Willy Chotzen
Willy Chotzen (Democratic Party) is a member of the Oregon House of Representatives, representing District 46. He assumed office on January 13, 2025. His current term ends on January 11, 2027.
Chotzen (Democratic Party, Working Families Party, Republican Party) ran for election to the Oregon House of Representatives to represent District 46. Chotzen (Democratic Party, Working Families Party) won in the general election on November 5, 2024. He advanced from the Democratic primary on May 21, 2024. He advanced as a write-in from the Republican primary on May 21, 2024.
Chotzen completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Willy Chotzen was born in Ashland, Oregon. He earned a bachelor's degree from the Washington University in St. Louis in 2013 and a law degree from Harvard Law School in 2019. His career experience includes working as a public defender.[1]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Oregon House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Oregon House of Representatives District 46
Willy Chotzen defeated John Mark Alexander, Kevin Levy, and Austin Daniel in the general election for Oregon House of Representatives District 46 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Willy Chotzen (D / Working Families Party)  | 79.1 | 25,542 |
| John Mark Alexander (R) | 13.7 | 4,414 | ||
 | Kevin Levy (Independent) | 3.9 | 1,252 | |
 | Austin Daniel (L) | 3.2 | 1,040 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 58 | ||
| Total votes: 32,306 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Willy Chotzen (R)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 46
Willy Chotzen defeated Mary Lou Hennrich in the Democratic primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 46 on May 21, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Willy Chotzen | 72.7 | 7,895 |
 | Mary Lou Hennrich | 27.1 | 2,947 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 24 | ||
| Total votes: 10,866 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 46
Willy Chotzen advanced from the Republican primary for Oregon House of Representatives District 46 on May 21, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Willy Chotzen (Write-in) | 13.9 | 11 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 86.1 | 68 | ||
| Total votes: 79 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
To view Chotzen's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Chotzen in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Willy Chotzen completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Chotzen's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
Born in Ashland, I'm a lifelong Democrat who has always chosen public service over personal gain.
As a middle school math teacher at an under-resourced public school, I worked with students in historically marginalized communities. Watching firsthand as hard-working, good-hearted kids struggled to rise above their circumstances, I learned what a difference it makes if students can access the support they need.
Hoping to make a difference at a broader level, I attended Harvard Law School and worked at a legal aid clinic to fight evictions, wage theft, and foreclosures for families who couldn’t afford a lawyer. After graduation, I passed up private practice to return home to Oregon to join Portland’s Public Defender Office, where I serve as a chief attorney today.
Working on the front lines of Portland’s public safety, addiction, mental health, and homelessness crises, I know how our system is failing both vulnerable people and working families. Building a more equitable, safe, and just community is possible, but it will take leaders who understand the complexity and urgency of the challenge.
I’m ready to rise to that challenge, and I hope to become the next State Representative for HD 46.- I WILL EXPAND ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH CARE AND ADDICTION TREATMENT. Oregon currently ranks last in the country in access to treatment and we are in the midst of a devastating addiction and overdose crisis. As a public defender, I work to help my clients access mental health and addiction treatment. Many clients sit for months in jail or on our streets waiting for healthcare and help because there are no treatment beds available. I’ll work to increase investments in behavioral health infrastructure and workforce development to ensure that Oregonians have access to mental health and addiction treatment facilities that are fully staffed by highly qualified compassionate individuals.
- I WILL ADDRESS HOMELESSNESS AND SUPPORT CONSTRUCTION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING. Oregon has been underbuilding housing for decades and is increasingly unaffordable. We have systematically failed thousands of Oregonians who are forced to live on the streets every single day. I have fought to keep families in their homes by defending against foreclosures and evictions. As a public defender, I have extensive experience helping clients transition from homelessness into shelters and pathways to long-term stability. We need to significantly increase the rate of construction of affordable housing so that we can start seeing housing prices lower. I believe every person in Oregon deserves to have a roof over their head.
- I WILL ENSURE A WORLD-CLASS PUBLIC EDUCATION FOR EVERY CHILD. The Oregon public education system is dramatically underfunded. Many families struggle to access early childhood education, and higher education costs continue to rise. I started my career as a 6th grade math teacher in a public middle school. I saw the inequity created by disinvestment in public schools, and I saw the difference that a great education makes. My wife is a career educator. We need to increase our funding for public education while ensuring those dollars go directly to supporting teachers and students. Our kids deserve to have access to the resources they need- from cradle to career- to have a fair shot at a brighter future.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Oregon scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Oregon House of Representatives District 46 |
Officeholder Oregon House of Representatives District 46 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 22, 2024
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Khanh Pham (D) |
Oregon House of Representatives District 46 2025-Present |
Succeeded by - |
