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Quick facts for kids Kate Brown
Brown in 2022

38th Governor of Oregon
In office February 18, 2015 – January 9, 2023
Preceded by	John Kitzhaber
Succeeded by	Tina Kotek
24th Secretary of State of Oregon
In office January 5, 2009 – February 18, 2015
Governor	Ted Kulongoski John Kitzhaber
Preceded by	Bill Bradbury
Succeeded by	Jeanne Atkins
Member of the Oregon Senate from the 21st district
In office January 13, 1997 – January 2, 2009
Preceded by	Shirley Gold
Succeeded by	Diane Rosenbaum
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives from the 13th district
In office November 26, 1991 – January 12, 1997
Preceded by	Judy Bauman
Succeeded by	Dan Gardner

Personal details
Born	Katherine Brown (1960-06-21) June 21, 1960 (age 65) Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Dan Little
Children	2 stepchildren
Education	University of Colorado, Boulder (BA) Lewis and Clark College (JD)
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Katherine "Kate" Brown (born June 21, 1960) is an American politician and lawyer. She served as the 38th Governor of Oregon from 2015 to 2023. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Before becoming governor, she was a state representative and state senator in Oregon. She also served as the Oregon Secretary of State from 2009 to 2015. Kate Brown became governor when the previous governor, John Kitzhaber, resigned in 2015. She was then elected to finish his term in 2016 and reelected for a full term in 2018.

Kate Brown has made history several times. In 2008, she became the first person to be elected Secretary of State in a U.S. state who was openly part of the LGBT community. She was also the first person from the LGBT community elected to a statewide office in any U.S. state. In 2016, she became the first openly LGBT person elected governor of a U.S. state. She was also the second woman to be elected governor of Oregon.

Early Life and Education
Political Career
Challenges and Criticisms
- Recall Attempts
Political Beliefs
Personal Life
Awards and Recognition
See also

Early Life and Education

Kate Brown was born in Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain, on June 21, 1960. Her father was an eye doctor serving in the United States Air Force at Torrejón Air Base. She grew up in Minnesota and finished high school in 1978.

She went to the University of Colorado Boulder, earning a degree in Environmental Conservation in 1981. She also received a certificate in women's studies. Later, she earned a law degree from Lewis & Clark College Law School in 1985, with a focus on environmental law.

Political Career

Serving in the Oregon Legislature

Brown in 2008

Kate Brown began her political career in 1991. She was chosen to fill a vacant seat in the Oregon House of Representatives for Portland. She was elected again and then moved to the Oregon State Senate in 1996.

In the Senate, she became the Democratic Leader in 1998. By 2003, she was elected the Majority Leader of the Oregon Senate. She was very good at raising money for her political group. This helped the Democrats become equally strong as the Republicans in the Oregon Senate in 2003.

Brown helped pass a bill to change the state's retirement system. Even though she helped, she voted against it to keep good relationships with labor unions. In 2007, she decided to leave her Senate seat to run for Oregon Secretary of State. She won the election for Secretary of State in November 2008.

Role as Oregon Secretary of State

As Secretary of State, Kate Brown focused on checking how the state government spent money. She wanted to make sure money was used wisely. Her audits helped save the state a lot of money. For example, in 2010, for every dollar spent on audits, $64 was saved.

In 2009, Brown helped pass a law to stop fraud in the system where people collect signatures for new laws. This law made it harder to pay people based on how many signatures they collected.

Brown accepting an award from the Oregon National Guard, June 2014

She also made it possible for people to register to vote online. This made it much easier for Oregonians to sign up to vote. By March 2010, almost 87,000 people had registered online.

In 2009, the Aspen Institute recognized Brown as a "Rising Star" in American politics. They gave her a special fellowship to help leaders work together and improve government. In 2012, StateTech magazine praised her for using iPad and tablet technology. This helped voters with disabilities mark their ballots more easily. Oregon was the first state to use this technology for this purpose.

Becoming Governor of Oregon

On February 18, 2015, Governor John Kitzhaber resigned. Kate Brown, as the Secretary of State, became the new governor. This happened because the Constitution of Oregon says the Secretary of State takes over if the governor leaves office early.

As governor, Brown continued a ban on executions that the previous governor had started. In 2015, she signed a "motor voter" bill into law. This bill automatically registers people to vote when they get their driver's license. She believed that voting should be easy for all citizens.

In July 2016, Governor Brown signed a bill that increased speed limits on some highways in Oregon. The maximum speed limit on I-82 and parts of I-84 and US-95 was raised to 70 miles per hour.

Oregon law required a special election in November 2016 to finish the rest of Kitzhaber's term. Kate Brown won this election against several opponents, getting 51% of the votes. She was then reelected in November 2018 for a full term.

In June 2017, Brown signed the Oregon Equal Pay Act. This law made it illegal for employers to ask about a job seeker's past salary. She also signed a bill to support transgender equality.

In 2019, Brown proposed a plan to reduce Oregon's greenhouse gas emissions over 30 years. This plan involved a system called "cap-and-trade." Also in 2019, she urged parents to vaccinate their children after a measles outbreak.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown asked Oregonians to stay home to prevent the virus from spreading. She officially issued a "shelter-in-place" order on March 23, 2020. In December 2022, Brown changed the sentences of all 17 people on death row in Oregon. She stated that the death penalty was "dysfunctional and immoral" and had not been used fairly in Oregon.

Challenges and Criticisms

Kate Brown faced some criticism during her time in office. As Secretary of State, she was criticized over the timing of an election for labor commissioner. Some people thought she scheduled it to help a certain candidate win. Brown said her office was just following the law.

In 2018, she was criticized for how she handled the state's child welfare department. She also faced questions about meetings she held between large companies and union leaders. These meetings were about stopping certain ballot initiatives.

In August 2019, her choice for a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals caused concern among lawyers. This was especially true after some damaging letters about her choice were released.

Towards the end of her term, in November 2021 and October 2022, polls showed that Kate Brown had some of the lowest approval ratings among U.S. governors.

Recall Attempts

There were two attempts to remove Kate Brown from office by recall petition.

In 2019, the Oregon Republican Party and another group tried to collect enough signatures to recall her. They did not get enough signatures.
In 2020, another recall petition was started. This one focused on her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Oregon. This attempt also failed to gather enough signatures to trigger a recall election.

Political Beliefs

Kate Brown has said that her political ideas changed over time. When she became a leader in the state legislature, she realized she needed to represent all Democrats in the state, not just her own district. This was a big change in her thinking.

She supports changes to the criminal justice reform system. She believes in reducing mass incarceration (having too many people in prison). During her time as governor, she changed the sentences of about 1,100 people.

Personal Life

After her time as governor ended, Kate Brown became a visiting fellow at Harvard University in 2023. She also became the President of the Willamette Falls Trust in May 2024.

She lives with her husband, Dan Little, and has two stepchildren, Dylan and Jessie. She is known for being the first openly LGBT person to hold a statewide office and to be a governor in the United States.

Awards and Recognition

1995 – Received the Woman of Achievement Award from the Oregon Commission for Women.
2004 – Received the National Public and Community Service Award.
2007 – Received the President's Award of Merit from the Oregon State Bar.
2015 – Was listed as one of the top people for The Advocate's Person of the Year.
2017 – Named to the first NBC Out #Pride30 list.
Recognized for Profiles in Courage by Basic Rights Oregon.