Kayse Jama
Kayse Jama
State Senator
State Senator, Oregon Senate District 24
Why I'm running.
It is a lifetime honor of mine to be the first former refugee, Black Muslim and Somali-American to serve in the Oregon State Senate. As someone who represents one of the most diverse districts in our state, I come to Salem knowing that my lived experience and my two decades of advocacy and organizing skills can be translated into real policy change, particularly for Black, Indigenous, people of color, immigrants and refugees, LGBTQ+ communities, low-income Oregonians and rural communities. I am committed to bringing all my years of deep, on the ground relationships and the voices of our entire community with me and working to pass policies aimed at changing all our lives for the better. Currently, I am serving as the Chair of the Senate Housing and Development Committee and members of the Senate Labor and Business Committee and the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Transportation and Economic Development. I look forward to continuing my years of advocacy and community work during
My top 3 priorities.
My top 3 priorities are charting a just economic recovery, reimagining community safety, and fighting for racial justice. For so many of us, the American Dream has been deferred from the beginning because our federal, state, and local policies have been designed to work only for those who wield money and power. In short, the system has not worked for most of us. Too many of our fellow community members have been left behind, struggling to make ends meet: women, people of color, Native people…
Why voters should choose me.
Since being appointed to the Oregon Senate, I have been an effective leader and proven advocate for Senate District 24, and I bring my years of deep, on-the ground relationships and the diverse voices of our entire community to Salem, passing policies aimed at changing all our lives for the better. I know what it’s like to make difficult choices in hard times and to overcome barriers—and it’s this adversity that has helped prepare me to lead as we recover from multiple crises. I am the first former refugee and the first Muslim serving in the Oregon Senate, and I diligently represent ALL of the residents of Senate District 24 in Salem. From investing $400M to support homeownership, increase affordable housing, and address houselessness, to ensuring renters’ rights and access to cooling while preparing Oregon for the next heat wave, to extending basic worker protections and ensuring fair compensation for farm workers, I center the most vulnerable Oregonians in every conversation.