Senate District 14

(Beaverton and Southwest Portland)

Kate Lieber

Democrat

A lot of Oregon’s top Democrats played a game of musical chairs this election cycle, trying to move up to statewide office or a congressional seat. State Sen. Kate Lieber stayed put. We’re glad of that, because as Senate majority leader and now newly appointed co-chair of the Joint Ways and Mens Committee, she’s helped steer Gov. Tina Kotek’s agenda through the Capitol. That means she deserves some of the credit for filleting Measure 110 like a rotten fish, setting up a statewide system that lets counties “deflect” addicted people from jail, freeing up new land for developers to cut into the state’s housing deficit, and sending tens of millions of dollars to homeless shelters.

The February legislative session was a remarkably effective one with Lieber serving as the enforcer for Senate President Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego). As Ways and Means co-chair in 2024, Lieber will grow in stature—a remarkable ascent for the former Multnomah County prosecutor. She faces no serious competition for the seat: An anti-abortion Libertarian, Katy Brumbelow, is on the ballot but offered little substance in our interview. It’s Lieber all the way.

What Lieber was known for in high school: She was a 12-letter athlete, competing in basketball, cross-country and track all four years.

Senate District 18

(Central Washington County, parts of Beaverton and Hillsboro)

Wlnsvey Campos

Democrat

Elected to the Senate in 2022 at 26 to represent a district stretching from Cedar Hills to Aloha, Campos, now 28, remains the youngest member of the upper chamber by a country mile. She wasn’t a heavy hitter during the last session. But given her youth and inexperience, perhaps that’s to be expected.

Campos has some good ideas for the next session, including eliminating medical debt from credit reports and fully funding the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries to address a backlog of wage theft complaints. She says she’s known in Salem for focusing on her constituents’ basic needs. With working-class Oregonians still reeling from the pandemic and inflation, that’s a worthy priority. “There’s more work to do,” she adds.

Her Republican opponent, Brian Pierson, has an admirable résumé: from Army officer to engineer and now business leader. (He was most recently chief operating officer of Jacuzzi Group Worldwide.) Most impressively, he says he’s open to eliminating the kicker, a refreshing challenge to Republican orthodoxy. This was a closer decision than we expected. Still, we think Campos deserves more time to see her ideas through.

What Campos was known for in high school: She was funny—and the only woman in the room during a humorous interpretation competition at speech and debate national qualifiers.

Senate District 22

(North and inner Northeast Portland)

Lew Frederick

Democrat

Frederick, 72, entered the House in 2009 and moved up to the Senate in 2016. That makes him one of Salem’s senior lawmakers—a fitting reward for more than a decade of steady, unflashy service. A mark of the regard with which his colleagues view him: In 2023, he served on eight different committees, more than any other lawmaker.

Frederick spent 17 years as a television news reporter and another 13 as a spokesman for Portland Public Schools before turning to legislating. In his most recent session, Frederick played a major role in a packet of police reforms post-George Floyd. He pinch-hit as co-chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation in 2023, replacing an ailing Sen. Chris Gorsek, and will be at the center of transportation funding legislation likely to dominate the 2025 session.

His GOP opponent, Michael Saperstein, a retired military man and TriMet operator, isn’t running much of a campaign. His website includes a reprint of the Declaration of Independence and he’s raised less than $4,000.

What Frederick was known for in high school: He was one of a handful of Black students to desegregate an all-white school in Atlanta, and he won the school’s science award.

Senate District 25

(Gresham, Fairview, Troutdale and Wood Village)

Chris Gorsek

Democrat

Gorsek, 66, has an unusual biography for a legislator. After serving as a Portland cop for seven years, he went back to school for his Ph.D. and spent the past two decades teaching at Mt. Hood Community College. He served four terms in the House and is now seeking his second term in the Senate, having come back from open heart surgery that sidelined him for much of the 2023 session.

As co-chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation, Gorsek is particularly interested in improving passenger train service. In the past year, he sponsored new laws that increase penalties for street racing and will also crack down on predatory debt collectors.

Gorsek’s opponent, Raymond Love, a Gresham insurance agent and colonel in the Oregon National Guard, is a nice guy but doesn’t have much to offer beyond standard GOP talking points.

What Gorsek was known for in high school: In the yearbook, he was “most studious.”