Rep. Janelle Bynum Will Again Seek to Become Oregon House Speaker

Bynum ran last year against Speaker Tina Kotek.

Bynum/Kotek (Wesley Lapointe) (Wesley Lapointe)
By Rachel Monahan

Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek, who is running for governor, will not step down as leader of the state House of Representatives. “Speaker Kotek plans to remain in her role through the 2022 session,” says spokesman Danny Moran.

But that hasn’t dissuaded Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-East Portland) from announcing she will run again for speaker as soon as there’s an opening.

The next vote for speaker, short of a resignation by Kotek, will come after the November 2022 election.

Bynum previously challenged Oregon’s longest-serving speaker but, in January, withdrew her name from consideration after it became clear she did not have the votes.

Bynum says she intends to try again, but would not call on Kotek to resign. “That’s up to her,” Bynum says.

But after repeated Republican walkouts and tension between the GOP and Democrats, Bynum adds, it is time for new leadership.

“I think having different players at the table, or maybe having a different way of bringing together the standard players, is in order,” Bynum tells WW.

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