Oregon State Senate

Last updated

Oregon State Senate
Oregon Legislative Assembly
Seal of Oregon.svg
Type
Type
Term limits
None
History
New session started
January 21, 2025
Leadership
Rob Wagner (D)
since January 9, 2023
President pro tempore
James Manning Jr. (D)
since January 11, 2021
Majority Leader
Kayse Jama (D)
since November 16, 2024
Minority Leader
Daniel Bonham (R)
since April 15, 2024
Structure
Seats30
2025 Oregon Senate Composition.svg
Political groups
Majority
  •   Democratic (18)

Minority

Length of term
4 years
AuthorityArticle IV, Oregon Constitution
Salary$21,612/year + per diem
Elections
Last election
November 5, 2024
(15 seats)
Next election
November 3, 2026
(15 seats)
RedistrictingLegislative Control
Meeting place
OregonSenateChambersCenter.jpg
State Senate Chamber
Oregon State Capitol
Salem, Oregon
Website
Oregon State Senate
Current map of senators by party affiliation 2025 Oregon Senate Composition.svg
Current map of senators by party affiliation

The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the state Senate, representing 30 districts across the state, each with a population of 141,242. [1] The state Senate meets in the east wing of the Oregon State Capitol in Salem.

Contents

Oregon, along with Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, and Wyoming, is one of the five U.S. states to not have the office of the lieutenant governor, a position which for most upper houses of state legislatures and for the United States Congress (with the vice president) is the head of the legislative body and holder of the casting vote in the event of a tie. Instead, a separate position of Senate president is in place, removed from the state executive branch. If the chamber is tied, legislators must devise their own methods of resolving the impasse. In the 72nd Oregon Legislative Assembly in 2003, for example, Oregon's state senators entered into a power sharing contract whereby Democratic senators nominated the Senate President while Republican senators chaired key committees. [2]

Like certain other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the United States Senate, the state Senate can confirm or reject the governor's appointments to state departments, commissions, boards, and other state governmental agencies.

The current Senate president is Rob Wagner of Lake Oswego. [3]

Membership and qualifications

Oregon state senators serve four-year terms without term limits. In 2002, the Oregon Supreme Court struck down the decade-old Oregon Ballot Measure 3, that had restricted state senators to two terms (eight years) on procedural grounds. [4]

According to the Oregon Constitution, two-thirds of senators are required to form a quorum. Republican senators have used this rule to block legislation by absenting themselves. [5] In response to this practice, Oregon Ballot Measure 113 was passed in 2022 to disqualify members with ten unexcused absences from serving in the legislature following their current term. However, a Republican walkout went for six weeks during the 82nd Assembly in May and June 2023, the longest ever. [6] [7]

Milestones

Kathryn Clarke was the first woman to serve in Oregon's Senate. Women became eligible to run for the Oregon state legislature in 1914 and later that year Clarke was appointed to fill a vacant seat in Douglas county by her cousin, governor Oswald West. Following some controversy concerning whether West had the authority to appoint someone to fill the vacancy, Clarke campaigned and was elected by voters in 1915. [8] She took office five years before Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution protected the right of all American women to vote.

In 1982, Mae Yih became the first Chinese-American elected to a state senate in the United States.

Composition

SessionParty
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
Total
Democratic Republican Ind. Rep. Ind. Party Vacant
End of 75th Assembly (2010)181200300
76th Assembly (2011–2012)161400300
77th Assembly (2013–2014)161400300
78th Assembly (2015–2016)181200300
79th Assembly (2017–2019)171300300
80th Assembly (2019–2021)181200300
Begin 81st Assembly (2021–2023)18120300
January 15, 2021 [a] 1101
April 2021 [b] 101
82nd Assembly (2023–2025)171111300
83rd Assembly (2025–2027)181200300
Latest voting share

82nd Senate

The 82nd Oregon Legislative Assembly, which holds its regular session from 2023 to 2025, has the following leadership:

Senate President: Rob Wagner (D-19 Lake Oswego)
President Pro Tempore: James Manning Jr. (D–7 Eugene)
Majority Leader: Kathleen Taylor (D-21 Portland)
Minority Leader: Daniel Bonham (R-26 The Dalles)

DistrictSenatorPartyResidenceAssumed office
1 David Brock Smith Republican Port Orford 2023 [c]
2 Noah Robinson Republican Cave Junction 2025
3 Jeff Golden Democratic Ashland 2019
4 Floyd Prozanski Democratic Eugene 2003
5 Dick Anderson Republican Lincoln City 2021
6 Cedric Hayden RepublicanFall Creek2023
7 James Manning Jr. DemocraticEugene2017 [c]
8 Sara Gelser Blouin Democratic Corvallis 2015
9 Fred Girod Republican Stayton 2008 [c]
10 Deb Patterson Democratic Salem 2021
11 Kim Thatcher Republican Keizer 2015
12 Bruce Starr Republican Dundee 2025
13 Aaron Woods Democratic Wilsonville 2023
14 Kate Lieber Democratic Beaverton 2021
15 Janeen Sollman Democratic Hillsboro 2022 [c]
16 Suzanne Weber Republican Tillamook 2023
17 Lisa Reynolds Democratic Portland 2024 [c]
18 Wlnsvey Campos Democratic Aloha 2023
19 Rob Wagner Democratic Lake Oswego 2018 [c]
20 Mark Meek Democratic Gladstone 2023
21 Kathleen Taylor DemocraticPortland2017
22 Lew Frederick Democratic2017
23 Khanh Pham Democratic2025
24 Kayse Jama Democratic2021 [c]
25 Chris Gorsek Democratic Troutdale 2021
26 Daniel Bonham Republican The Dalles 2023
27 Anthony Broadman Democratic Bend 2025
28 Diane Linthicum Republican Klamath Falls 2025
29 Todd Nash Republican Enterprise 2025
30 Mike McLane Republican Powell Butte 2025

82nd Senate committee assignments

Senators are each assigned to one or more committees. [10]

Conduct

Education

Energy and Environment

Finance and Revenue

Health Care

Housing and Development

Human Services

Judiciary

Labor and Business

Natural Resources

Rules

Veterans, Emergency Management, Federal and World Affairs

Past composition of the Senate

See also

Notes

  1. Republican Brian Boquist (District 12) changed his party registration from Republican to Independent Party of Oregon. [9]
  2. Senator Art Robinson (District 2) left the Republican caucus in order to caucus with Boquist.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Senator was originally appointed.

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References

  1. "Senate Home". www.oregonlegislature.gov. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  2. National Conference of State Legislatures. "In Case of a Tie..." Retrieved November 3, 2010.
  3. Oregon Blue Book: Senate Presidents of Oregon
  4. Green, Ashbel S.; Lisa Grace Lednicer (January 17, 2006). "State high court strikes term limits". Oregonian. Portland, Oregon: Oregonian Publishing. pp. A1.
  5. "Republican Oregon state senators boycott for a 2nd day, preventing quorum". PBS . May 4, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  6. Giardinelli, Christina (June 5, 2023). "Oregon Republicans say ballot measure barring absent lawmakers has loophole". KTVL . Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  7. Lugo, Dianne (June 15, 2023). "Oregon lawmakers make deal on gun, abortion, LGBTQ bills to end longest walkout in state history". Register Guard . Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  8. Kimberly Jensen. "Kathryn Clarke". The Oregon Encyclopedia .
  9. "Oregon Senate Republicans walk out for 3rd straight year, citing governor's COVID-19 restrictions". oregonlive. February 25, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  10. "Senate Committee Selection". OregonLegislature.gov.