Skip to content
Portland Civic Lab
Support

Print edition · Portland City Council · November 3, 2026

Oregon Senate · District 24

1 candidates · Vote for one · Research reviewed September 18, 2026 · Lines edition 2026-09-19.1

Official list checked. Candidates appear alphabetically by displayed name and receive the same structure. We do not endorse, rank or score.

Back to the Senate · District 24 list

The choice in one paragraph

Our reading

One named candidate appears in the checked filings. Judge the priorities, the mechanisms behind them and what he says would show they worked, even without a listed opponent.

Draft; human review pending.

Key

Said
A campaign statement, in our summary or their words.
Voted
A recorded Council roll call.
Not found
Not in the sources we reviewed. A research gap, not a position.
Yes No
The vote as the word, never as color alone.
Absent
Missed that roll call.
Not on committee
Had no vote in that committee.

Every candidate, A–Z

NameRoleSummaryRent and homesCamps, crime and who respondsYour bills and taxesStreets, buses and air
Kayse JamaIncumbent state senatorEmphasizes housing investment, childcare access, education equity, climate action and participation in democracy.Supports continued state housing investment and easier approvals for dense affordable housing.not found in the sources we reviewedSupports a $1,000 Oregon Kids Credit and childcare construction money.Supports 100% clean electricity by 2040 and a renters’ right to cooling.

Summaries are our one-line readings of what each candidate says. Issue lines are short forms of the positions in each brief, AI-drafted and awaiting human review; “—” means not found in the sources we reviewed.

Four votes that split this Council

No candidate in this race sits on Council today.

Not foundNo featured votes are selected for this race yet.

Candidate briefs, A–Z

Kayse Jama

Senate · District 24 candidate · Oregon Legislature · November 3, 2026

Kayse Jama

Incumbent state senator.

Photo: Campaign photo · kaysejama.com

In their words

Said: For more than twenty years, I’ve worked alongside East Portland and Clackamas County communities as an organizer, advocate, nonprofit leader, and now as your State Senator.

Voters’ pamphlet

Candidate statement · Filed for the November 2026 state voters’ pamphlet; extracted September 21, 2026

Oregon Secretary of State · filed candidate statement · PDF page 88 ↗

First sentence of the filed statement; the heading “Kayse Jama: Delivering Opportunity for All” is skipped.

The verbatim opening of their voters’ pamphlet statement, the same rule for every candidate. We chose nothing.

What they say they would do

Our summary of their platform, in our words

Emphasizes housing investment, childcare access, education equity, climate action and participation in democracy.

  • Expand housing and childcare opportunities.
  • Address educational and workforce disparities.
  • Support campaign-finance reform and access to voting.

Our reading

Our interpretation, not their words
  • Housing investment
  • Climate action

An investment-centered record: billions steered to housing, a childcare package and clean-electricity mandates; dollar amounts are not themselves evidence of homes built or homelessness reduced.

Jama · accomplishments ↗Jama · housing and homelessness ↗Jama · childcare ↗Jama · environment and climate ↗Oregon Secretary of State · filed candidate statement · PDF page 88 ↗

Where they stand

Housing and homelessness

Keep funding housing
What
Said: Keep the state investing in housing production, rental assistance, eviction prevention and homeownership, and ease approvals for dense affordable housing.
How
Said: SB 1537 (2024) eases cities’ costs, streamlines approvals and creates a revolving loan fund for moderate-income housing; SB 1530 targets stability, homeownership and recovery housing.
Measured by
Said: Cites over $4.5 billion invested in housing solutions over three years as committee chair.

Crime, drugs and who responds

Not foundNot found in the sources we reviewed. That is a research gap, not a position.

Taxes, the kicker and the budget

$1,000 kids credit
What
Said: A refundable Oregon Kids Credit of up to $1,000 per young child for low-income families, plus state money to build and expand childcare.
How
Said: $75 million for the Oregon Kids Credit and $50 million for a Child Care Infrastructure Fund in the early-childhood budget package he supported.
Measured by
Not in their sources

Roads, transit and climate

Clean power by 2040
What
Said: Bold climate action centered on the most affected communities: 100% clean electricity by 2040, a renters’ right to cooling, and heat and smoke protections for farmworkers.
How
Said: Led a renters’ right-to-cooling law, helped distribute 3,000 air conditioners to low-income residents, and passed farmworker protections for wildfire smoke and heat.
Measured by
Said: Voted to mandate a 100% clean electricity system by 2040.

The choices this office faces

Every candidate in this race is asked the same 8 questions. Kayse Jama is on record on 7, with 1 still open. A question without an answer is a research gap, not a position.

No answer we could find

  • Let the state keep part of a future kicker refund for wildfire or other one-time needs?

    Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.

On record

  • Vote for a 2027 transportation package that raises the gas tax and vehicle fees again?

    Said: Voted yes on HB 3991 in the Senate on September 29, 2025, the gas-tax and fee package voters later repealed.

  • Close the 2027–29 budget gap with new revenue, or with cuts alone?

    Said: Voted yes on SB 1507 on February 16, 2026, which disconnects Oregon from federal H.R. 1 business tax breaks, raising about $314 million for 2027–29, and enlarges the Earned Income Tax Credit.

  • Make data centers pay their own way: separate power rates, an end to tax breaks, or a pause on new ones?

    Said: Voted yes on HB 3546 on June 3, 2025, putting data centers in their own electricity rate class; his statement says he fought to lower energy costs for Oregon families.

  • Keep paying for state-funded shelter beds and the homelessness emergency after June 2027?

    Said: Voted yes on HB 3644 on June 26, 2025; as Senate housing chair he says he led over $4.5 billion in housing investment over three years.

  • Keep the 2024 approach of recriminalized possession plus county deflection programs, and fund them in 2027–29?

    Said: Voted no on HB 4002 in the Senate on March 1, 2024, the bill that recriminalized possession and created county deflection programs, and filed a vote explanation.

  • Spend more state money on wildfire prevention and firefighting?

    Said: Voted yes on HB 3940 on June 26, 2025; his site cites a 2022 law protecting farmworkers during wildfire smoke and heat waves.

  • Keep adding state limits on federal immigration enforcement, on top of Oregon's sanctuary law?

    Said: Voted yes on HB 4138 on March 5, 2026; his statement says he protected immigrant and refugee communities from federal overreach.

Compare every candidate

A question the evidence leaves open

Which housing and childcare outcomes would you report, and what policy changes would follow if investments fall short?

Sources (7)

  1. Jama · campaign account of legislative prioritiesCandidate statement · Undated campaign page; reviewed September 18, 2026
  2. 2026 qualified filing · DemocratElection authority · Checked September 18, 2026
  3. 2026 qualified filing · Working FamiliesElection authority · Checked September 18, 2026
  4. Jama · housing and homelessnessCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
  5. Jama · childcareCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
  6. Jama · environment and climateCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
  7. Oregon Secretary of State · filed candidate statement · PDF page 88Candidate statement · Filed for the November 2026 state voters’ pamphlet; PDF printed September 9, 2026; reviewed September 21, 2026Written by the candidate or campaign for the state voters’ pamphlet, which is not published until September 29, 2026.