Tina Kotek

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Tina Kotek (born September 30, 1966) is an American politician and the governor-elect of Oregon. Kotek served as

Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives #REDIRECT List of speakers of the Oregon House of Representatives #REDIRECT List of speakers of the Oregon House of Representatives {{R from other capitalisation ...

{{R from other capitalisation ...

from 2013 to 2022. She was the first openly lesbian person to serve as a speaker of a state house in the United States, as well as the longest-serving speaker in Oregon history. Kotek won the

2022 Oregon gubernatorial election The 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Oregon. The incumbent governor, Democrat Kate Brown, took office on February 18, 2015, upon the resignation of John Kitzhaber. She was subsequen ...

, defeating

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Christine Drazan Christine Renee Drazan ( Deboy; born May 28, 1972) is an American politician who served in the Oregon House of Representatives from the 39th district from 2019 to 2022, as a member of the Republican Party. During her tenure in the state house s ...

and Independent Betsy Johnson in a three way race. Along with

Maura Healey Maura Tracy Healey (born February 8, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the Massachusetts Attorney General since January 2015. She is the governor-elect of Massachusetts, having won the 2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial elect ...

, she will be one of the first two openly lesbian governors in the United States.

Early life and education

Tina Kotek was born on September 30, 1966 in

York, Pennsylvania York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...

to Jerry Albert Kotek (1928–2011) and Florence (née Matich) (1929–2007). Her father was of

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

ancestry and her mother's parents were

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Slovenci ), are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia, and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovene as their n ...

. Her grandfather František Kotek (1897–1974) was a baker from Týnec nad Labem. Kotek attended Dallastown Area High School, where she graduated second in her class. She attended

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, but left without graduating. After departing Georgetown, she worked in commercial diving and as a travel agent. She moved to Oregon in 1987, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in religious studies from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

in 1990. She then went on to graduate study at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, earning a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in international studies and comparative religion.

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 The Oregon Food Bank is a hunger relief organization based in the U.S. state of Oregon. History The Oregon Food Bank began as Oregon Food Share (OFS) which was founded in 1982. OFS created the first statewide foodbank network in the United Stat ...

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

Oregon House of Representatives

Elections

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 Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. In the general election, she defeated her

opponent with nearly 80 percent of the vote. 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 was re-elected every two years, through the 2020 election.

Pre-speakership House career

Kotek rose in the House leadership, serving as the Democratic

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

in the 2009 legislative session. In the 2011 session, she was co-''speaker pro tempore'', a position shared with Republican

Andy Olson Andy Olson (born November 6, 1952) is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. He served in the Oregon House of Representatives for District 15, representing parts of Linn and Benton counties, including the city of Albany. Olso ...

due to the House's 30–30 partisan split. In June 2011, Kotek was chosen by the House Democratic Caucus as their leader (succeeding Dave Hunt).

Speakership

After Democrats won a House majority in the 2012 election, they nominated Kotek for

speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

for the 2013 legislative session. Kotek was elected to the position, becoming the first out lesbian to serve as a legislative speaker in the United States. She was re-elected for the two-year sessions in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021. She is the longest-serving speaker of the House in Oregon history. In December 2016, Kotek became the chair of the board of directors of the

Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) is the Democratic Party (United States), U.S. Democratic Party organization that works to elect Democrats to State legislature (United States), state legislatures. The committee was formed after ...

. She left the post in July 2019. In 2020, Republicans worked with Democrats to redraw the districts following the 2020 United States 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, she announced her resignation from the speakership and from her House seat to focus on her campaign. She was succeeded as speaker by

Dan Rayfield Dan A. Rayfield (born March 1, 1979) is an American politician serving as the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives representing the 16th district, which includes Corvallis and Philomath. Early life and education Rayfield was born in ...

, and in the 44th House District seat by

Travis Nelson Travis Nelson is an American politician and nurse serving as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives from the 44th district. He assumed office on February 1, 2022. He is the first openly LGBTQ+ man of color and the first openly LGBTQ+ A ...

Governor of Oregon

2022 gubernatorial campaign

On September 1, 2021, Kotek declared her candidacy for Governor in the

. Her main opponent in the Democratic primary was

Tobias Read Tobias Read (born July 1, 1975) is an American politician who is the current Oregon State Treasurer. He was a member of the Oregon House of Representatives, representing District 27 from 2007–2017, which comprises parts of Beaverton, southwest ...

, the state treasurer. She won the Democratic primary on May 17, 2022. In the general election for governor, Kotek's main opponents were Republican candidate and former state representative

and unaffiliated candidate and former state senator Betsy Johnson. The election was on November 8, 2022. As of November 10, local news sources include ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'', ''

Willamette Week ''Willamette Week'' (''WW'') is an alternative weekly newspaper and a website published in Portland, Oregon, United States, since 1974. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business, and culture. History Early history ''Willame ...

,'' and

Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington. OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF tra ...

declared Kotek the likely winner of the race with 73% of ballots counted.

Tenure

Kotek is expected to be sworn in on January 9, 2023.

Personal life

Kotek and her wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson, have lived in the Kenton neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, since 2005. Kotek was one of the only openly LGBT members of the

Oregon Legislative Assembly The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...

, and the first lesbian speaker of a state house. Kotek considers herself a lapsed Catholic and attends an Episcopal church.

Electoral history

Governor of Oregon

References

External links

Tina Kotek for Oregon
campaign website * , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kotek, Tina 1966 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century LGBT people American people of Czech descent American people of Slovenian descent Converts to Protestantism from Roman Catholicism Democratic Party governors of Oregon Lesbian politicians LGBT state governors of the United States LGBT state legislators in Oregon Living people People from Dallastown, Pennsylvania Politicians from Portland, Oregon Politicians from York, Pennsylvania Speakers of the Oregon House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives University of Oregon alumni University of Washington alumni Women legislative speakers Women state legislators in Oregon Women state governors of the United States

Early life and education

Career

Oregon House of Representatives

Elections

Pre-speakership House career

Speakership

Governor of Oregon

2022 gubernatorial campaign

Tenure

Personal life

Electoral history

Governor of Oregon

See also

References

External links