SALEM — Tina Kotek wasted no time in laying out her priorities once she was sworn in Monday as Oregon’s 39th governor.

In addition to her longstanding promise to declare a state of emergency to combat homelessness — which she will sign Tuesday — Kotek also proposes to set an annual target of 36,000 new housing units and to seek $130 million immediately to deal with those issues.

Her remarks took just about 15 minutes, signaling that she is ready to get down to business.

Kotek spoke from a familiar place — the rostrum of the Oregon House chamber, where she presided as speaker for a record nine years — but in a new role as the chief executive of state government.

She acknowledged that the housing production target is far more than the 20,000 to 25,000 now being produced. An often-cited study says Oregon has a backlog of 111,000 units from the past decade, half of them needed by people who fall below the area’s median income.

“I look forward to sending recommendations,” she told a joint session of the Legislature convened for her signing-in ceremony. The Legislature begins work on Jan. 17.

Among Kotek’s other priorities are to hold the leaders of state agencies accountable for performance and customer service — “we have to put our house in order” — and for legislators and others to focus on the problems at hand.

Kotek won 47% of the vote Nov. 8 against Republican Christine Drazan, nonaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson and two minor-party candidates.

She quoted Vic Atiyeh, the most recent Republican to be Oregon’s governor, who said in his 1979 inaugural, “I have and will continue to listen” to people regardless of whether they supported him. Atiyeh, the first Arab American to be a governor, served from 1979 to 1987; he died at age 91 in 2014.

Kotek took the oath from Chief Justice Meagan Flynn at 1:52 p.m., with Aimee Wilson, Kotek’s wife, at her side. She then introduced Wilson as the “first lady of Oregon.”

Kotek succeeds Kate Brown, a Democrat from Portland who served almost two full terms and was ineligible to seek re-election. Brown became governor on Feb. 18, 2015, after John Kitzhaber resigned under pressure amid an ethics scandal, having served just 38 days of his fourth term.

Brown acknowledged applause after Kotek mentioned Brown’s 30-plus years of state service, dating back to Brown’s appointment to the Oregon House in 1991. Brown also was a state senator — and Democratic leader — before she was elected secretary of state in 2008.

Former Govs. Ted Kulongoski (2003-11) and Barbara Roberts (1991-95) also were present. Neither Kitzhaber nor Neil Goldschmidt, who has withdrawn from public life, attended. Among the other dignitaries was U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, himself a former Oregon House speaker.

Kotek walked into the chamber with Wilson by her side. Kotek and Maura Healey of Massachusetts are the first lesbian governors in the nation, both elected in 2022.

With Kotek succeeding Brown, Oregon became just the third state in which a woman followed another woman as governor — and the first where both were of the same political party. The others were Arizona in 2009 and New Mexico in 2019; in those instances, a Democrat was succeeded by a Republican.

Down to business

Kotek spoke after the Legislature organized for its 2023 session, which officially starts its 160-day run on Jan. 17. It is scheduled to end June 26.

Democrats maintained their majorities over Republicans in both chambers in the Nov. 8 election. But they lost the 60% majorities required to approve revenue-raising measures on their own. In the House, the split is 35-25; in the Senate, 17-12, with one nonaffiliated senator. (There is a Republican vacancy in the Senate that will be filled by the end of January.)

The House gave Democratic Rep. Dan Rayfield of Corvallis a full two-year term as its speaker. Rayfield became speaker a year ago, after Kotek resigned following a record nine years with the gavel, to make her successful bid for governor.

The Senate chose Democrat Rob Wagner of Lake Oswego as its president, succeeding Peter Courtney of Salem, who held the job for a record 20 years.

Both Rayfield and Wagner echoed Kotek’s key priorities of housing and homelessness, mental health services and substance abuse treatment, and better schools. As is traditional on the first day, they also extended offers of cooperation to their colleagues.

“I am thrilled to work with you more closely in our democratic process,” Wagner said.

“All too often we look back on a session and focus on the problems we faced,” Rayfield said. “When we look back on this session, I want it to be remembered as the session we seized unprecedented opportunities and helped government deliver on its promise.”