Tina Kotek

She was succeeded as speaker by Dan Rayfield and in the 44th district by Travis Nelson.

Christine Kotek (born September 30, 1966) is an American politician serving as the 39th governor of Oregon since 2023.

Kotek was born on September 30, 1966, in York, Pennsylvania, to Jerry Albert Kotek and Florence (née Matich).

Her father was of Czech ancestry and her mother's parents were Slovenes.

Her grandfather František Kotek was a baker from Týnec nad Labem.

Kotek graduated second in her class from Dallastown Area High School.

She attended Georgetown University, but left without graduating.

She then worked in commercial diving and as a travel agent.

In 1987, Kotek moved to Oregon.

She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in religious studies from the University of Oregon in 1990.

She then studied at the University of Washington, earning a master's degree in international studies and comparative religion.

Before being elected to office, Kotek worked as a public policy advocate for the Oregon Food Bank and then as policy director of Children First for Oregon.

She co-chaired the Human Services Coalition of Oregon during the 2002 budget crisis and co-chaired the Governor's Medicaid Advisory Committee.

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% of the vote.

A member of the Democratic Party, Kotek served eight terms as the state representative from the 44th district of the Oregon House of Representatives from 2007 to 2022, as majority leader of the Oregon House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013, and as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives from 2013 to 2022.

She won the 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election, defeating Republican nominee Christine Drazan and independent candidate Betsy Johnson.

As an openly lesbian woman, Kotek has made history several times through her electoral success.

Kotek ran unopposed for reelection in 2008.

Kotek rose in the House leadership, serving as the Democratic whip in the 2009 legislative session.

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.

In the 2011 session, she was co-speaker pro tempore with Republican Andy Olson due to the House's 30–30 partisan split.

In June 2011, the House Democratic Caucus chose Kotek as its 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.

She was elected to the position, becoming the first out lesbian in the nation to serve as a legislative speaker.

She became the first openly lesbian woman elected speaker of a U.S. state house in 2013, and was the longest-serving Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives.

In 2022, she became one of the first two openly lesbian women (alongside Maura Healey) and the third openly LGBT person (alongside Healey and after Kate Brown and Jared Polis) elected governor of a U.S. state, as well as the third woman elected governor of Oregon (after Barbara Roberts and Kate Brown).

As speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives and governor, Kotek has spearheaded legislation to increase housing production in Oregon to alleviate the state's housing crisis.

She was reelected for in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021.

She is Oregon's longest-serving speaker of the House.

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

In 2019, as speaker, she spearheaded legislation to make Oregon the first state to remove single-family-exclusive zoning across the state, permitting duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes in residential neighborhoods previously zoned exclusively for single-family homes.

In 2024, as governor, her top legislative priority was putting $376 million toward housing production, as well as easing the rules for housing development.

She left the post in July 2019.

She was reelected every two years through 2020.

In 2020, Republicans worked with Democrats to redraw the districts following the 2020 U.S. census with equal representation from the Democratic and Republican parties as a compromise to have the Republicans stop the use of quorum rule restrictions to stall legislation.

Kotek later reversed her decision and restored the Democratic majority on the committee redrawing the congressional districts.

In January 2022, Kotek announced her resignation from the House to focus on her campaign.