Gustavus Charles Moser (November 15, 1870 – April 2, 1937) was an American attorney and state legislator from Portland, Oregon.
At age 14, he started earning room and board by doing farm chores in Mondovi, Wisconsin.
He then taught school and sold books, and did farm work for three years to pay for college.
[1][2][3][4] During that time, he prosecuted a number of high-profile cases, including several that he personally argued before the Oregon Supreme Court.
[7] However, he lost his bid for the district attorney position in the Republican primary, finishing third in a field of seven candidates.
[8] Later that year, Moser was elected vice president of the Multnomah County Bar Association.
He was first elected in 1912 and took his seat in January 1913 and continued serving in the state senate until he was defeated in the 1932 Republican primary.
[2][4][10] In 1912, Moser announced he would run for a seat in the Oregon State Senate, representing Multnomah County.
He supported joint state and county financing of Oregon road construction projects and taxpayer funding of a bridge over the Columbia River north of Portland.
[13] Oregon's largest newspaper, The Oregonian endorsed Moser, Day, Farrell, Perkins, and Democrat Richard W.
[17][18] Since Oregon's state senators served four-year terms, Moser did not have to run for re-election prior to the 1915 legislative session.
The other candidates were Robert S. Farrell, C. W. Hodson, Samuel B. Huston, F. O. Lehman, Conrad P. Olson, Arthur W. Orton, Dr. H. M. Patton, Dan Powers, F. H. Ransom, and John C. Shillock.
[24][25][26] Moser started the session by making committee assignments and highlighting three challenges he believed the senate needed to address.
On January 13, 1919, he took his seat in the state legislature representing Multnomah County's senate District 13.
[28][29] Moser also served during a special legislative session in early 1920 that ran for a week beginning on January 12.
[37][38] Moser began the second half of his four-year senate term on January 8 when the 1923 legislative session was opened for business.
Moser also served on the commerce and navigation, fishing industries, insurance, railroads and utilities, and resolutions committees.
[43] In the Republicans' primary, voters nominated Moser, William W. Banks, Henry L. Corbett, George W. Joseph, and Isaac E. Staples for Multnomah County's five open District 13 state senate seats.
The other vote was cast by fellow Multnomah County Republican George Joseph, who was a long-time political enemy of Moser.
[52][53] That year, there were eight Republicans running for five open Multnomah County senate seats, including Moser.
The other seven were John O. Bailey, W. W. Banks, Jacob E. Bennett; Henry L. Corbett, Herbert Gordon, Norman S. Richards, and Isaac Staples.
[54] Moser, Bailey, Bennett, Corbett, and Staples were nominated by Republican voters in their primary, and then went on to win the general election.
He also served on the commerce and navigation, insurance, railroads and utilities, resolutions, and rules committees during the session.
He was also a member of the commerce and navigation, fishing industries, insurance, penal institutions, railroads and utilities, resolutions, and rules committees.
[10][60] Prior to the general election, one of five Republicans nominated for a state senate seat representing Multnomah County withdrew from the race.
As a result, the Multnomah County Republican central committee was required to nominate a backfill candidate.
[60] Moser was one of four individuals who filed to fill the vacant Republican state senate nominee position on the general election ballot.
[61] Ultimately, the Republican central committee selected Corbett to fill the vacant state senate candidate position.
[62] After leaving the state senate, Moser returned to his Portland law practice on a full-time basis.
[64] In 1933, Moser suffered a heart attack while lobbying at the Oregon state capitol on behalf of a small loan company.