Sen. Kathleen Taylor, a Democrat from Southeast Portland who played a behind-the-scenes role in resolving the 6-week walkout by Senate Republicans in 2023, is the new majority leader of the Oregon Senate.
Taylor is seeking a third term in the Nov. 5 election from District 21, which covers Milwaukie, Oak Grove and part of Portland. Her biography on her legislative website lists her as a resident of Southeast Portland, though she has been identified in the past from Milwaukie.
She will assume her new position July 15, when current Majority Leader Kate Lieber of Beaverton becomes Senate co-chair of the Legislature’s joint budget committee. (The current Senate co-chair is Elizabeth Steiner of Portland, who is the Democratic nominee for state treasurer.)
The vote by Democratic senators on Monday, June 17, was not disclosed. But Sen. Janeen Sollman of Hillsboro, the current deputy majority leader, was also in contention for the position.
As majority leader of the 17 Democrats, Taylor will oversee campaigns and help raise money for candidates and will speak for the party in the Senate. Democrats hope to pick up one or two seats in Bend and on the coast; if they gain one, they will have the required 60% majority to pass revenue-raising measures without Republican help.
Her tenure is for the rest of this year. After the election, senators will gather again to choose leaders for the 2025 session.
Party leaders are chosen by their caucuses. The majority party puts forth the nominees for Senate president — the chamber’s presiding officer, who names committee leaders and members and assigns bills to committees — and for president pro tem, a largely ceremonial position but is part of the Senate leadership. The full Senate chooses those officers on the first day of the session on Jan. 13 — but the majority-party nominees usually prevail.
“I'm looking forward to working with her and her team as we tackle the biggest challenges facing Oregonians,” said Rob Wagner, a Democrat from Lake Oswego who is the current Senate president.
Taylor was elected to the Oregon House in 2014 and to her current seat in the Oregon Senate two years later. She succeeded Diane Rosenbaum of Portland, who herself was Senate majority leader from 2011 to fall 2015 and then became Senate president pro tem until the end of 2016. Rosenbaum spent a total of 18 years as a state legislator, plus a short stint in 2023 as a Multnomah County commissioner.
Taylor, 58, began as a recruiter for the Boly:Welch employment firm. She has spent most of her career as a management auditor, most recently for the Audits Division of the Oregon secretary of state's office, but also for the elected auditors of Portland, Multnomah County and Metro.
In the Senate, she led the Workforce Committee in 2019, then has led the Labor and Business Committee since 2020. During the regular and first special sessions in 2021, Taylor also led the Senate Redistricting Committee, which originated both legislative and congressional redistricting plans that lawmakers ultimately approved.
On all of those committees, the top Republican was Sen. Tim Knopp of Bend — who also became Senate Republican leader in 2021.
Along with Lieber, Taylor was a player in the backstage negotiations that eventually ended the GOP standoff that began May 3 and ended June 15, 2023, leaving just 10 days for that year's session to complete its work. Democrats did agree to concessions sought by Republicans, but the Senate still approved the essence of House-passed bills to safeguard access to abortion and gender-affirming care, and to ban the manufacture of firearms with untraceable parts known as “ghost guns.”
Taylor’s statement:
“I’m ready to get to work so we can continue moving our state in the right direction.
“In this new role I am committed to listening to Oregonians and delivering the results they want to see on the issues that matter most. I look forward to supporting our caucus and collaborating with my fellow legislative leaders to make Oregon the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”
Lieber’s statement:
“This is an exciting moment for our caucus and the entire state. Leader-elect Taylor brings a wealth of knowledge and skills to this office, and I am confident that she will be the strong, capable leader Oregonians need in the Senate.
“I’m so proud of what we have accomplished as a caucus over the past two years — from major investments in growing our economy to tackling urgent problems like homelessness and the drug crisis. I know Leader-elect Taylor will build on these accomplishments and take us even further.”
Taylor also received congratulations from Democratic Rep. Ben Bowman of Tigard, who was named by his colleagues as House majority leader — still in his first term — to succeed Julie Fahey of Eugene. Fahey became House speaker at the close of the 2024 session on March 7, when Rep. Dan Rayfield of Corvallis resigned to concentrate on his campaign for attorney general in the Nov. 5 election. Rayfield will keep his House seat through the end of this year.
Bowman’s statement:
“Throughout her years in the legislature, Senator Taylor has an impressive record of championing legislation focused on supporting families and schools, ensuring fairness and safety in our workplaces, and protecting our environment. She is a talented legislator and I’m looking forward to working with her in her new role.
“I also want to thank Senator Lieber for her contributions to the Legislature as majority leader. She was a strong partner and helped ensure a smooth transition for me when I began my role. As the new co-chair of the budget committee, she will help us leverage state resources to solve Oregon’s most pressing challenges, today and in the future.”
pwong@pamplinmedia.com
NOTE: Corrects and explains Taylor's city of residence; adds that Janeen Sollman of Hillsboro also was a candidate for the position.
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