American politician

Tina Kotek (born September 30, 1966) is an American politician who served as speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives from 2013 to 2022. She is currently the Democratic nominee for governor of Oregon in the 2022 election.

Contents

• 1 Early life and education
• 2 Career
  • 2.1 Oregon House of Representatives
  • 2.2 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election
• 3 Personal life
• 4 See also
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Early life and education

Born and raised in York, Pennsylvania, Kotek attended Dallastown Area High School. She moved to Oregon in 1987, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in religious studies from the University of Oregon. She then went on to graduate study at the University of Washington, earning a master’s degree in international studies.

Career

Before being elected to office, Kotek worked as the policy director of Children First for Oregon, prior to which she was a public policy advocate for the Oregon Food Bank. She co-chaired the Human Services Coalition of Oregon during the 2002 budget crisis and serves as the co-chair of the Governor’s Medicaid Advisory Committee.

Oregon House of Representatives

In 2004, Kotek lost the Democratic primary for Oregon House District 43. In 2006, she won a three-way Democratic primary for Oregon House District 44, which includes North and Northeast Portland. In the general election, she defeated her Republican opponent with nearly 80 percent of the vote. On April 26, 2007, Kotek was accused of violating Oregon state house rules when she kissed her wife on the house floor in response to Oregon p*ing marriage equality legislation.

Kotek ran unopposed for re-election in 2008. In 2010, she faced a Democratic primary challenge but won over 85% of the vote. Kotek won the 2010 general election with almost 81% of the vote. She has been re-elected every two years, through the 2020 election.

Kotek rose in the House leadership, serving as the Democratic whip in the 75th Oregon Legislative *embly. She was co-speaker pro tempore, a position shared with Republican Andy Olson due to the House's 30–30 partisan split during the 2011 session. In June 2011 Kotek was chosen by the House Democratic Caucus as their leader (succeeding Dave Hunt).

After Democrats won a House majority in the 2012 election, they nominated Kotek for speaker of the House for the 2013 legislative session. Kotek was elected to the position, and was re-elected for the two-year sessions in 2015, 2017 and 2019.

After Governor John Kitzhaber resigned in February 2015, elevating Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown to the governorship, Kotek was mentioned as a possible successor to Brown. Kotek denied interest in the job, Brown later appointed Jeanne Atkins to fill the remainder of Brown's term as Secretary of State.

In December 2016, Kotek became the chair of the board of directors of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.

2022 Oregon gubernatorial election

Main article: 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election

On September 1, 2021, Kotek declared her candidacy for the 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election. She resigned as Speaker on January 16, 2022, and from her House seat on January 21 to focus on her campaign. She won the Democratic primary on May 17.

Personal life

Kotek, a lesbian, was one of the only openly-gay members of the Oregon Legislative *embly, and the first lesbian speaker of a state house. Her election campaigns have won the support of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which provides financial and strategic *istance.

Kotek is married to Aimee Wilson.

See also

• List of female speakers of legislatures in the United States
• List of LGBT people from Portland, Oregon

References

External links

• Tina Kotek for Oregon official campaign website
• Appearances on C-SPAN

• Profile at Vote Smart

Portals:BiographyOregonPoliticsLGBT