Gov. Kate Brown is back home battling a COVID-19 infection, an unwelcome souvenir of her trade trip to Vietnam.

As her time in office comes to a close, some officials are heading for the exits as well.

Democrats and Republicans are decoding the all-but-final election tallies. In Salem, Republicans loosened but didn’t release Democrats’ grip on power. But even with the underlying power dynamic shifted a bit rather than reshaped, there will be a new cast in the three most powerful positions. It’s a revamp from the trio that effectively determined state policy for the past decade.

Governor: Brown out, Kotek in

After being talked about more than doing a lot of talking herself, the focus in Oregon politics puts Brown back at its center, with a little under 50 days to make her final marks on the office.

“Governor Brown, our office, and state agencies are coordinating with Governor-elect Kotek and her team to ensure a smooth transition,” Brown spokesman Charles Boyle said Tuesday. 

Boyle said the outgoing and incoming teams for the now and next governor communicate daily and more announcements about who will fill key roles in the new administration are expected soon, Boyle said.

It’s unlikely to be a quiet time. 

Brown on Monday pardoned an estimated 45,000 people convicted solely of personal possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana. The affected group were over 21 when arrested prior to 2016.

While declining to get into specifics, Boyle said that Brown would continue to make key announcements before her time in office ends Jan. 9.

In her place, former House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, assumes office based on a 47% plurality and a margin of 66,000 votes over Republican Christine Drazan out of just under 1.95 million votes cast.

As she battled Drazan and unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson for the governorship, Kotek promised to change the leadership of Oregon Health Authority and other major state agencies.

Oregon Health Authority Director Pat Allen, the key policy architect of Brown’s response to COVID-19 said he would resign his job when Brown leaves.

Oregon has had some of the lowest infection and death rates in the nation as the three-year mark of the pandemic that has killed 6.6 million around the globe approaches next month. But Republicans made Allen’s handling of sweeping closures of businesses and public schools a major campaign issue. 

The final economic forecast under her tenure as governor pointed to a relatively mild recession next year, which Brown said the state was in position to weather well as Kotek takes over.

“This is welcome news,” Brown said. “Because we have made prudent financial decisions, the state has the ability, if needed, to invest in resources to help Oregonians who may feel its impacts.”

Democrats lead but don’t loom over Legislature

Republicans spent heavily on races for the Oregon House and Senate. In the aftermath, hopes to either take control of the Senate or at least force parity fell short. Democrats appeared to win 17 of the chamber’s 30 seats.

It’s one seat less than they currently have and drops the party below the three-fifth supermajority that lets them pass taxes without any Republican votes. 

In separate meetings, Senate Democrats and Republicans voted to stick with their current caucus leaders: Sen. Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, for Democrats, and Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, for Republicans.

It marks a major change, where Sen. Peter Courtney, D-Salem, has served as Senate President since 2003. Courtney did not run for re-election to the Senate in 2022 and will retire in January. 

“Senator Wagner is a good choice for the next Senate President,” Courtney said in a statement on Nov. 19. “He’s smart and can handle this responsibility. He will serve the Senate well. I look forward to helping him make a smooth transition into the coming session.”

But in an early sign of partisan struggles to come in the Senate, Knopp hit Democrats for not consulting Republicans on the choice of Wagner to preside over the Senate.

“Senator Wagner has shown he is untrustworthy, deeply partisan, and doesn’t have the necessary skills to run the Senate in a bipartisan fashion,” Knopp said. “There are no votes in the Senate Republican caucus for Senator Wagner.”

While party members in each chamber vote for their leaders and deputies, the Senate President and Speaker of the House are elected by a vote of all members. The majority party’s nominee is usually backed by members who make up the majority. Any debate in the recent past has played out within the caucuses. Most recently, Rep. Janelle Bynum, a Clackamas County Democrat, unsuccessfully fought to replace Kotek as speaker after the 2020 election.

The Nov. 8 election cut Democrats’ margin in the House to 35-25 over Republicans. That’s two seats less for Democrats than following the 2020 election and three less than they had following the 2018 election. The new majority is less than the number needed for a supermajority, which previously allowed Democrats to pass tax bills without the need for GOP votes.

The last time Democrats were held to below the supermajority mark was following the 2016 election, when they held a 17-13 majority in the Senate and 35-22 majority in the House.

All 60 House members face election every two years. At the beginning of the 21st century, Republicans held majorities in the House after every election prior to 2006, when Democrats won a 31-29 split. A national Republican wave in 2008 gave Oregon House Republicans a 30-30 split after the 2010 election, but Democrats retook control in 2012.

The 30 Senate members face election every four years. They run in two staggered groups, with 15 seats up for vote every two years. Republicans last held a majority in the chamber following the 2002 election. In 2004, the parties split power at 15-15. Democrats have held a majority in the chamber since the 2006 election.