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Loren Parks
Loren Parks
Born	July 27, 1926; Wichita, Kansas, U.S.
Died	October 13, 2023 (aged 97); Hillsboro, Oregon, U.S.
Education	B.A. Psychology
Occupation	Businessman

Loren Ernest Parks (July 27, 1926 – October 13, 2023) was an American businessman from the state of Nevada. He previously lived in Oregon, from 1957 to 2002,^[1] and was the biggest political contributor in the history of that state.^[2] He financed numerous ballot measure initiative petitions and campaigns from the mid-1990s. He also contributed heavily to races for prominent offices by his attorney, Kevin Mannix, a frequent chief petitioner of ballot campaigns.

Early life

Loren Ernest Parks was born in Wichita, Kansas, on July 27, 1926.^[2] He served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946.^[2] He had a bacehlor of arts in psychology,^[3] having studied at five different universities. He spoke several languages.^[2] Parks married Auramae in 1951 while living in Minneapolis, Minnesota.^[2] The marriage produced three children, Gary, Raymond and Nancy (Sopp) before a divorce in 1972.^[2]^[4]

Parks started a business while living in Aloha, Oregon, in the Portland area. He founded Parks Medical Electronics in 1961. The business sold a number of instruments, including a plethysmograph, which measures the blood flow to sexual organs and is used in treating sexual dysfunction and assessing the arousal of sex offenders.^[2]

Oregon politics

From 1996 to 2006, Parks contributed over $6 million to various political campaigns – far more than any other individual, and more than most organized lobbies.^[2] His entry into backing political concerns followed the passage of Ballot Measure 5 in 1990.^[2] His support was instrumental in launching Oregon Taxpayers United, according to executive director Bill Sizemore.^[2] Parks' dominance of the ballot measure system was said to undermine the grassroots intent of the system.^[5] Parks made contributions to uphold the Oregon Death with Dignity Act in 1997.^[2]

Parks was also a strong supporter of former state legislator and gubernatorial candidate Kevin Mannix. Mannix served as Parks' attorney.^[6] Parks' staff once said: "Mr. Parks thinks Kevin is one of the few leaders who keeps his word and gets things done."^[2] Parks did not indiscriminately back Mannix's proposed measures. In 2008, for instance, he declined to fund a proposed initiative that would have allowed for expanded local regulation of strip clubs. As a result, Mannix stopped pursuing ballot qualification.^[7] In 2008, Parks was the source of over half the money used to qualify ballot measures for the statewide ballot.^[8] None of the measures he supported in that year was successful.^[9] In March 2014, Parks gave a $30,000 donation to Greg Barreto (R) of Cove, Oregon towards his campaign for Oregon state legislature.^[10] That donation was returned in April.^[11]

Later life and death

In 2001, a former employee filed a sexual harassment complaint and lawsuit against Parks.^[6] Parks moved from Oregon to Henderson, Nevada, in 2002.^[2] Parks was also a major contributor to charitable organizations, including health care and environmental concerns.^[2] Parks was not religious, but was a believer in faith healing.^[2] Parks died in Hillsboro, Oregon, on October 13, 2023, at the age of 97.^[12]