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Oregon State Senate

{{short description|Upper house of Oregon's legislature}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2012}}

{{Infobox legislature

| background_color = {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}

| name = Oregon State Senate

| legislature = Oregon Legislative Assembly

| coa_pic = Seal of Oregon.svg

| term_limits = None

| new_session = January 21, 2025

| session_room = OregonSenateChambersCenter.jpg

| house_type = Upper house

| leader1_type = President

| leader1 = Rob Wagner (D)

| election1 = January 9, 2023

| leader2_type = President pro tempore

| leader2 = James Manning Jr. (D)

| election2 = January 11, 2021

| leader3_type = Majority Leader

| leader3 = Kayse Jama (D)

| election3 = November 16, 2024

| leader4_type = Minority Leader

| leader4 = Daniel Bonham (R)

| election4 = April 15, 2024

| term_length = 4 years

| authority = Article IV, Oregon Constitution

| salary = $21,612/year + per diem

| members = 30

|structure1 = 2025 Oregon Senate Composition.svg

| structure1_res = 250px

| political_groups1 =

Majority

  • {{nowrap|{{Color box|#0000FF|border=darkgray}} Democratic (18)}}

Minority

  • {{nowrap|{{Color box|#FF0000|border=darkgray}} Republican (12)}}

| last_election1 = November 5, 2024
(15 seats)

| next_election1 = November 3, 2026
(15 seats)

| redistricting = Legislative Control

| meeting_place = State Senate Chamber
Oregon State Capitol
Salem, Oregon

| website = [https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/senate Oregon State Senate]

}}

File:2025 Oregon Senate Composition.svg

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.{{Cite web|title=Senate Home|url=https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/senate|access-date=2021-03-13|website=www.oregonlegislature.gov}} 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=17278|title=In Case of a Tie......|author=National Conference of State Legislatures|access-date=November 3, 2010}}

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.[https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Pages/state/legislative/senate-images.aspx Oregon Blue Book: Senate Presidents of Oregon]

Membership and qualifications

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.{{cite news |last=Green |first=Ashbel S. |author2=Lisa Grace Lednicer |title=State high court strikes term limits |work=Oregonian |pages=A1 |publisher=Portland, Oregon: Oregonian Publishing |date=January 17, 2006}}

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.{{cite news |title=Republican Oregon state senators boycott for a 2nd day, preventing quorum |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/republican-oregon-state-senators-boycott-for-a-2nd-day-preventing-quorum |access-date=7 June 2023 |work=PBS |date=4 May 2023}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Giardinelli |first1=Christina |title=Oregon Republicans say ballot measure barring absent lawmakers has loophole |url=https://ktvl.com/newsletter-daily/oregon-republicans-say-ballot-measure-barring-absent-lawmakers-has-loophole |access-date=7 June 2023 |work=KTVL |date=5 June 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Lugo |first1=Dianne |title=Oregon lawmakers make deal on gun, abortion, LGBTQ bills to end longest walkout in state history |url=https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/15/oregon-legislature-walkout-ends-republican-lawmakers-session/70325939007/ |access-date=16 June 2023 |work=Register Guard |date=15 June 2023}}

Milestones

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.{{Oregon Encyclopedia|kathryn_clarke_1873_1940_|Kathryn Clarke|author=Kimberly Jensen}} 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

class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
style="vertical-align:bottom;"

! rowspan="3" |Session

! colspan="4" |Party

(Shading indicates majority caucus)

! rowspan="3" |Total

!

style="height:5px"

| style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" |

| style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" |

| style="background-color:{{party color|Independent Republican}}" |

| style="background-color:{{party color|Independent Party of Oregon}}" |

| style="background: black" |

Democratic

!Republican

!Ind. Rep.

!Ind. Party

!Vacant

style="font-size:80%" |End of 75th Assembly (2010)

| {{party shading/Democratic}} | 18

|12

|0

|0

!30

|0

colspan=7 |
style="font-size:80%" |76th Assembly (2011–2012)

| {{party shading/Democratic}} | 16

| 14

|0

| 0

! 30

| 0

colspan=7 |
style="font-size:80%" |77th Assembly (2013–2014)

| {{party shading/Democratic}} | 16

| 14

|0

| 0

! 30

| 0

colspan=7 |
style="font-size:80%" | 78th Assembly (2015–2016)

| {{party shading/Democratic}} | 18

| 12

|0

| 0

! 30

| 0

colspan=7 |
style="font-size:80%" |79th Assembly (2017–2019)

| {{party shading/Democratic}} | 17

| 13

|0

| 0

! 30

| 0

colspan=7 |
style="font-size:80%" |80th Assembly (2019–2021)

| {{party shading/Democratic}} | 18

| 12

|0

| 0

! 30

| 0

colspan=7 |
style="font-size:80%" |Begin 81st Assembly (2021–2023)

| rowspan=3 {{party shading/Democratic}} | 18

| 12

| colspan=2|0

! rowspan=3|30

| rowspan=3|0

style="font-size:80%" | January 15, 2021{{efn|Republican Brian Boquist (District 12) changed his party registration from Republican to Independent Party of Oregon.{{Cite web|date=2021-02-25|title=Oregon Senate Republicans walk out for 3rd straight year, citing governor's COVID-19 restrictions|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2021/02/oregon-senate-republicans-walk-out-for-3rd-straight-year-citing-governors-covid-19-restrictions.html|access-date=2021-08-31|website=oregonlive|language=en}}}}

| 11

| 0

| rowspan=2| 1

style="font-size:80%" | April 2021{{efn|Senator Art Robinson (District 2) left the Republican caucus in order to caucus with Boquist.}}

| 10

| 1

colspan=7 |
style="font-size:80%" |82nd Assembly (2023–2025)

| {{party shading/Democratic}} | 17

| 11

| 1

| 1

! 30

| 0

colspan=7 |
style="font-size:80%" |83rd Assembly (2025–2027)

| {{party shading/Democratic}} | 18

| 12

| 0

| 0

! 30

| 0

Latest voting share

! {{party shading/Democratic}} |{{percentage|18|30}}

!{{percentage|12|30}}

! colspan=2 | {{percentage|0|30}}

!colspan=2|

See also

Notes

{{notelist}}

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/senate Oregon state Senate]
  • [https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Pages/state/legislative/district-maps.aspx Map of state Senate Districts]
  • [http://www.oregonsenatedemocrats.com Oregon Senate Democrats homepage]

{{Oregon State Senate}}

{{United States legislatures}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:State upper houses in the United States

Category:1859 establishments in Oregon