Jackie Winters

Abstract/Description: Interview with Jackie Winters. Office of Economic Opportunity, Gov. McCall, 1969-1971, Children's Services Division, Grants Manager, Gov. McCall, 1971-1979, Ombudsman, Gov. Atiyeh, 1979-1980, Oregon State Representative (District 31), 1999-2002, Oregon State Senator (District 10), 2002-2019, Senate Republican Leader, 2017-2018. Growing up Jackie Winters listened to her father discuss the importance of politics and voting, and she took those early lessons to heart. The youngest of six children, Winters was born in Topeka, Kansas, but her family moved to Vanport, Oregon for work in the Kaiser Shipyards during World War II. Jackie Winters first came to Salem when Gov. McCall recruited her to work in the Economic Opportunity Office, and from there moved to the Children's Services Division. Gov. Atiyeh tapped Winters to work as his ombudsman, during which time she helped create Oregon Food Share, a program that continues presently. Switching gears, Winters opened a barbecue business, Jackie's Ribs, in 1985 as a place to "come in and eat ribs and talk politics." In 1991, Jackie Winters was elected to represent House District 31 in the Oregon Legislative Assembly. She was elected to represent Senate District 10 in 2002, a position to which she was re-elected in November 2018. Winters notes the surprise she encounters when people across the country learn she is a Republican elected in a very white district and state. Winters counters that it does not "take a Black person to elect another Black person...my community looked at who I am, looked at what I bring, and elected me."
Subject(s): n-us-or
Winters, Jackie -- Interviews
Oregon -- Officials and employees -- Interviews
Oregon -- Politics and government
Date Issued: 20182018