Government, politics, Salem

Rachel Armitage appointed to vacant Senate District 16 seat

County commissioners from the six counties in Senate District 16 appointed Rachel Armitage to fill the remaining year of former State Senator Betsy Johnson’s empty seat.

Armitage, a former legislative assistant in 2016 and 2017, according to her campaign website, is a Warren Ore. resident. She currently works at Reed College. 

Johnson resigned December 15 to focus on her non-affiliated run for governor after serving in the state senate since her appointment in 2004. 

The counties in Senate District 16 include all or parts of Clatsop, Columbia, Multnomah, Tillamook, Washington Counties and a tiny sliver of Yamhill County.

In fact, just one registered voter was listed in Senate District 16 for Yamhill Co., but it still entitled the county to a single vote.

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Armitage, a member of the Democratic Party, will have little time to get used to her position once she is sworn in; the Oregon State Legislature meets in just over two weeks to begin the “short session,” a 35 day legislative session beginning February 1. 

During her closing remarks prior to the vote, Armitage noted that she had no plans to run for public office in 2022, and endorsed fellow seat-seeker Melissa Busch for the Democratic Party nomination to Senate District 16. Busch was the second-place vote-getter in today’s tally of votes. 

Nadia Gardner came in third in the vote count, and also endorsed Busch prior to the vote.

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Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.

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