Tobias Read

Tobias Read (born 1975) is an American Democratic politician who is the current Oregon State Treasurer. He was a member of the Oregon House of Representatives, representing District 27 from 2006–2017, which comprises parts of Beaverton, southwest Portland, and unincorporated Multnomah and Washington Counties. He served as Speaker Pro Tempore, and was formerly the Democratic Majority Whip. In 2016, Read ran for Oregon State Treasurer, to succeed current State Treasurer Ted Wheeler, who was term-limited from running in 2016. He won the race in November 2016 and became the State Treasurer in January 2017.

Read was born in 1975 in Missoula, Montana. After high school he moved to Oregon where he attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. In 1997, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in politics and economics from Willamette. That year he started working for Nike, Inc. in footwear development, where he remained until 2012. However, he worked at the U.S. Department of the Treasury as an aide to then Secretary Lawrence Summers from 1999 to 2001, where his supervisor was Sheryl Sandberg. He is married and has two children. In 2003, he earned an MBA from the University of Washington in Seattle.

House District 27 runs from the Raleigh Hills neighborhood in the northeast, to the Murrayhill neighborhood in the southwest. It covers parts of the cities of Beaverton and Portland, as well as areas of unincorporated Washington and Multnomah counties.

District 27 is the home to many schools and educational services. Kids in the district tend to be students in the Beaverton School District, and many district residents work at international companies like Nike (one of two Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Oregon) and Intel (Oregon’s largest employer) as well as the small businesses that form the base of Oregon’s economy. Washington County as a whole is often described as the economic engine of the state since a great percentage of the state’s income tax revenue is generated by taxpayers in the county.

In 2016, Read ran for Oregon State Treasurer, to succeed current State Treasurer Ted Wheeler, who was term-limited from running in 2016. He won the race in November 2016 and became the State Treasurer in January 2017.