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Brief
In Short
Marion, Yamhill commissioners pick former legislative staffer as new state representative
Gov.-elect Tina Kotek and state legislators will be sworn in Monday. (Amanda Loman/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
Former legislative staffer Jessica George will return to the Capitol, this time as a state representative appointed Friday by the Yamhill and Marion county commissioners.
George, a Republican who works at her family hazelnut farm and packing company in Newberg, will finish the term of former Keizer Rep. Bill Post, who resigned last month after moving to Nevada two months earlier.
George’s husband, Larry, was a state senator from 2007 to 2015, and George worked for him and former Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day. Mary Starrett, chair of the Yamhill County Commission, said George’s knowledge of the legislature put her above the other candidates.
“Right now we need someone who knows the footprint of the building and how the game is played,” Starrett said.
George and Democratic Salem City Councilor Chris Hoy, who was appointed Wednesday to fill a House seat vacated by Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem, will both take office ahead of Monday’s special session on eviction protections.
To replace Post, commissioners also considered Jessica Davidson, vice chairwoman of the Marion County GOP who sells leggings through a multi-level marketing company and does social media marketing for a company that builds elaborate costumes for children in wheelchairs, and Scott Guptill, dean of students at Silverton Middle School.
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