Senate President Peter Courtney Faces Recall Effort in Salem

Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem), the Legislature's longest-serving and perhaps most powerful member, is facing a challenge the likes of which he hasn't seen in his 35-year career as a lawmaker.

Matt Geiger, who had been running for a Woodburn House seat in Courtney's district, is planning a recall campaign against Courtney.

Geiger says he's angry that Courtney allowed a historic minimum-wage hike to move through the February session, while blocking, at least so far, a measure that would allocate Oregon Lottery proceeds to veterans' programs.

The bar for a legislative recall is relatively low: From the date he files recall papers, Geiger must gather about 4,760 valid signatures in a district that has nearly 13,000 registered Republicans. "I'm focused on working as hard as I can for the people of Woodburn, Gervais and Salem who re-elected me to this position 16 months ago," Courtney said in a statement.

Willamette Week

Nigel Jaquiss

Reporter Nigel Jaquiss joined the Oregon Journalism project in 2025 after 27 years at Willamette Week.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office.

Help us dig deeper.