Pham (D)

District 37

Jules Walters (D)

District 38

Daniel Nguyen (D)

District 39

Janelle Bynum (D)

District 40

Annessa Hartman (D)

District 41

Mark Gamba (D)

District 42

Rob Nosse (D)

District 43

Tawna Sanchez (D)

District 44

Travis Nelson (D)

District 45

Thuy Tran (D)

District 46

Khanh Pham (D)

District 47

Andrea Valderrama (D)

District 48

Hoa Nguyen (D)

District 49

Zach Hudson (D)

District 50

Ricki Ruiz (D)

District 51

James Hieb (R)

District 52

Jeffrey Helfrich (R)

District 53

Emerson Levy (D)

District 54

Jason Kropf (D)

District 55

E. Reschke (R)

District 56

Emily McIntire (R)

District 57

Greg Smith (R)

District 58

Bobby Levy (R)

District 59

Vikki Breese-Iverson (R)

District 60

Mark Owens (R)

Democratic Party (35)

Republican Party (24)

Independent Party of Oregon (1)