Oregon State Senate - Milestones

Milestones

Kathryn Clarke was the first woman to serve in Oregon's Senate. Women became eligible to run for the Oregon state legislature in 1914 and later that year Clarke was appointed to fill a vacant seat in Douglas county by her cousin, governor Oswald West. Following some controversy concerning whether West had the authority to appoint someone to fill the vacancy, Clarke campaigned and was elected by voters in 1915. She took office five years before the 19th Amendment to the US constitution protected the right of all US women to vote.

In 1982, Mae Yih became the first Chinese American elected to a state senate in the United States.