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Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland) has filed for reelection.
If reelected, Kotek could serve a fifth term as Oregon Speaker of the House.
She's already the longest-serving speaker of the House in Oregon history. Sen. Peter Courtney (D-Salem), the longest serving Senate president, has led the other legislative chamber since 2003.
Chris Lehman first tweeted the news of Kotek's reelection filing.
House Speaker @TinaKotek, who turns 53 today, has filed for re-election to the Portland house seat she's held since 2007. If she wins, Kotek could potentially serve a fifth consecutive term as Speaker. #orleg #orpol
— Chris Lehman (@CapitolCurrents) September 30, 2019
There have been questions about Kotek's plans. In June, WW reported that her chief of staff was leaving.
At the time, Tim Inman, Kotek's chief, who became chief of staff for the University of Oregon's provost, cautioned against interpreting his departure as a sign that Kotek might quit as well. "My decision to leave," he told WW, "should not be seen as any indication of the speaker's plans."
This year, Kotek shepherded first-in-the-nation housing legislation through the Legislature —both a bill to cap rent increases and a bill that ended single-family zoning in Oregon cities.
She also forced through a bill to fund some of the public-employee retirement system's unfunded liabilities in dramatic fashion, holding the vote open after it initially failed.