Chelsea King
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Chelsea King (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Oregon State Senate to represent District 13. She lost in the Democratic primary on May 17, 2022.
King completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Chelsea King was born in Coos Bay, Oregon. She earned a bachelor's degree in 2001 and a graduate degree in 2003, both from Portland State University. Her career experience includes working as the owner of Heart Centered Work and as an adjunct professor.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Oregon State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Oregon State Senate District 13
Aaron Woods defeated John Velez in the general election for Oregon State Senate District 13 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Aaron Woods (D / Working Families Party) | 58.0 | 37,474 |
 | John Velez (R / Independent Party)  | 41.9 | 27,045 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 69 | ||
| Total votes: 64,588 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Oregon State Senate District 13
Aaron Woods defeated Chelsea King in the Democratic primary for Oregon State Senate District 13 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Aaron Woods | 55.0 | 8,618 |
 | Chelsea King | 44.4 | 6,963 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 88 | ||
| Total votes: 15,669 | |||
| = 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 State Senate District 13
John Velez advanced from the Republican primary for Oregon State Senate District 13 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Velez | 98.1 | 7,031 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.9 | 137 | ||
| Total votes: 7,168 | |||
| = 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 King's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Chelsea King completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by King's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a mother of three teens, a small business owner, and I have worked and advocated for public schools for 13 years. Unanimously elected as Chair of the West Linn-Wilsonville School Board, I have brought people together from across the aisle to develop a K-12 Spanish Immersion program and a Career and Technical High School. Under my leadership, the board was able to increase school counselors and psychologists, raise graduation rates to 99%, and work with parents and administrators to make West Linn-Wilsonville the first district in the area to return to in-person instruction safely (after Covid-19 related remote learning). I am running for State Senate to increase support for Oregon public schools, bolster Oregon's behavioral health system, and work towards an economy that works for everyone.
- Quality Public Education for All - I have a goal that all young people, from Pre-K to 12th grade, will have access to a quality education and effective college and career readiness. I will achieve this by working to adequately fund the Quality Education Model and ensure that the Student Success Act monies are dedicated to the programs that it was intended for and it is not used to backfill general fund budgets that are still reeling from decades of disinvestment.
- Access to Affordable Health Care, Including Reproductive and Behavioral Health- The Covid-19 pandemic cracked Oregon's already strained behavioral health system. Both children and adults, especially from marginalized communities, cannot access the support they need to care for their mental and behavioral health. We need to integrate these supports into our communities, workplaces, and educational systems in a coordinated way so that no one falls through the cracks. We also need to focus on the workforce pipeline by removing barriers to workforce entry and invest in recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce to meet the growing need in Oregon.
- An Equitable Economy - We saw this pandemic have disproportionate economic effects on our communities. Women, people of color, those living in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, and working families were hit the hardest. While some found that their wealth grew enormously, others lost their jobs, could not work due to kids being home without childcare, or their wages did not keep up with skyrocketing inflation. My goal is to provide supports for working families like accessible, affordable childcare, family wage jobs with benefits, and resources and training for those entering the workforce, the entrepreneur and micro-enterprise, and the person changing careers.
Education is where my passion for public policy starts. Our public schools are the bedrock for our working families and the future of our economy. This is an area in which I am knowledgeable, after having dedicated 13 years to community organizing, policy and budget leadership. I am also currently living the realities as my three teenagers attend public high school.
As well, behavioral health is a labor of love for me. As a young person growing up, I lived the impact of adults who did not receive treatment. As a workplace wellness consultant, I have dedicated a career to helping individuals in the workplace manage their stress and overwhelm. And as a mother to three teenagers during the pandemic, I have seen the toll that school closures and isolation has taken on them, especially one in particular who needs culturally responsive therapy and has been on a waitlist for 9 months. I want to help innovate, fund and integrate these important services.
As well, behavioral health is a labor of love for me. As a young person growing up, I lived the impact of adults who did not receive treatment. As a workplace wellness consultant, I have dedicated a career to helping individuals in the workplace manage their stress and overwhelm. And as a mother to three teenagers during the pandemic, I have seen the toll that school closures and isolation has taken on them, especially one in particular who needs culturally responsive therapy and has been on a waitlist for 9 months. I want to help innovate, fund and integrate these important services.
Leadership starts with listening. I've held the gavel over some of the most contentious school board meetings in recent history and have effectively Chaired a bipartisan board, because of my ability to hold space and respect the dignity of all people. I practice nonviolent communication and conflict mediation in my professional life as a workplace wellness consultant, and these skills have served me well in reaching across the aisle to work with my colleagues on the school board and to consider the diverse needs and values of our constituents. Without the ability to put down our biases and assumptions of the other, we cannot be effective elected officials. I believe there is a great need for active listening in Salem, both to the communities Legislators serve and to each other.
I am compassionate, honest, hardworking, and a listener. I believe in authenticity and integrity.
I had a paper route as an 11 year old, and I also worked as a baby sitter and t-ball coach prior to the age of 16, but my first "real job" was at McDonald's in Grants Pass. I had that job for 2 years, up until I moved away after graduating from high school.
Absolutely it is important to build relationships with other legislators. The best tool I have as a leader is my relationships with other leaders and stakeholders. By listening to others and staying engaged in dialogue, we can increase understanding and thus move policy work forward.
I am interested in serving on the Education Committee, the Human Services, Mental Health and Recovery, Labor and Industry, and the Joint Ways and Means committee. What we do with our revenue, or how we spend our monies, is a key indicator of where our priorities exist. Similarly, budget drives social policy. Decisions to make investments in critical services are most likely to be made in this committee and I want to be there to advocate. As a small business owner and single mom, I know that managing revenue and expenditures is a key component of a healthy system and the decisions we make there will inform implementation of every program and policy we enact. As the Chair of the West Linn- Wilsonville school board, I have sat around the table during multi-million dollar budget conversations and I know how to ensure that our spending is related to our goals and that critical services do not get cut. We continue to see the influx of ARPA funds and the Legislative Fiscal Office is reporting that the combined General Fund and Lottery Funds adopted budget for the 2021-23 biennium is up 12.1% from the 2019-21 legislatively approved level and is a 6.1% increase over the 2021-23 current service level. We have a window of opportunity to ensure that any increase in our state general fund is invested in a value driven fashion and I want to be in the room driving that process. I will apply an equity lens to this work.
I do not know if I will run for a different political office. On the school board, I served two full terms. I assume I would do the same in the Senate; stay focused on the position until major wins have occurred.
I have been knocking on doors for three months. I have heard many compelling stories. One of the most impactful was a woman who told me of how the father of her children ended up with schizophrenia and in a state hospital, back in the 70s. Then, in the 1980s, under President Regan's decisions, many state hospitals closed, including the one where he was living in Wilsonville, OR. The hospital loaded the residents onto a bus and dropped them off in Portland. The man ended up dying on the streets. We are seeing the effects of decades of this kind of disinvestment in mental health in our communities. This is exactly the tragedy that we need to prevent moving forward.
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.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate Oregon State Senate District 13 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 27, 2022
Current members of the Oregon State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Rob Wagner
Majority Leader:Kayse Jama
Minority Leader:Daniel Bonham
Senators
District 1
David Smith (R)
District 2
Noah Robinson (R)
District 3
Jeff Golden (D)
District 4
Floyd Prozanski (D)
District 5
Dick Anderson (R)
District 6
Cedric Hayden (R)
District 7
James Manning (D)
District 8
District 9
Fred Girod (R)
District 10
Deb Patterson (D)
District 11
Kim Thatcher (R)
District 12
Bruce Starr (R)
District 13
Courtney Neron (D)
District 14
Kate Lieber (D)
District 15
Janeen Sollman (D)
District 16
Suzanne Weber (R)
District 17
Lisa Reynolds (D)
District 18
WInsvey Campos (D)
District 19
Rob Wagner (D)
District 20
Mark Meek (D)
District 21
Kathleen Taylor (D)
District 22
Lew Frederick (D)
District 23
Khanh Pham (D)
District 24
Kayse Jama (D)
District 25
Chris Gorsek (D)
District 26
Daniel Bonham (R)
District 27
Anthony Broadman (D)
District 28
Diane Linthicum (R)
District 29
Todd Nash (R)
District 30
Mike McLane (R)
Democratic Party (18)
Republican Party (12)
