Andrea Salinas

Andrea Rose Salinas (born December 6, 1969) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2023. Oregon's 6th congressional district includes all of Yamhill and Polk counties, the part of Marion County that includes Salem and Woodburn, a small piece of Beaverton, and the suburban communities to the southwest of Portland, including Tigard, Tualatin, and Sherwood.

A member of the Democratic Party, Salinas previously served as the Oregon State Representative for the 38th district, which includes the City of Lake Oswego and portions of southwestern Portland, from 2017 to 2023. She is one of the first two Hispanic women (alongside Lori Chavez-DeRemer) elected to the United States Congress from Oregon.

Early life, education, and career Salinas's father emigrated from Mexico. She was born in San Mateo, California, and grew up in Pleasant Hill. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley.

Early political career After graduating from Berkeley, Salinas was a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Harry Reid and U.S. Representatives Pete Stark and Darlene Hooley.

In September 2017, Salinas was appointed to fill the vacancy in district 38 of the Oregon House of Representatives created when Ann Lininger was appointed to the Clackamas County Circuit Court. Salinas completed Lininger's term, and was reelected in 2018 and 2020.

In the 81st Oregon Legislative Assembly, she served in the leadership team as the majority whip. She also was the chair of the House Committee on Health Care.

On November 8, 2022, Salinas won the open seat with 50.0% of the vote, defeating Republican Mike Erickson. After the election, Erickson filed a lawsuit against Salinas over a television ad. The lawsuit initially sought to block her from taking office. He sued under a state law that allows a judge to set aside election results if the judge determines that a false statement by the victor swayed voters enough to change the election's outcome. During a December hearing, Erickson indicated through his attorney that he did not wish to overturn the election results, but was still seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages because of Salinas campaign ads that said he had been charged with drug possession. Salinas was represented by the Portland law firm Markowitz Herbold PC and the Elias Law Group.

In the 118th Congress, Salinas was the freshman representative for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Caucus memberships

Congressional Equality Caucus Bipartisan Rural Health Caucus Black Maternal Health Caucus Congressional Progressive Caucus Congressional Hispanic Caucus Congressional Coalition on Adoption Caucus Congressional Freethought Caucus

Committee assignments

Committee on Agriculture Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

Tenure Salinas has cosponsored legislation to provide $300 million in federal funding for mental health services in public schools. In 2023, Salinas and Diana Harshbarger introduced a bipartisan bill to provide $10 million for telehealth services in rural areas.

Personal life Salinas is Roman Catholic. She is married to Chris Ramey. They have one child.

Electoral history