Governor of Oregon | |
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Government of Oregon | |
Style | The Honorable |
Residence | Mahonia Hall |
Term length | Four years, renewable once in a 12-year period |
Inaugural holder | John Whiteaker |
Formation | February 14, 1859 (Constitution of Oregon) |
Salary | $98,600 (2018) [1] |
Website | Official website ![]() |
The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. territorial governments.
The current governor of Oregon is Tina Kotek, who took office on January 9, 2023. The governor's salary as of 2018 is $98,600. [1]
Article V of the Oregon State Constitution sets up the legal framework of the Oregon Executive Branch. [2] [3]
Article V, Section 1 states that the governor must be a U.S. citizen, at least 30 years of age, and a resident of Oregon for at least three years before the candidate's election. Section 2 extends ineligibility as follows:
No member of Congress, or person holding any office under the United States, or under this State, or under any other power, shall fill the Office of Governor, except as may be otherwise provided in this Constitution. [2]
Section 1 further sets the maximum number of consecutive years a governor may serve, specifying that
no person shall be eligible to such office more than Eight, in any period of twelve years. [2]
There is no specified limit on the number of total terms. John Kitzhaber is the only governor to have served non-consecutive terms. Kate Brown, who completed Kitzhaber's final term after his resignation, was elected to an additional four-year term but was ineligible to run for a second term due to the restriction on serving more than eight years in a twelve-year span. [4]
Sections 4-7 of Article V outline the formal gubernatorial election procedures such as publishing the winner, ties, disputed elections, and terms of office.
The formal process of certification of results of a gubernatorial election ends when the Secretary of State delivers the results to the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives. The Speaker then will publish the results to a joint session of the Oregon Legislative Assembly.
Where an election results in a tie, a joint session of the next legislative session will vote on the two candidates, and declare the winner governor. Legally contested elections are also decided by the full legislature in whichever manner other laws may prescribe.
The gubernatorial line of succession was modified in 1920, 1946, and 1972. [2] [5] The current list is designated as Article V, Section 8a. It defines who may become or act as the governor of Oregon upon the incapacity, death, resignation, or removal from office of a sitting governor. The new governor (or acting governor) will serve out the remainder of the previous governor's or incapacitated governor's term. A special gubernatorial election is required, if there's more than two years remaining in the previous governor's or incapacitated governor's term. Unlike many states, Oregon does not have a Lieutenant Governor (though in 2007, legislation was proposed to establish such an office.) [6] The current order is:
Position | Current office holder | Political party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
- | Secretary of State | LaVonne Griffin-Valade [lower-alpha 1] | Democratic | |
1 | State Treasurer | Tobias Read | Democratic | |
2 | President of the Senate | Rob Wagner | Democratic | |
3 | Speaker of the House | Julie Fahey | Democratic |
Four governors have died in office, and five governors have resigned.
The governor is the commander-in-chief of the Oregon Military Department. Power is granted to the governor to mobilize and deploy state military forces.
The power to grant pardons and reprieves and to commute sentences is granted to the governor, with limitations placed upon cases of treason. Additionally, the governor can remit fines and forfeitures. Any use of these powers, however, must be reported to the legislature.
In treason cases, the governor may only grant reprieves. The final matter of pardons, commuting of sentencing, or further reprieves is referred to the legislature in these cases.
The governor has the power to veto legislation, which can be overridden by a two-thirds majority in both houses of the legislature, and can veto particular items from an appropriations or emergency bill while leaving others intact (see line item veto).
If needed, the governor may convene a special session of the legislature by proclamation and is empowered to call for special elections to fill vacant seats. Between the vacancy and special election, the governor is able to appoint a replacement if the appropriate county boards are unable to do so within the designated time period.
Annually, the governor addresses the legislature in their State of the State address. In this speech the governor outlines the current conditions of the state, and makes recommendations to the assembly as to what the government's priorities ought to be.
If the legislature is out of session, the governor may appoint replacements to fill state offices until elections are held or the legislature reconvenes (see recess appointment).
Mahonia Hall in Salem is the official governor's mansion. [10] The house was built in 1924 for hops grower Thomas A. Livesley. It was named Mahonia Hall after citizens raised funds in 1988 to purchase it as Oregon's first official governors' mansion. [11]
Before the purchase of Mahonia Hall, whatever house the governor rented became the "Governor's mansion". [12] Governors Atiyeh and McCall lived in the 1929 Stiff-Jarman House, an English cottage-style (also characterized as Arts and Crafts style) [13] residence currently located in the North Capitol Mall Historic Redevelopment area. [14] [15] After the end of Atiyeh's term, the Stiff-Jarman House became the headquarters of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. [13] Today the building houses rented offices. [14]
Meetings at Champoeg led up to the first constitution of the Oregon Country, and a petition for U.S. territorial status. The resulting acts also created this body as a provisional government for the region. The first executives of this government were a three-person, elected committee known as the Executive Committee. In 1845, elections for a chief executive were held. The first person in Oregon to hold the title of governor was George Abernethy, a prominent businessman. [16]
The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The governor is the ex officio commander-in-chief of the Oklahoma National Guard when not called into federal use. Despite being an executive branch official, the governor also holds legislative and judicial powers. The governor's responsibilities include making yearly "State of the State" addresses to the Oklahoma Legislature, submitting the annual state budget, ensuring that state laws are enforced, and that the peace is preserved. The governor's term is four years in length.
The governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of government in Kentucky. Sixty-two men and one woman have served as governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once before becoming ineligible for four years. Throughout the state's history, four men have served two non-consecutive terms as governor, and four others have served two consecutive terms, the most recent being current governor Andy Beshear, who was re-elected to a second term on November 7, 2023. Kentucky is one of only five U.S. states that hold gubernatorial elections in odd-numbered years.
The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's army and air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Wisconsin Legislature, to convene the legislature, and to grant pardons, except in cases of treason and impeachment. The position was first filled by Nelson Dewey on June 7, 1848, the year Wisconsin became a state. Prior to statehood, there were four governors of Wisconsin Territory.
John Albert Kitzhaber is an American former politician and physician who served as the 35th and 37th governor of Oregon from 1995 to 2003 and again from 2011 to 2015. In February 2015, shortly after beginning his fourth term, Kitzhaber resigned from office and was replaced by Secretary of State Kate Brown. A member of the Democratic Party, Kitzhaber was the longest-serving governor in the state's history.
Vicki Lynn Walker is an American politician. She served as the Oregon State Director for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A member of the Democratic Party, Walker previously served in both houses of the Oregon Legislature and briefly served as chair of the state's parole board. Walker is known as an advocate for utility customers and as an outspoken critic of influential former Governor Neil Goldschmidt.
Jay Bowerman was an American politician of the Republican Party who served as the 13th Governor of Oregon, for the final few months of the term of Frank Benson, who retired due to illness.
Frank Williamson Benson was an American politician, a Republican, and the 12th Governor of Oregon from 1909 to 1910. A native of California, Benson also served as educator, a land office clerk, and was twice elected as Oregon Secretary of State. From this position he became governor after sitting governor George Earle Chamberlain resigned to become a United States senator.
Ben Wilson Olcott was an American politician of the Republican Party who served as the 16th Governor of Oregon.
The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of Arkansas:
The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of Connecticut:
The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of Oregon:
The 2010 Oregon gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010 to elect the Governor of Oregon to a four-year term beginning on January 10, 2011. The incumbent governor, Democrat Ted Kulongoski, was ineligible to run due to term limits barring him from being elected to more than two consecutive terms.
The 76th Oregon Legislative Assembly convened beginning on January 11, 2011, for the first of its two regular sessions. All 60 seats of the House of Representatives and 16 of the 30 state senate seats were up for election in 2010. The general election for those seats took place on November 2. The Democrats retained the majority in the senate, but lost six seats in the house, leading to an even split (30-30) between Democrats and Republicans. The governor of Oregon during the session was John Kitzhaber, a Democrat, who was elected to a third term in 2010 following an eight-year absence from public office.
The 2014 Oregon gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor of Oregon, concurrently with other elections in Oregon and across the United States.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 8, 2016, in 12 states and two territories. The last regular gubernatorial elections for nine of the 12 states took place in 2012. The last gubernatorial elections for New Hampshire, Oregon, and Vermont took place in 2014, as Oregon held a special election due to the resignation of Governor John Kitzhaber, while the governors of New Hampshire and Vermont both serve two-year terms. The 2016 gubernatorial elections took place concurrently with several other federal, state, and local elections, including the presidential election, Senate, and House elections.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Oregon on November 4, 2014. The incumbent governor and U.S. senator, and all incumbent members of the U.S. Congress won reelection. Elections were also held for both houses of the state legislature, for the Commissioner of Labor, and for several statewide ballot measures. Primary elections were held on May 20, 2014.
The 2016 Oregon gubernatorial special election took place on November 8, 2016, to elect the Governor of Oregon, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, other gubernatorial elections and various state and local elections.
The 1918 Oregon gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1918 to elect the governor of the U.S. state of Oregon. The election matched incumbent Republican James Withycombe against Democratic State Senator Walter M. Pierce.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Oregon on November 8, 2022. Primary elections were held on May 17, 2022.