The conversations were cordial, she said.
鈥淚 let them know that I鈥檒l focus on the problems all three of us agree need fixing,鈥� Kotek said on Thursday at a press conference held in downtown Portland.
At the top of that list, Kotek said, is the state鈥檚 housing and homelessness crisis.
Kotek promised to declare a state of emergency as soon as she officially takes office and move with urgency to get people off the streets. She plans to meet with Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler next week to start discussing strategy.
鈥淚 know that we can make things better, fix things, come together,鈥� Kotek said as she stood in Tom McCall Waterfront Park for her first press conference since Election Day. 鈥淏ecause Oregonians don鈥檛 back down when things get hard, we dig in, we think outside the box and we get the job done.鈥�
Before being elected governor,served the longest tenure as Oregon House Speaker in state history. As a lawmaker, she pushed through statewide rent control and a measure to allow some cities to build duplexes and triplexes to increase housing stock, despite the zoning restrictions. Housing has long been one of her policy focuses. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she was instrumental in transforming motels into emergency shelter beds to increase the supply of beds for people experiencing homelessness.
While campaigning, she promised to 鈥済et people the help they need to move off the streets.鈥�
On Thursday morning, Kotek also promised to swiftly move to expand access to mental health and addiction services and focus on improving the state鈥檚 schools. She announced she was bringing back her former chief of staff Tim Inman, who was serving as the secretary of the University of Oregon Board of Trustees, to head her transition team.
The race for Oregon governor was the most expensive yet in the state鈥檚 history, with the three candidates bringing in more than $65 million. Nike co-founder Phil Knight donated millions to both Drazan and Johnson, telling the New York Times he was an person. Kotek promised to work to create limits on campaign spending.
Kotek鈥檚 election was also historic. Along with , who was elected governor of Massachusetts on Tuesday, she鈥檒l will be one of the nation鈥檚 first two openly lesbian governors.
Kotek said she heard from young people while campaigning who thanked her for 鈥渂eing who I am.鈥�
Drazan has not conceded the race yet. She trailed Kotek by 3 percentage points as of unofficial returns Thursday morning.
Copyright 2022 Oregon Public Broadcasting. To see more, visit .
