John Herbert Carkin (November 18, 1883 – January 24, 1971) was an American politician, attorney, public service executive, and banker from the state of Oregon.
As a child, Carkin moved with his family to farm near Hillsboro, North Dakota, where he attended public schools.
[13] He was also a founding partner of the Medford and Butte Falls Telephone Company, another Medford-based start-up business.
[16] Shortly after arriving in southern Oregon, Carkin bought a 99-acre (40 ha) irrigated farm with an established orchard near Central Point.
While the two Democrats got more votes in Medford, Carkin and Westerlund did better in nearby Ashland and in the rural parts of Jackson County.
[29] In early 1914, Carkin expressed an interest in running for re-election and he was favored to retain his District 8 seat.
[28] As a result, William P. Mealey of Medford and Fred D. Wagner of Ashland won the Republican nomination and went on to win the general election, replacing Carkin and Westerlund in the two District 8 seats.
[30] Having left the legislature at the end of 1914, Carkin returned to his law practice in Medford and his various Jackson County business interests.
[31] In 1917, Governor James Withycombe appointed Carkin to a seven-person committee to recommend options for streamlining Oregon's state government.
In 1919, the commission made 13 specific recommendations to streamline Oregon's government including establishing a lieutenant governor position, focusing the Secretary of State on the auditing function, and consolidating numerous state agencies, boards, and commissions.
Carkin and fellow incumbent Ralph Cowgill won the Republican nominations for the two District 8 seats.
He also began organizing support among his legislative peers for election to the House speaker position if re-elected to his District 8 seat.
Because the Republican Party could nominate two candidates for the District 8 seats, they were automatically advanced to the general election.
[45][46] After the Republican primary, Carkin formally announced his plan to seek the position of Speaker of the House.
On the opening day, Carkin was unanimously elected speaker, with the four House Democrats voting for him.
[53] After the success of the 1927 legislative session, newspapers began to speculate that Carkin might be a candidate for Secretary of State in the next election.
In the general election, Carkin and Briggs won the two House District 8 seats by a wide margin.
[62][63] After the close of the 1929 legislative session, Governor Isaac L. Patterson decided to appoint Carkin to the Oregon Tax Commission.
To accommodate this new position, Carkin resigned from the legislature and moved with his wife from Medford to Salem.
After leaving the tax commission, Carkin worked briefly on the legislative council for the Oregon House's taxation and revenue committee before the new Republican governor, Charles A. Sprague, appointed him director of the Oregon Public Utility Commission's rail transportation department.
[1][6][69][70] In 1948, Governor John H. Hall appointed Carkin to the post of Public Utility Commissioner.
[1][6] After leaving government service, Carkin remained active in local politics as well as civic and business affairs.
He was chairman of the Marion County Republican central committee and served on Salem's city planning commission for 12 years.
After retiring as president, Carkin continued to serve as a member of the savings and loan's board of directors until his death in 1971.
[84][85] Today, Carkin's papers are held in the University of Oregon library's special collections archive in Eugene.
The collection covers Carkin's service in the Oregon legislature, his work with the Oregon Tax Commission and Public Utilities Commission as well as his records from First Federal Savings and Loan and the United States Savings and Loan League.