Another Candidate Announces for Nolan's Seat

Another candidate is stepping forward to seek the House District 36 seat being vacated by State Rep. Mary Nolan (D-Southwest Portland).

Earlier, WW reported that Dr. Sharon Meieran, an emergency room physician at Portland Adventist Hospital (and former corporate lawyer) will seek the position Nolan is vacating to challenge incumbent City Commissioner Amanda Fritz.

Now, another recovering lawyer, Jennifer Williamson, is jumping in as well.


"I am planning a run for House District 36. I am an attorney and was an associate at Davis Wright Tremaine," Williamson told WW via email. "Since my time at DWT, I have served on the executive team at the Department of Education under Susan Castillo and was an Assistant Vice President at Portland State University. I now work for an international social science research nonprofit, American Institutes for Research, and I chair the board of the Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon."

Like Meieran, Williamson graduated from Emerge Oregon, a boot-camp for Democratic women interested in running for office." I am excited about the possibility of two Emerge graduates running against each other," Williamson says. "We need more women to run for office and we need more races like this in Oregon.

A potential candidate also eying the race is Jake Oken-Berg, a political consultant and musician who first made a name for himself in 2000 while running a surprisingly competitive race for mayor against incumbent Vera Katz when he was only 19. After graduating from Pomona College, Oken-Berg  went to work for U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and then set up a political consulting shop. "I am considering running but have not yet decided," Oken-Berg says. "[But] If I run for the legislature I will not take political action committee money."

WWeek 2015

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