Tina Kotek

Christine Kotek (/ˈkoʊtɛk/ KOH-tek; born September 30, 1966) is an American politician serving as the 39th governor of Oregon since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Kotek served eight terms as the state representative from the 44th district in 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.

Kotek became the first openly lesbian woman elected speaker of a U.S. state house in 2013. She 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 her predecessor 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. 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.