House Democrats nominated Rep. Julie Fahey of Eugene to succeed Rep. Dan Rayfield as the next Oregon House speaker during a closed-door caucus meeting Monday night, the caucus announced in a press release.
Rayfield, a Democrat from Corvallis, will stay on as House speaker through the five-week short session that begins Feb. 5, meaning that Fahey won’t ascend to the speaker role until at least March. Even so, Democrats opted to vote for a new speaker during an evening meeting in Salem on Monday, settling on their succession plan ahead of the short session.