Democrat Tina Kotek will be the next governor of the state of Oregon after beating her rivals in the mid-term elections, as was known this Thursday. Kotek thus became the second openly lesbian governor of the country, after Maura Healey, who won her elections on Tuesday.
The new governor of Oregon, former president of the House of Representatives of that state, defeated the Republican Christine Drazan, a former state legislator, and Betsy Johnson, a former Democratic state parliamentarian, who left the party and ran as an unaffiliated candidate, according to ‘The Washington Post’.
Kotek will succeed Oregon Governor Kate Brown in a state that has been ruled by Democrats for more than 40 years.
With this victory, the former president of the state Congress has become, along with Democrat Maura Healey in Massachusetts, the first openly lesbian governors in the country.
Although the official confirmation of Kotek’s victory was known on Thursday night, the Democratic leader had already declared her victory on Wednesday. On Thursday, at a press conference, she said that she had spoken with her rivals in the campaign and promised to work for the problems that they had also noticed.
In her latest announcements, Kotek maintained that she will address “three things” as a priority. She pointed out that she will declare a state of emergency regarding people who are homeless, she promised to expand addiction and mental health treatment services and assured that she will work to “unite the divisions” of the state.
Massachusetts
Democrat Maura Healey won Tuesday’s election in Massachusetts to become the first openly lesbian governor of the United States. She surpassed Republican Geoff Diehl, the candidate designated by former President Donald Trump, with more than 60% of the vote.
Healey, 51, an open member of the LGBT community, took from the Republicans the governorship of Massachusetts, which was previously led by the politician Charlie Baker. The group for the defense of the rights of the LGTB community ‘Human Rights Campaign’ had assured that her victory represented the option of equality and inclusion by the electorate.