Bonker served as aide to United States Senator Maurine Brown Neuberger from 1964 to 1965, Clark County auditor in Vancouver from 1966 to 1974, and as a delegate to Washington State Democratic conventions from 1968 to 1970.
Bonker was elected as a moderate Democrat to the 94th and to the six succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1989). He 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.
During his time in the House, Bonker was a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on International Economic Policy and Trade. He also 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. During his tenure in Congress, Bonker authored and was a principal sponsor of significant trade legislation, such as the Export Trading Company Act and the Export Administration Act.
In 1992, Bonker again ran for a U.S. Senate seat, but was defeated in the primary by the eventual winner, Democratic Senator Patty Murray. In 2000, he ran for Secretary of State again, winning the party nomination in the primary, but losing in the general to Sam Reed.
Bonker was the president and CEO of the International Management and Development Institute, on the board of the Foundation for U.S.-Russia Business Cooperation, and was executive vice president of APCO Worldwide.
In 2009, 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.
Bonker was the author of America's Trade Crisis, published by Houghton Mifflin, and was a writer and speaker on U.S. trade policy. His monthly column on trade policy appeared in a number of newspapers around the country.
Bonker was a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.[1][2]
Personal life
Bonker and his wife, Carolyn Ekern, were married in 1971 and had two children.[3][4][5]
Bonker was diagnosed with liver cancer in May 2023, and died at the hospital Silverdale, Washington, on May 30. He was 86.[6]
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