Kate Brown

Kate Brown
Brown in 2021
38th Governor of Oregon
In office
February 18, 2015 – January 9, 2023
Preceded byJohn Kitzhaber
Succeeded byTina Kotek
24th Secretary of State of Oregon
In office
January 5, 2009 – February 18, 2015
GovernorTed Kulongoski
John Kitzhaber
Preceded byBill Bradbury
Succeeded byJeanne Atkins
Member of the Oregon Senate
from the 21st district
In office
January 13, 1997 – January 2, 2009
Preceded byShirley Gold
Succeeded byDiane Rosenbaum
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
from the 13th district
In office
November 26, 1991 – January 12, 1997
Preceded byJudy Bauman
Succeeded byDan Gardner
Personal details
Born
Katherine Brown

(1960-06-21) June 21, 1960 (age 64)
Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseDan Little
Children2 stepchildren
EducationUniversity of Colorado, Boulder (BA)
Lewis and Clark College (JD)
Signature

Katherine Brown (born June 21, 1960) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 38th governor of Oregon from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms as the state representative from the 13th district of the Oregon House of Representatives from 1991 to 1997, three terms as the state senator from the 21st district of the Oregon Senate from 1997 to 2009, three terms as majority leader of the Oregon Senate from 2003 to 2009, and two terms as Oregon Secretary of State from 2009 to 2015. She assumed the governorship upon the resignation of John Kitzhaber in 2015.[1] She was elected to serve out the remainder of his gubernatorial term in the special election in 2016 and was reelected to a full term in 2018.

As an openly bisexual woman, Brown has made history several times through her electoral success. In 2008, she became the first openly LGBT person elected secretary of state within a U.S. state, and the first openly LGBT person elected to statewide office in any U.S. state. In 2016, she became the first openly LGBT person elected governor of a U.S. state and the second woman elected governor of Oregon (after Barbara Roberts).[2][3] By the end of her term, Brown had the lowest approval ratings of any incumbent U.S. governor at that time.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Willamette Week was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Meet America's First Openly Bisexual Governor". MSN. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  3. ^ Helena Horton (November 9, 2016). "People are celebrating women who made history on US Election night in response to Donald Trump win". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  4. ^ "New poll finds Kate Brown is nation's least popular governor". May 2022. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2023.