Current:Home > ContactPeter Courtney, Oregon’s longest-serving state lawmaker, dies at 81 -Aspire Financial Strategies
Peter Courtney, Oregon’s longest-serving state lawmaker, dies at 81
View
Date:2025-04-17 04:07:18
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Peter Courtney, Oregon’s longest-serving lawmaker and a politician who was known for his bipartisanship and skills as a dealmaker, died Tuesday, officials said. He was 81.
Courtney died of complications from cancer at his home in Salem, Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement.
Courtney served 38 years in the Legislature, including stints in the House and Senate. He spent 20 years in the powerful role of Senate president, starting in 2003, and maintained control until he retired in January.
Courtney was long one of the more captivating, animated and mercurial figures in Oregon politics. He was known for his skills as a speaker, dealmaker and his insistence on bipartisan support for legislation.
“President Courtney was a friend and ally in supporting an Oregon where everyone can find success and community,” Kotek said in her statement. “His life story, the way he embraced Oregon and public service, and his love for the institution of the Oregon Legislature leaves a legacy that will live on for decades.”
Courtney helped move the Legislature to annual sessions, boosted K-12 school funding, replaced Oregon’s defunct and crumbling state hospital and fought for animal welfare.
Salem has a bridge, housing complex, and state hospital campus all named for him, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
The lawmaker had mixed feelings about such accolades, Oregon Department of Revenue director Betsy Imholt, who once served as Courtney’s chief of staff, told The Oregonian/OregonLive. He’d often say he was a plow horse, not a show horse.
“He didn’t believe in solidifying your legacy,” she said. “He just really believed in ... showing up. Doing your best.”
Sen. Tim Knopp, a Bend Republican who often disagreed with Courtney, called him a friend and “one of the most important elected officials and political figures in Oregon history.”
Courtney was born in Philadelphia. He said he spent his youth helping to care for his mother, who had Parkinson’s disease. He grew up in Rhode Island and West Virginia, where his grandmother helped raise him.
Courtney received a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Rhode Island. He completed law school at Boston University, and moved to Salem in 1969 after learning about an open judicial clerkship in the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Courtney is survived by his wife, Margie, three sons and seven grandchildren, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
veryGood! (5543)
Related
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- Police: Ghost guns and 3D printers for making them found at New York City day care
- Ex-Lizzo staffer speaks out after filing lawsuit against singer
- Watch Ronald Acuna Jr.'s epic celebration as he becomes first member of MLB's 40-70 club
- See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
- Jason Billingsley, man accused of killing Baltimore tech CEO, arrested after dayslong search
- Remains found in 1996 identified after New Hampshire officials use modern DNA testing tech
- Man convicted of attempted murder escapes custody
- Bodycam footage shows high
- Hollywood actors to resume negotiations with studios on Monday as writers strike ends
Ranking
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- Judge Tanya Chutkan denies Trump's request for her recusal in Jan. 6 case
- Costco membership price increase 'a question of when, not if,' CFO says
- Chinese immigrant workers sue over forced labor at illegal marijuana operation on Navajo land
- 'Most Whopper
- The Explosive Real Housewives of Potomac Season 8 Trailer Features Fights, Voodoo and More
- 6 women are rescued from a refrigerated truck in France after making distress call to a BBC reporter
- A woman is suing McDonald's after being burned by hot coffee. It's not the first time
Recommendation
Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
Remains of Suzanne Morphew found 3 years after her disappearance
Suspect sought in fatal hit-and-run that may have been intentional: Authorities
Murder suspect mistakenly released captured after 2-week manhunt
Could your smelly farts help science?
Maine community searching for Broadway, a pet cow who's been missing nearly a week
Judge Tanya Chutkan denies Trump's request for her recusal in Jan. 6 case
Remains found in 1996 identified after New Hampshire officials use modern DNA testing tech