Senator Jackie Winters, the State of Oregon’s first and only African American Republican dies at 82.

May 30, 2019

Jackie Winters, a well-regarded Oregon state senator and the only African American Republican ever elected to the Legislature, died on Wednesday at 82.

Winters was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1999 and the state Senate in 2003. Her legislative district included south Salem, Monmouth and rural portions of Marion County.

She rose through the Senate ranks to become vice chairwoman of the powerful appropriation committee and in 2017 was named the Republican Caucus leader “ the first black person to hold that post.

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