State Rep. Bill Post, R-Keizer, was elected to the Oregon House in 2014 and is retiring from office. (Bill Post photo)
State Rep. Bill Post, who thought he could continue in the Oregon Legislature despite moving to Nevada, found out otherwise and said in a statement Tuesday that he will resign his seat by Nov. 30.
The Keizer Republican and former broadcaster revised his plans and will resign more than two months after he announced in late September that he sold his Keizer house and moved to Nevada.
Post, who has served in the Legislature since 2013, initially planned to serve in the Legislature at least through the end of 2021 by continuing to visit his district once a month. In both a Facebook post and an interview with his hometown newspaper, Keizertimes, he said he was still deciding whether to finish his term, which ends in January 2023.
On Tuesday, Post said in a statement that he misunderstood residency requirements for legislators.
“My intent was to be open with my constituents about my move out of state and the steps I’d be taking to continue to fulfill my duties for the rest of my term to the best of my knowledge and ability,” he said in his statement. “After further discussions with an elections attorney and talking it over with my wife, it appears that the best action I can take for my district and my family is to resign before my term is over and give my successor a chance to serve during the 2022 short legislative session.”
Post did not respond to an email or voicemail left with his legislative office. A House GOP spokesman said he planned to speak only to his local newspaper.
Under state law, the Oregon Republican Party must nominate between three and five candidates who live in the district. The Marion and Yamhill county commissions will then meet jointly to choose the next representative from that list.
New legislative maps approved last month combine Keizer and large swaths of Salem in a single state House district where both Post and Democratic state Rep. Brian Clem of Salem reside. Clem does not intend to run for re-election.
Post will be the sixth Oregon legislator to leave office this year, though not the last.
State Sen. Kayse Jama, D-Portland, filled a Senate vacancy left when Shemia Fagan ascended to secretary of state and Sen. Bill Kennemer, R-Canby, replaced Alan Olsen after Olsen’s resignation. Rep. Andrea Valderrama, D-Portland, replaced former Rep. Diego Hernandez after he resigned over sexual harassment allegations, Rep. Anna Scharf, R-Amity, replaced her former boss, Mike Nearmann, after his expulsion over allowing armed right-wing protesters into the locked Capitol and Rep. Christine Goodwin, R-Roseburg, replaced former Rep. Gary Leif after his July death.
State Sen. Chuck Riley, D-Hillsboro, plans to resign at the end of the year, and current Rep. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, announced in October that she’ll seek the Senate appointment.
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