A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Commissioner of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries from 2003 to 2008.
He resigned in 2008 to take a job with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Washington, D.C.[2][3] Gardner worked as an electrician for 28 years.
Gardner entered politics by running for and winning a seat in the Oregon House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1996.
[4] In 2002, Gardner ran for and won the nonpartisan office of Commissioner of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries.
He announced his resignation as Commissioner of Labor and Industries in March 2008 and left office on April 7.