Hughes was elected to his first political office in 1976, winning a spot on the Hillsboro City Council, where he remained until 1980. During this time he also served on the budget committee for Hillsboro High School (1986–1987) and was on a county committee that examined the county’s charter (1982–1984). He ran against John Godsey on a platform of slower growth, including opposing the addition of the South Hillsboro urban reserve to be within the
urban growth boundary. Hughes also proposed televising the city council meetings during the campaign. Major donors to Hughes' campaign included the firefighters' union, a teacher
political action committee, and the
Oregon League of Conservation Voters. Hughes took office on January 2, 2001, with priorities to increase the size of the
Hillsboro Police Department and improve transportation. The next year, during his State of the City address, he called for more land for the city to accommodate growth and in hopes of adding a university to the area. Later that year he and other county leaders expressed dismay at Metro, the regional government, concerning the purchase of open spaces in the county using bond money approved by regional voters. Hughes complained that the county and city were not receiving as much land as they should based on the tax amounts. At the time,
Providence Health System was looking to build a hospital in the city, and Hughes opposed the building of a new hospital that would compete with the only hospital in the city. He operated a
track hoe to tear down part of the building as part of a groundbreaking ceremony for the new
Hillsboro Civic Center that would serve as the new city hall. and worked to alleviate tensions over noise at the
Hillsboro Airport.
Second term In 2004, he ran for re-election against Bob Imbrie, grandson of the homesteader who established
Imbrie Farm. Hughes won re-election to a second four-year term with 72% of the vote. During his second term he traveled to Mexico for a conference held by the Mexican government where he also hoped to find a city to partner with as sister cities. The city also worked to revise the city’s charter, but kept the two-term limit and basic role of the mayor the same. Hughes earned a Certificate of Achievement in Leadership from the
National League of Cities in 2007 and served as president of the League of Oregon Cities. He also was the co-chair of the Fairgrounds Revitalization Task Force that proposed changes to the Washington County Fairgrounds in Hillsboro, made city service available on the Internet, and began the broadcasting of city council meetings. In 2008, he shared an award from the League of Oregon Cities with Beaverton Mayor Rob Drake for his work in government. He also fought Metro on the urban growth boundary, while residents near
Turner Creek Park complained about recurring sewer overflows. In April 2009, the city renamed the plaza at city hall as the Tom Hughes Civic Center Plaza, and in May the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce named him their distinguished citizen for 2009.
Metro After leaving office, he took a position with
Tonkon Torp LLP, in the law firm’s public affairs office as a senior policy adviser. Hughes announced in December 2009 that he would run for the office of president of the
Metro Council in the 2010 election. He finished first in a three-way race in the primary, garnering 37 percent of the vote after endorsements by most of the area's newspapers and chambers of commerce. Hughes faced
Bob Stacey in the November 2010 general election and won by approximately 1,000 votes out of 400,000 votes cast. Hughes was sworn into office on January 4, 2011. ==References==