Oregon State Senate

Upper house of Oregon's legislature

Oregon State Senate

Oregon Legislative Assembly
Type
Type|

Upper house

Term limits

| None
History

New session started

| January 21, 2025
Leadership

President

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
Seats| 30

Political groups

| Majority

*   Democratic (18)

Minority

*   Republican (12)

Length of term

| 4 years
Authority| Article IV, Oregon Constitution
Salary| $21,612/year + per diem
Elections

Last election

| November 5, 2024
(15 seats)

Next election

| November 3, 2026
(15 seats)
Redistricting| Legislative Control
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber
Oregon State Capitol
Salem, Oregon
Website
Oregon State Senate
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.

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Session  | Party

(Shading indicates majority caucus)

| Total  | Vacant

|
|
|

Democratic | Republican | Ind. Rep. | Ind. Party
End of 75th Assembly (2010)  | 18  | 12  | 0  | 0  | 30  | 0
76th Assembly (2011–2012)  | 16  | 14  | 0  | 0  | 30  | 0
77th Assembly (2013–2014)  | 16  | 14  | 0  | 0  | 30  | 0
78th Assembly (2015–2016)  | 18  | 12  | 0  | 0  | 30  | 0
79th Assembly (2017–2019)  | 17  | 13  | 0  | 0  | 30  | 0
80th Assembly (2019–2021)  | 18  | 12  | 0  | 0  | 30  | 0
Begin 81st Assembly (2021–2023)  | 18  | 12  | 0  | 30  | 0
January 15, 2021[a] | 11  | 0  | 1
April 2021[b] | 10  | 1
82nd Assembly (2023–2025)  | 17  | 11  | 1  | 1  | 30  | 0
83rd Assembly (2025–2027)  | 18  | 12  | 0  | 0  | 30  | 0
April 19, 2025[c] | 17  | 29  | 1
May 9, 2025[d] | 18  | 30  | 0
Latest voting share  | 60%  | 40%  | 0%  |

## See also

[edit]

* 2024 Oregon State Senate election
* List of Oregon Legislative Assemblies

## Notes

[edit]

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. ^ Democrat Aaron Woods (District 13) died.[10]
4. ^ Democrat Courtney Neron Misslin appointed to fill vacancy in District 13.[11]

## References

[edit]

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. ^ VanderHart, Dirk. "Oregon state Sen. Aaron Woods dies at 75". OPB. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
11. ^ VanderHart, Dirk (May 8, 2025). "Oregon state Rep. Courtney Neron wins appointment to open Senate seat". OPB. Retrieved May 9, 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* Oregon state Senate
* Map of state Senate Districts
* Oregon Senate Democrats homepage

* v
* t
* e

Members of the Oregon State Senate

83rd Legislative Assembly (2025–present)

President of the Senate
Rob Wagner (D)
President pro tempore
James Manning Jr. (D)
Majority Leader
Kayse Jama (D)
Minority Leader
Daniel Bonham (R)

1. ▌David Brock Smith (R)
2. ▌Noah Robinson (R)
3. ▌Jeff Golden (D)
4. ▌Floyd Prozanski (D)
5. ▌Dick Anderson (R)
6. ▌Cedric Hayden (R)
7. ▌James Manning Jr. (D)
8. ▌Sara Gelser Blouin (D)
9. ▌Fred Girod (R)
10. ▌Deb Patterson (D)
11. ▌Kim Thatcher (R)
12. ▌Bruce Starr (R)
13. ▌Courtney Neron Misslin (D)
14. ▌Kate Lieber (D)
15. ▌Janeen Sollman (D)
16. ▌Suzanne Weber (R)
17. ▌Lisa Reynolds (D)
18. ▌Wlnsvey Campos (D)
19. ▌Rob Wagner (D)
20. ▌Mark Meek (D)
21. ▌Kathleen Taylor (D)
22. ▌Lew Frederick (D)
23. ▌Khanh Pham (D)
24. ▌Kayse Jama (D)
25. ▌Chris Gorsek (D)
26. ▌Daniel Bonham (R)
27. ▌Anthony Broadman (D)
28. ▌Diane Linthicum (R)
29. ▌Todd Nash (R)
30. ▌Mike McLane (R)

Majority caucus
▌Democratic (18)
Minority caucus
▌Republican (12)

* Oregon Legislative Assembly
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* Senate
* List of past assemblies

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