Senate Bill 952 would allow the state’s chief executive to appoint a person to Senate seats that open up unexpectedly, putting Oregon in league with a majority of states that allow gubernatorial appointments. The governor would have to select someone from the same party as the departed senator, and could not appoint themself.
But the governor’s choice wouldn’t be the final word on the matter.
While an appointment would be required within 30 days of a vacancy, Oregon would still hold a special election to determine who will permanently serve out the term of the former officeholder. That election would have to take place between 80 and 150 days after the vacancy began.
Advocates for the bill — including the state’s two sitting U.S. Senators — say the proposal is past due, and will avoid a prolonged vacancy that could tilt a theoretical tight Senate vote.
“Oregonians would have only half a voice in the U.S. Senate if our state lacked a senator because of death or injury for a prolonged period,” U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden said in testimony supporting SB 952. “And that in turn could hurt our state significantly.
But Republicans and some Democrats have panned the proposal, with many saying it will give undue influence to whoever occupies Mahonia Hall. While not final, they say any gubernatorial appointee will have a leg up in any election to win the seat.
“Appointments may fill the vacancy, but they do not fill the role,” said House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby, arguing that only a hard-fought statewide campaign can prepare a person for the upper chamber of Congress. “Appointees haven’t looked a farmer in the eye in Eastern Oregon. They haven’t sat in a community meeting on the coast. They haven’t answered tough questions in a union hall in the Willamette Valley.”
State Rep. Virgle Osborne, R-Roseburg, was more blunt.
“If we had a Republican governor sitting in office right now, how would the majority party today feel about passing this bill?” he said. “There’s going to be a time in the future — and I hope to be in this House when it happens — that things will change.”
Oregon has not elected a Republican governor since the 1982 reelection of Gov. Vic Atiyeh.
Written testimony on SB 952 trended heavily negative, with many opponents voicing a belief that the bill would subvert voters’ choice.
The bill passed the House with a 31-24 vote — a bare majority in the 60-member chamber. Two Democrats who voted against the measure, Reps. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, and April Dobson, D-Happy Valley, occupy theoretical swing seats.
Evans said in a floor speech that the bill moves in the wrong direction: he favors U.S. Senators being chosen by state legislatures, as they were before the 17th Amendment was ratified in 1913.
The bill passed the Senate in April with the minimum 16 required votes.
Oregon’s Constitution used to require that governors fill vacant U.S. Senate seats until someone could be chosen by voters at the next general election. Voters scrapped that provision with a 1986 ballot measure.
Under current law, vacancies in both Oregon U.S. Senate and U.S. House seats are filled by special election, with no gubernatorial appointment available. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, just four other states prohibit governors from making U.S. Senate appointments.
SB 952’s proponents say the current special election process takes too long.
“Without appointed representation, we could lack a US Senator’s voice from Oregon for months, election calendar timing varying,” the League of Women Voters of Oregon said in written testimony. “We deserve to be prepared for this.”
With their six-year terms and national prominence, U.S. Senate seats are a highly sought political prize. That’s created problems at times in states that allow gubernatorial appointments — such as when former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich sought to sell the vacant seat left when Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008.
SB 952 comes as all eyes are on one of Oregon’s Senate seats. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley has yet to announce reelection plans for 2026. That silence, and the recent departure of some aides, has created speculation that Merkley is planning an exit. His office has said he plans to make an announcement one way or another at some point this quarter, which ends June 30.
If he does retire, there is no suggestion that Merkley would leave his seat early. Even so, he is enthusiastic about SB 952, calling it “an important insurance policy to guarantee that Oregonians’ voices are heard when the Senate is considering important issues that will impact their lives.”
“I encourage you to pass it,” Merkley wrote in testimony.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.