Representatives take their oath of office in the House chambers at the Oregon Capitol in Salem on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Photo by Laura Tesler/Oregon Capital Chronicle/Pool)
The Oregon House will get its first Japanese American representative after Multnomah and Washington county commissioners voted to appoint Bethany Democrat Mari Watanabe to a vacant seat in the state House.
Watanabe, who will replace newly appointed Sen. Lisa Reynolds in the House, is the last of 19 new faces in the state Legislature, which will begin its work in earnest on Tuesday. The 11 new representatives and eight new senators include several former legislators who are returning to Salem and family members of two Republican senators who were disqualified from running for reelection because they missed six weeks of floor sessions during a 2023 quorum-denying walkout.
Multnomah County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards described Watanabe as a “powerful leader” during an appointment meeting on Wednesday evening, though she also praised Watanabe for knowing when to step back and let others lead.
Watanabe has lived in the 34th House District in southeast Portland and Beaverton for two decades, working for corporations including Nike and for nonprofit organizations. She was raised in Washington by parents who were forced into internment camps during World War II, and that heritage led her to serve as executive director of the Japanese American Museum of Oregon and of Partners in Diversity, a nonprofit organization that champions diversity, equity and inclusion.
Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, was among the speakers at the meeting who urged county commissioners to pick Watanabe. He said he met her at a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Japanese removal act and considered her a “truly transformational, experienced, collaborative and thoughtful leader.”
Here’s a look at Oregon’s other new lawmakers:
House
Rep. Willy Chotzen, D-Portland
Chotzen, a public defender, won a primary to replace now-Sen. Khanh Pham in the reliably Democratic 46th House District seat. He ran on fixing the state’s public defense crisis, which over the past few years has left thousands of Oregonians facing criminal charges while waiting for their constitutional right to representation. Chotzen was a middle school math teacher before earning his law degree and leading the misdemeanor unit at the Metropolitan Public Defender in Multnomah County. He’ll be a vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee and serve on the Joint Ways and Means Public Safety Subcommittee and the House Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee.
Rep. April Dobson, D-Happy Valley
Dobson, a community organizer and member of the North Clackamas School Board, will replace former Rep. Janelle Bynum, a fellow Democrat elected to Congress in November. She has been involved in education advocacy since one of her children was diagnosed with autism and ran on expanding access to affordable child care and mental health care, as well as improving schools. She’s a vice chair of the House Education Committee and a member of the House Economic Development, Small Business and Trade Committee and Housing and Homelessness Committee.
Rep. Christine Drazan, R-Canby
Drazan, a former House Republican leader who resigned in late 2021 for an unsuccessful campaign for governor, surprised many when she chose to run in the primary against her replacement in the House, Rep. James Hieb in the 51st House District. Drazan won by a landslide in May and returned to her former post as minority leader before even taking her oath of office. She was a foil to Gov. Tina Kotek during Kotek’s tenure as House speaker and has returned to her role as Kotek’s chief critic.
Rep. Darcey Edwards, R-Banks
Voters in the 31st House District had minimal representation over the past two years, as former Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis, barred Rep. Brian Stout, R-Columbia City, from serving on any legislative committees because of a restraining order by a former campaign volunteer against him. Stout chose not to run for reelection and endorsed Edwards, a real estate agent. She’s a member of four committees: the joint committees on Information Management and Technology and Addiction and Community Safety Response; and the House Climate, Energy and Environment, and Housing and Homelessness committees.
Rep. Lisa Fragala, D-Eugene
Fragala, a longtime elementary school teacher and community partnership coordinator for Pacific University’s college of education, replaced longtime Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene, who retired. She experienced homelessness as a child after her mother lost her job, and she heard similar stories from students and families. She’s a vice chair of the House Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee and a member of the House Housing and Homelessness and Labor and Workplace Standards committees.
Rep. Darin Harbick, R-McKenzie Bridge
The small business owner from rural Lane County launched a campaign to defeat Rep. Charlie Conrad, a former police officer who switched his party registration to Independent from Republican after losing in the primary. Conrad experienced the ire of his former party for voting with Democrats on a bill to expand access to abortion and gender-affirming care, as well as for supporting ranked choice voting and opposing President-elect Donald Trump. Harbick’s campaign, supported by Oregon Right to Life, centered around attacking Conrad. Harbick is a vice chair of the House Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee and member of the Behavioral Health and Health Care and Education committees.
Rep. Shannon Isadore, D-Portland
Isadore joined the House a few months ahead of schedule, as she was appointed to replace U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter in the 33rd House District in October. Isadore is the founder and CEO of the Oregon Change Clinic, which provides addiction and mental health treatment for people of color, and her campaign focused on addiction, mental health and housing. She replaces Bynum as the only Black woman in the House. She’s a vice chair of the House Economic Development, Small Business and Trade Committee and serves on the Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response and House Behavioral Health and Health Care Committee.
Rep. Sarah Finger McDonald, D-Corvallis
McDonald replaced Rayfield, now Oregon’s attorney general. She’s an academic adviser at Oregon State University and former member of the Corvallis School Board who founded the Oregon chapter of Moms Demand Action, a gun control advocacy group. McDonald announced Wednesday that she learned shortly after the November election that her colon cancer is no longer in remission and she’ll undergo chemotherapy while serving in the Legislature. She’s a vice chair of the House Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources and Water Committee and member of the Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee.
Rep. Lesly Muñoz, D-Woodburn
Muñoz’s upset victory over Republican Rep. Tracy Cramer of Gervais in Marion County’s 22nd House District gave Democrats the three-fifths supermajority needed to create taxes or increase existing ones without Republican support. She’s a longtime union organizer who ran on a platform of affordable housing, community safety and workers’ rights. Muñoz will be a vice chair of the House Labor and Workplace Standards committee, along with serving as a member of the Behavioral Health and Health Care and Higher Education and Workforce Development committees.
Rep. Alek Skarlatos, R-Winston
Skarlatos is new to the state House after two failed runs for Congress from southwest Oregon’s 4th Congressional District. He’ll represent the 4th House District. Skarlatos is a real estate investor who gained international attention for helping stop a terrorist on a Paris-bound train in 2015, when he was a sniper with the Army National Guard. He’ll serve on the House Economic Development, Small Business and Trade committee and the Emergency Management, General Government and Veterans committee along with the Joint Ways and Means subcommittee on Transportation and Economic Development.
Senate
Sen. Anthony Broadman, D-Bend
Broadman, a tribal attorney and former Bend city councilor, gave Democrats their Senate supermajority with his election to the 27th Senate District previously represented by Republican Tim Knopp. Broadman’s election, along with the reelection of Bend-area Democratic Reps. Jason Kropf and Emerson Levy, is a signal of Democrats’ growing power in central Oregon, long a Republican stronghold. He’ll serve as co-chair of the Joint Ways and Means public safety subcommittee and on the Judiciary, Housing and Development, and Ways and Means committees.
Sen. Diane Linthicum, R-Beatty
Linthicum is new to elected office, but not to the Capitol — she was chief of staff for her husband, former Sen. Dennis Linthicum, before he was disqualified from running for reelection in the 28th Senate District. Like her husband, who lost his race for secretary of state in November, Linthicum regularly fails to respond to interview requests and ran on her opposition to abortion, vaccinations, gun control and mail voting. She’ll be the vice chair of the Senate Human Services committee and a member of the Health Care and Early Childhood and Behavioral Health committees.
Sen. Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte
McLane is an attorney and former House Republican leader who left the Legislature in 2019 to serve as a circuit court judge. He replaced Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, in the 30th Senate District, which covers a vast swath of southeastern Oregon. McLane told the Capital Chronicle during his campaign that he hoped to use his experience to work on budget issues. He’ll serve on the budget-setting Joint Ways and Means Committee and its capital construction subcommittee, as well as on the Joint Tax Expenditures Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee and as vice-chair of the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee.
Sen. Todd Nash, R-Enterprise
Nash, a cattle rancher and former Wallowa county commissioner, is the state’s first senator from the remote northeastern county. He replaced longtime legislator Bill Hansell, R-Athena, who announced his retirement before he was barred from running for reelection for participating in the 2023 walkout. Nash ran on supporting natural resource industries and is the vice chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Wildfire Committee. He’s also a member of the Senate Human Services and Housing and Development committees.
Sen. Khanh Pham, D-Portland
Pham, long one of the most progressive members of the state House, replaced retiring Sen. Michael Dembow in southeast Portland’s 23rd Senate District. She’ll be the chair of the Senate Housing and Development Committee and serve on the Senate Labor and Business and Energy and Environment committees, as well as on the Joint Transportation Committee and a joint committee on the Interstate 5 bridge connecting Portland and Vancouver. Pham is Oregon’s first Vietnamese American state senator.
Sen. Lisa Reynolds, D-Beaverton
Reynolds, a pediatrician, served two terms in the House and was elected to a third before winning an appointment to the Senate to finish the last two years of new Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner’s term in the 17th Senate District. She’s the chair of the new Senate Childhood and Behavioral Health Committee, where she’ll debut her package of bills aimed at improving child and maternal health care, dubbed “Momnibus 2025.” She also serves on the Senate Human Services and Health Care committees.
Sen. Noah Robinson, R-Cave Junction
Like Linthicum, Robinson isn’t new to the Capitol. He was chief of staff for his father, former Sen. Art Robinson, before the elder Robinson’s disqualification over the walkout. Robinson has indicated he’ll carry on his father’s tradition of voting “no” on just about everything, including being the only senator to vote against approving the appointment of the Senate secretary — despite calling the secretary “excellent” a few minutes later. Robinson is a member of the Senate Education and Energy and Environment committees and the Joint Information Management and Technology Committee.
Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Dundee
Starr served in the Legislature from 1999 to 2015 and narrowly lost his 2014 reelection bid. He’s returning after a decade away because former Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, was unable to run for reelection due to the 2023 GOP walkout. Starr, who worked closely on a bipartisan 2009 transportation package, will be the co-vice chair of the Joint Transportation Committee and serve on the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee and joint committees or subcommittees on the Interstate 5 bridge, tax expenditures and transportation and economic development.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.