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. 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.
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.[20] 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.
Kotek ran unopposed for reelection in 2008.[21] In 2010, she faced a Democratic primary challenge but won over 85% of the vote.[22] Kotek won the 2010 general election with almost 81% of the vote.[23] She was reelected every two years through 2020.[24]
Kotek rose in the House leadership, serving as the Democratic whip in the 2009 legislative session. 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).[25]
After Democrats won a House majority in the 2012 election, they nominated Kotek for speaker of the House for the 2013 legislative session.[26] She was elected to the position, becoming the first out lesbian in the nation to serve as a legislative speaker.[27][28] She was reelected for in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021.[29][30] Kotek is Oregon's longest-serving speaker of the House.[31]
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.[34][35] Kotek later reversed her decision and restored the Democratic majority on the committee redrawing the congressional districts.[36][37]
In January 2022, Kotek announced her resignation from the House to focus on her gubernatorial campaign.[38] She was succeeded as speaker by Dan Rayfield[39] and in the 44th district by Travis Nelson.[40]
During her time as speaker, Kotek introduced legislation to allow for increased housing construction in Oregon.[41] In 2017, she unsuccessfully pushed for legislation to permit duplexes in residential neighborhoods that were previously exclusively zoned for single-family housing.[42] Her House Bill 2001, which sought to enable missing middle housing, required cities of more than 10,000 and counties of more than 15,000 to allow fourplexes in neighborhoods previously zoned exclusively for single-family housing, and to permit accessory dwelling units and easier rules for subdividing existing homes. The bill passed in 2019, making Oregon the first state to abolish single-family exclusive zoning across the state.[43][42]
On September 1, 2021, Kotek declared her candidacy in the 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election.[44] Her main opponent in the Democratic primary was State Treasurer Tobias Read. She won the Democratic primary on May 17, 2022.[45]
Kotek was sworn in on January 9, 2023.[49] On her first day in office, she declared a state of emergency due to homelessness.[50] She established a statewide goal of building 36,000 new housing units a year (up from the 22,000 that were being built in the state when she took office).[51] At the time she took office, Oregon was ranked as one of the states most severely underproducing housing relative to demand.[52]
In March 2024, Kotek signed bipartisan legislation to put $376 million toward housing production, including a $75 million revolving loan fund to enable localities to build affordable housing, $131 million for emergency housing, $123.5 to enable localities to acquire and develop shovel-ready housing, and $24.5 million to improve the energy efficiency and air quality in housing.[51] She initially proposed $500 million but legislators considered that too much.[53]
In 2024, three of Kotek's top aides, including her chief of staff and deputy chief of staff, resigned after registering concerns about the role of the governor's wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson, in her administration.[54][55] Backlash centered on hiring paid staff for a new "Office of the First Spouse" and Wilson's frequent involvement in policy meetings. Kotek later responded by halting plans to create a formal office and issuing a "First Partner Handbook".[56][57] The Oregon Government Ethics Commission declined to investigate the issue after a complaint was filed, on the grounds that Wilson had not gained financially from her actions.[58]
Personal life
Kotek and her wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson, met in 2005 and married in a private ceremony in 2017.[59] They lived together in Portland's Kenton neighborhood beginning in 2005.[15][60] Kotek was one of the Oregon Legislative Assembly's few openly LGBTQ+ members and the first lesbian speaker of a state house.[61] After winning the gubernatorial election, she sold her Portland home and moved to the governor's mansion, Mahonia Hall, in Salem.[62] Kotek considers herself a lapsed Catholic and attends an Episcopal church.[15]
^"Obituary for Jerry A. Kotek". The York Dispatch. York, Pennsylvania. November 2, 2011. p. 24. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022. Jerry is survived by... a daughter Tina Kotek and her partner Aimee Wilson of Portland Ore
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