11 Facts About Don Bonker

Don Bonker ran for Washington Secretary of State in 1972, but was defeated by incumbent Republican Lud Kramer.

Don Bonker was elected as a moderate Democrat to the 94th and to the six succeeding Congresses.

Don Bonker did not run for reelection in 1988 so he could run for nomination to the United States Senate, where he narrowly lost in the primary to Democrat Mike Lowry, who was defeated in the general election by Republican Slade Gorton.

Don Bonker served on the President's Export Council and headed former House Speaker Tip O'Neill's Trade Task Force, which led to passage of the Omnibus Foreign Trade and Competitiveness Act.

Don Bonker helped establish the Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge and the Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument, added Protection Island to the National Wildlife Refuge system, preserved the Point of Arches in the Olympic National Park, added 250,000 acres to the 1984 Washington Wilderness Act, and banned the export of Western Redcedar.

In 1992, Don Bonker again ran for a US Senate seat, but was defeated in the primary by the eventual winner, Democratic Senator Patty Murray.

Don Bonker was the president and CEO of the International Management and Development Institute, on the board of the Foundation for US-Russia Business Cooperation, and was executive vice president of APCO Worldwide.

In 2009, Don Bonker was the target of significant criticism by Democrats for endorsing Republican Susan Hutchison for King County Executive against Democratic favorite and eventual winner Dow Constantine.

Don Bonker was the author of America's Trade Crisis, published by Houghton Mifflin, and was a writer and speaker on US trade policy.

Don Bonker was a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.

Don Bonker was diagnosed with liver cancer in May 2023, and died at the hospital Silverdale, Washington, on May 30.