Tina Kotek was sworn in as Oregon’s governor Monday, becoming, with Massachusetts’s Maura Healey, one of the first two out lesbian governors in the nation. Healey took her oath of office last week.Kotek, a Democrat, was sworn in by Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Meagan Flynn shortly before 2 p.m.
at a joint session of the Oregon House and Senate at the state’s capitol. The new governor was accompanied by her wife, Aimee Wilson, and gave her a shout-out after taking the oath, calling Wilson “the first lady of Oregon” and adding, “Thank you, my love, for your support.”Kotek defeated Republican Christine Drazan and independent Betsy Johnson in November.
Kotek was previously speaker of the Oregon House, the first lesbian to hold such a position in the U.S., and she was also the longest-serving speaker in Oregon history. As governor, she succeeds fellow Democrat Kate Brown, who was the first out bisexual governor in the nation.In her inaugural address, Kotek thanked Brown for leading the state through a difficult time and went on to cite Oregon’s last Republican governor, Victor G.
Atiyeh, who served from 1979 to 1987. He, like Kotek, pledged to visit every county in Oregon and listen to people’s concerns.
It might be surprising for her to invoke a Republican as an inspiration, she said, but she pointed out what they have in common: He was also a former legislator, and they were both firsts — he was the first governor of Arab descent in the U.S., and she and Healey are the first out lesbian governors.Kotek began her listening tour a few weeks ago in Yamhill County in western Oregon. “I want to hear directly from people who are doing the hard work every day to serve their communities, especially on issues of shared concern
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