Politician, Pacific alum to march in Hillsboro’s holiday parade Friday

Rick Dancer, who’s running for secretary of state, fetes July 4 at home

By Stover E. Harger Iii

The Forest Grove News-Times, Jul 2, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Courtesy photo

Rick Dancer (right), a former Hillsboro resident running for Oregon secretary of state on the Republican ticket, talks with Shimon Cohen of Eugene.

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From getting his first haircut at Wes Hebron’s barbershop to eating bubblegum ice-cream at Baskin-Robbins to getting married in the Hillsboro United Methodist Church, Rick Dancer remembers his time living in western Washington County fondly.

Hillsboro was his home for the first 24 years of his life and on Friday, the Republican candidate for secretary of state will return to proudly march in the annual 4th of July parade.

“It’s not my home anymore, but it still feels like home because that’s where I grew up,” Dancer said.

The homecoming for the 49-year-old Pacific University alum, who until recently was a full-time broadcast journalist based out of Eugene, offers a chance to be part of an event he watched as a child. He recalls sitting on the curb outside his childhood home on 24th Street with his sisters, waiting for the candy to come flying.

With his current bid for office, running against former Oregon Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, Dancer hopes to give back to the state that has given so much to him as well as have an impact on the area where his life began.

With an end, comes a beginning

The last time Dancer came to his hometown was in early January, when his father and long-time Washington County civic booster and high school speech teacher, Roy E. Dancer, died at the age of 82.

It wasn’t yet set in stone, but in his last conversation with his dying father, the younger Dancer told him of his desire to run for secretary of state. His father told Dancer that he wished he could help him in his pursuit.

The end of his father’s life and the grieving process Dancer went through became a place for beginnings for him. As he scooped dirt onto his father’s coffin, Dancer knew that it was time to step up on his own and do what he had to do. He said it was a powerful moment for him and one that set him on his current passion. Somewhere, Dancer said, his dad is smiling.

“He set me up and gave me everything I needed to do this,” he said.

Just three weeks later Joe Dancer, Rick’s uncle and the former city manager of McMinnville, died, but before he did, Rick Dancer requested a favor. “When you get up there, will you let my dad know I did it?” he asked.

A new direction

In February, Dancer set his campaign in motion, leaving behind his 20-plus-year career in broadcast journalism and becoming a politician.

Although it was a definite career change, it is not that much of a drastic shift, Dancer said. His years in journalism, including many as main anchor for KEZI in Eugene, gave him the skills needed by the secretary of state: an ability to listen to everyone and be fair.

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