Page 6
Martin Luther King Jr.
2018 special edition
Remembering Her Roots
Continued from Page 3
cient town, “A total community
and we had our own schools, had
our own shopping centers,” she
said.
Winters was first elected to the
state House in 1998, re-elected
in 2000 and elected to the state
Senate three times, in 2006, 2010
and 2014. Her term is up in 2018,
when she plans to run again.
“I think I’ve already filed,” she
said.
Before running for office, Win-
ters worked for Gov. Tom McCall
and later for Gov. Victor Atiyeh.
She joined the Republican Par-
ty of McCall and Atiyeh because
back then, she said, they were the
ones who got things done.
“It was the McCall years. That’s
who I was working for, working
with, and that’s who I learned
from,” she said. “And I saw those
who were willing to open up their
doors for jobs were Republicans. I
saw those that were willing to give
a helping hand up were Republi-
cans, when I was with Tom.”
That contrasts with the percep-
tions of many about the current
national GOP agenda, but during
a recent visit to Portland, Winters
declined to discuss the national
photo by Mark Washington/The Portland Observer
A few days after being elected as Senate Minority Leader and the first African American to lead a
legislative caucus in Oregon, Sen. Jackie Winters embraces the man she replaced, Sen. Ted Ferrioli
during a December meeting in Portland. Ferrioli left the post to join the Northwest Power and Conser-
vation Council.
“I heard about politicians prac-
stage.
from working at the state capitol,
“I’m not there,” she said firmly. but she got her interest in politics tically all my life from my dad,”
she said. “He never ran for office,
Winters entered the political arena long before from her father.
but he would discuss politicians
and could tell you about most of
who was running, whether they
good, bad or indifferent.”
One politician her father partic-
ularly liked was former Vice Pres-
ident Charlie Curtis, who served
as vice president under President
Herbert Hoover following a career
in Kansas politics. The reason her
dad liked Curtis so much was that
he was a minority: as a member of
the Kaw Nation and the first per-
son of non-European descent to
reach second highest seat in U.S.
government.
“Charlie Curtis was part Native
American, so that was very spe-
cial to him,” she said.
Winters had two black col-
leagues early in her Senate term.
Sens. Margaret Carter and Avel
Gordly were Portland Demo-
crats but also long time friends,
groundbreakers on the state polit-
ical scene, and the three of them
held sway for several years as the
leading black women in the state
capitol.
Carter and Gordly left the Sen-
ate around 2009, but working with
them was an experience Winters
treasures.
“We worked together the en-
tire time that they were there and
we all three served on Ways and
Means together,” she said. “Either
one of them held the gavel or I
held the gavel. We still communi-
cate with each other. It was a close
relationship that was developed
by the three of us that had nothing
January 10, 2018
to do with party, at all.”
Winters may have less in com-
mon with some current members
of the Senate than with Carter and
Gordly, but using cooperation,
convincing and collaboration is
the way Winters works.
“You can’t get anything done
unless you’re bringing others with
you, and so that means you have
to work both sides of the aisle,”
she said. “When I was in the exec-
utive branch, those are the lessons
that you learn. No one has a lock
on any one issue.
“There are 90 of us and we don’t
all think alike. And so you’ve got
to start being convincing in your
point of view,” she said. “And
sometimes, you have to say, ‘OK,
I think what you’re saying has val-
ue, but it’s not all one way or the
other. It doesn’t exist in families
and it doesn’t exist in politics.”
Winters’ accomplishments and
awards are many, too many to list,
and on top of being a state senator,
she’s long been involved in com-
munity leadership. She chaired
Salem’s first $1 million United
Way campaign, was twice award-
ed Salem’s Distinguished Service
Award, founded Oregon’s first
food share program, and helped
establish the Oregon NW Black
Pioneers Association to raise mon-
ey for student scholarships. She
has served on the Salem-Keizer
Blue Ribbon Committee for Ex-
cellence in Education, and was a
member of the Board of Directors
of the Oregon College of Educa-
tion Foundation, now the Western
Oregon University Foundation.
Winters toured the with a
tap-dancing troupe as a teen, and
still goes out to dance in the clubs
every chance she gets, which
helps keep her young, she says.
“I tap danced all the way from
Albina to the statehouse,” she likes
to joke. But her colleagues, even
on the other side of the isle, don’t
expect her to be sidestepping any
issues, said Senate President Peter
Courtney.
“Sen. Jackie Winters has an
inner strength that is unmatched.
She has faced hardship. She has
experienced suffering. She has
triumphed over every challenge,”
he said. “She’s a true Republican
and a true Oregonian. Jackie’s
wisdom and sense of fairness will
make her an exceptional leader
and will help make the Legisla-
ture work.”
Senate Majority Leader Ginny
Burdick, D-Portland, said she has
known Winters for years, before
their time together in the Senate.
“She is a dedicated public ser-
vant who puts the interests of Or-
egonians above all else,” Burdick
said. “As a woman of color, she
has broken many glass ceilings,
her current position being just the
latest. She commands deep re-
spect from both sides of the aisle
and I am looking forward to work-
ing with her for the benefit of all
Oregonians.”