Born and raised in Yamhill County, he is part of a political family that includes his brother Jim Bunn who served in Congress.

Bunn challenged their findings and later reached a settlement in which he did not admit wrongdoing and paid $25,000 to the Commission in a payment that could not be called a fine.

[2] Bunn paid for much of the tuition to the small liberal arts school with the funds he earned raising hogs.

[2] He served as a page at the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco,[3] which led to an internship with Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield in Washington, DC.

[2] After winning the seat, Democrats challenged Bunn's residency in the district, since he was attending law school in Salem.

[2][6] Bunn's political career began with his election to the Oregon House in 1972 to represent District 29 and parts of Yamhill, Polk, and Marion counties.

[2][3] He also worked to pass legislation in 1975 to create the Willamette Greenway,[2] and to make the state's laws tougher against drunk drivers.

[3] In 1976, Bunn then ran to serve as the Oregon Attorney General, but lost in the Republican primary, coming in third, and did not run for re-election to the House.

[18] His younger brother Tom was appointed to the House to fill Stan's seat the next day, which lead to three Bunns serving in the Oregon Legislative Assembly simultaneously.

[19] He served through the 1996 special session representing parts of Yamhill, Lincoln, Polk, Lane, and Tillamook counties.

[2] Other work included writing and passing welfare reform to move recipients into the workforce and medical insurance portability for employees, both in 1995.

[22] During his campaign, he teamed up with his brother to run a joint commercial featuring two talking hamburger buns with the tag line "We just have to get our Bunns to Washington".

[21] He was one of sixteen candidates in the May primary, finishing first and faced Democratic Senator Margaret Carter in a runoff in the November 1998 election.

[36] Soon after, a previously tabled bill in the legislature that would change Bunn's office to an appointed position in lieu of an election was reintroduced.

[37] Bunn paid all the back taxes, including interest, and apologized for the transgression, blaming it partly on a change of address due to selling his law firm and on not having the money after leaving private legal practice.

[25][37] In August 2001, Oregon's ethics commission began a formal investigation of the accusations against Bunn for using his office for personal gain.

[5] Meanwhile, an Oregon circuit court judge ruled against Bunn's decision to allow Boy Scouts to recruit at public school.

[38] Judge Ellen Rosenblum determined Bunn had abused his discretion in not finding evidence that the group discriminated against those who did not believe in God.

[42][43] While the legal action was in progress, the ethics commission decided to pursue the allegations against Bunn concerning the free trip for his daughter, but declined to investigate the mailing incident.

[44] Federal judge Robert E. Jones mediated the settlement where Bunn did not admit to any violations, and the $25,000 could not be characterized as a penalty.