In a political career that spanned thirty-two years, Beverly “Bev” Clarno has broken a number of historic glass ceilings: She was the first woman elected to the Oregon State Legislature from Central Oregon; the first Republican woman to serve as caucus leader in the Oregon House of Representatives; the second woman—and first Republican woman—to serve as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives; the first Republican woman to serve as caucus leader in the Oregon State Senate; and the first woman to serve in leadership positions in both the State House and Senate. Upon her appointment as Oregon Secretary of State in 2019 at the age of 83, she became the oldest person to serve as an Oregon state constitutional officer.

Beverly Boice was born on March 29, 1936, in Langlois, a community in Curry County along the Oregon Coast. Much of her early years were tumultuous. Her parents separated in her early childhood, and her mother moved frequently, sometimes leaving Bev and her brother with relatives. In her memoir, From Pigs to Politics (2017), Clarno disclosed that for several years, beginning when she was eleven years old, she was psychologically and physically abused by her stepfather.

Soon after graduating from Redmond High School in 1954, Bev married and settled in Sherman County, where she raised four children and assisted in the management of a wheat ranch and a 3,000-head hog farm. Following the dissolution of her marriage in 1976, Clarno moved to Lake Oswego, where she worked as a realtor, a real estate appraiser, and a securities examiner for the State of Oregon Corporation Division. During this time, Clarno took courses at Marylhurst College and received a degree in management in June 1983.

Her marriage to Central Oregon rancher Ray Clarno in 1983 took Bev back to the Redmond area. She was working as a clerk at the Deschutes County Circuit Court when she ran for a seat in the Oregon House of Representatives in 1988. Clarno said she was spurred to run by the frustrating experiences she had with government agencies during her years as a hog farmer. She won the seat and was re-elected in 1990, 1992, and 1994.

Clarno’s Republican colleagues elected her House Majority Leader in the 1993 session, and she was elected Speaker of the House for the 1995 session. Clarno delighted in relating the story that when she was seeking support for the Majority Leader position, one Republican questioned whether a woman was tough enough for the job. She responded: “It’s funny you should ask me that, when I’ve castrated 300 hogs in one day.”

Known for her bipartisanship, Clarno occasionally tangled with the more conservative members of her caucus when she was Majority Leader and Speaker, stripping two representatives of their committee seats when they broke ranks to block a bill supported by the Republican majority in the 1995 session. In her leadership roles, Clarno worked to ensure that rural voices would be heard during legislative sessions, including instituting a rule that anyone who traveled over 100 miles to testify at legislative hearings in Salem would receive priority treatment. In 1996, rather than running for another term in the House, Clarno sought election as Oregon State Treasurer. She was defeated by Democrat incumbent Jim Hill.

Following her loss, Clarno returned to Redmond, where she eventually accepted a temporary position as the Director of the Deschutes County Commission on Children and Families. She made a political comeback in 2000 when Central Oregon voters elected her to the Oregon State Senate. Following the 2002 election, the Senate chamber was evenly split with fifteen Democrats and fifteen Republicans. Clarno was part of a lengthy negotiation process that led to an unusual compromise agreement: Democrat Peter Courtney was unanimously elected to serve as President of the Senate, and Republican Lenn Hannon was named President Pro Tempore and co-chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. All other committees had equal numbers of Democrat and Republican members. Clarno’s Republican colleagues elected her to serve as Senate Republican Leader. Future Oregon Governor Kate Brown served as Senate Democrat Leader.

Clarno resigned from the Senate on August 1, 2003, to accept an appointment by the George W. Bush administration to serve as Region 10 Director of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. She was headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and traveled across the four states in Region 10—Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska. She resigned in November 2005, saying it was time to return home to Redmond.

Clarno's retirement from public service did not last long. In December 2005, Clarno was appointed by two members of the Deschutes County Commission to fill the third seat, which was open due to the resignation of Commissioner Tom DeWolf. Clarno did not seek election to the position in 2006. She and her husband sold their ranch and retired to the Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond.

Twelve years later, Clarno returned one final time to public service. Upon the death of Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson on February 26, 2019, Governor Kate Brown had the responsibility of appointing a successor to fill out the remainder of Richardson's term, which expired in January 2021. Under Oregon law, Brown was required to select a member of Richardson's political party, which was Republican. Brown also stated that she would only appoint someone who would pledge not to seek election to the position in 2020.

On March 29, 2019, Brown announced she was appointing Clarno as Oregon Secretary of State, citing her “experience as a legislator and as a manager of a large government organization.” In accepting the appointment, Clarno said, “I know there is not a Republican way or a Democrat way to oversee elections—there is only a fair and honest way.” Clarno's appointment was greeted with wide bi-partisan approval, with Senate President Peter Courtney pronouncing her “as good as you can get.” Clarno served as Secretary of State until January 2021.