Kim Thatcher

Kim Thatcher (born 1964) is an American politician. She is currently a Republican state senator from Oregon's Senate District 13, having won election in 2014. Prior to becoming a senator, she was a member of the Oregon House of Representatives from House District 25. She is a resident of Keizer.

Thatcher was born in Pocatello, Idaho in 1964 and attended Portland State University.

Thatcher was first elected to the Oregon House District 25 in 2004, representing the Keizer area. Early in her career, as the owner of the highway construction firm KT Contracting, she was well known as a critic of the Oregon Department of Transportation. In May 2005, Thatcher successfully sponsored a bill to limit public access to information about concealed handgun license. She was reelected in 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012. In 2014, Thatcher chose to run for Oregon State Senate Seat 13, held by the retiring Larry George, rather than seek reelection to her house seat.

Thatcher's 2014 campaign for State Senator got off to a strong start. She earned the endorsement of The Oregonian on October 9, 2014. However, one day later, the Oregonian's news staff uncovered court records showing Thatcher's closely held construction company, KT Contracting, had been fined $60,000 in 2010 for destroying evidence of public contract fraud. The case had escaped public notice at the time. Thatcher was also personally investigated for racketeering, but no charges were filed. In light of these revelations, The Oregonian took the unusual step of retracting its endorsement of Thatcher and endorsing her opponent, Newberg City Council President Ryan Howard. Despite the bad press, Thatcher defeated Howard in the election.

Thatcher was a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention, where she cast her vote for Donald Trump as the nominee. While she initially was a Cruz supporter, she came away from the convention supporting Trump for president, stating “I can honestly say I feel less uncomfortable with Trump.”