Who is Kate Brown - First Bisexual Governor: Biography, Personal Life, Career and 'Least Popular'

Laelia Yang December 03, 2020 | 07:34

Kate Brown is The 38th and current governor of Oregon. She is the First Bisexual Governor and Least Popular Governor in America right now.

Who is Kate Brown the Current Governor of Oregon?

Photo: oregonlive.com

Biography of Kate Brown

Katherine Brown (born June 21, 1960) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 38th governor of Oregon since 2015. Brown was born in a suburb of Madrid, Torrejón de Ardoth (or Ardoz). Although she was born in Spain, Brown spent most of her childhood in Minnesota.

She attended the University of Colorado for her bachelor's degree and moved to Oregon for law school at Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College. After graduating from law school, she went on to practice family and juvenile law while teaching at Portland State University.

Early life and education Kate Brown

Brown was born in Torrejón de Ardoz, Spanish State (present-day Torrejón de Ardoz, Community of Madrid, Spain), where her father, Dr. James Paterson Brown, an eye doctor, was serving in the United States Air Force. She grew up in Minnesota. She graduated from Mounds View High School in Arden Hills, Minnesota in 1978. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Conservation with a certificate in women's studies from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1981 and a J.D. degree and certificate in environmental law from the Lewis & Clark College Law School in 1985.

Personal Life of Kate Brown

Photo: tvguidetime.com

Brown, has been married for 15 years to a man named Dan Little, although she has been open about her bisexual orientation throughout her entire career, according to the Christian Science Monitor. She lives with her husband, Dan Little, and two stepchildren, Dylan and Jessie in Mahonia Hall.

Kate Brown Is Least Popular Governor in America

The Morning Consult published a story collecting governors’ approval ratings for all 50 states. The ranking showed that Brown’s approval rating from Oregonians is just 43%—the lowest of any governor in the nation.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s approval rating is 55%; California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who recently survived a recall, is at 56%. The nation’s most popular governor, Republican Phil Scott, leading the blue state of Vermont, is at 79%. (The second- and third-highest-rated governors, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Larry Hogan of Maryland, are also Republicans leading blue states.)

Brown’s spokesman, Charles Boyle, says the governor is focused on serving her constituents rather than worrying about polls.

Career Kate Brown

Oregon Legislative Assembly

Brown was appointed to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1991, filling a vacancy in a Portland seat left by predecessor Judy Bauman, who took an executive appointment. She was elected to a second term before being elected to the Oregon State Senate in 1996. Two years later, she was elected Senate Democratic Leader. In 2003, she was elected Majority Leader of the Oregon Senate.

In July 2007, Brown announced that she would give up her seat in the Oregon Senate to be a candidate for Oregon Secretary of State the next year. On May 20, 2008, Brown won the election for the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State, and on November 5 she won the general election by a 51–46% margin against Republican candidate Rick Dancer.

Oregon Secretary of State

In 2009 Brown introduced and passed House Bill 2005 to crack down on fraud and abuse in the initiative and referendum system. It gave the Secretary of State more power to prosecute fraud and enforce the constitutional ban on paying per signature on initiatives.

In 2009 the Aspen Institute named Brown as one of 24 "Rising Stars" in American politics and awarded her a Rodel Fellowship. The program is a two-year fellowship designed to break down partisan barriers and explore the responsibilities of public leadership and good governance.

In October 2012 StateTech magazine highlighted Brown's use of iPad and tablet technology to increase accessibility for voters with disabilities. In 2011 Oregon became the first jurisdiction in the country to use this technology to help voters with disabilities mark their ballots.

Governor of Oregon

Photo: mprnews.org

On February 18, 2015, Governor John Kitzhaber resigned amid a public corruption scandal; Brown succeeded him since the Constitution of Oregon identifies the secretary of state as the successor when the governor leaves office prematurely.

Upon taking office, Brown extended the moratorium on executions Kitzhaber had enacted. In 2015, she also signed a "motor voter" bill she had championed while secretary of state, to automatically register voters using their driver's license data.

Oregon law required a special election in November 2016 for the two years remaining in Kitzhaber's unfinished term as governor. She won the general election against Republican Party nominee Bud Pierce, Independent Party nominee Cliff Thomason, Libertarian Party nominee James Foster, and Constitution Party nominee Aaron Donald Auer, receiving 51% of the vote.

Brown was reelected in November 2018, defeating Republican Knute Buehler 50.0% to 43.9%, with Independent Party nominee Patrick Starnes, Libertarian Party nominee Nick Chen, Constitution Party nominee Aaron Auer, and Progressive Party nominee Chris Henry taking the remaining votes.

On June 20, 2019, Brown authorized state troopers to search for and return 11 Republican State Senators after the Oregon Senate ordered the Sergeant-at-Arms to compel the senators to attend a Senate session. The senators had left to prevent a quorum in the Senate and thereby block the passage of a sweeping climate-change bill.

In response to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, Brown has publicly urged Oregonians to stay home to avoid spreading the virus but was initially criticized for not issuing a shelter-in-place order. The order was officially issued on March 23, 2020.

Awards and Recognitions Kate Brown

Kate Brown has done a considerable amount for the improvement of society and been assigned for a few honors and even won very not many of them also. She has been granted the title of Woman of Achievement Award and the title was given to her by the Oregon Commission for Women in the year 1995. Of course in the year 2004, she was granted the title of National Public and Community Service Award which was given to her by the American Mental Health Counselors Association.

Once more, in the year 2007, she was granted the prize of President’s Award of Merit which was given to Kate from Oregon State Bar. Later in the year 2015, she was respected with the title of the Advocates Person of the Year alongside nine other participants also. she was additionally given the spot in the rundown of #Pride30List too at the debut capacity of NBC Out in the year 2017.

Brown is the first openly bisexual governor in the nation's history. She has made history several times through her electoral success. In 2008, she became the first openly LGBT person elected secretary of state of a state in the United States. In 2016, she became the first openly LGBT person elected governor of a state in the United States, as well as the second woman, elected governor of Oregon (after Barbara Roberts).

Full list of the Current Governors of the U.S, Please Click Here

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