State Senator Shemia Fagan announced Thursday that she is running in the Democratic primary for Oregon Secretary of State.

Fagan currently represents parts of outer Southeast Portland and Clackamas County, and was previously a member of the Oregon House and a civil rights lawyer. She won her senate seat in 2018 by unseating Democratic incumbent Rod Monroe, who had drawn criticism from Portland tenants' rights groups for opposing a bill that would have protected renters from no-cause evictions. Fagan ran to the left of Monroe (who is also a landlord), and campaigned as a candidate who had firsthand experience of living on the poverty line.

“As a kid growing up poor in Dufur and The Dalles, the Capitol felt so far away and inaccessible,” Fagan said in a statement announcing her candidacy Thursday. “That’s why I’ve spent my career—as a civil rights attorney, a school board member, a Representative, and a Senator—breaking down barriers and making sure Oregonians know that, while we don’t always agree, I am always on their side."

Fagan's announcement comes just weeks after former Rep. Jennifer Williamson dropped out of the race for Secretary of State, in advance of a Willamette Week story that raised questions about her handling of campaign funds. Williamson was running as the progressive candidate, and it's likely that Fagan, her friend, will take over that role.

During the 2019 legislative session, Fagan championed Senate Bill 608, which made Oregon the first state to pass statewide rent control. When introducing the bill on the Senate floor, Fagan referenced her mother's experience with homelessness, calling the bill "personal for me." That bill faced some backlash from tenants' rights advocates who had hoped for stronger protections than what it offered, but Fagan defended it in an interview with the Mercury.

"I would support a lower cap, a shorter period to allow no-cause evictions, and lifting the ban on state rent control," Fagan said. "But this is what we were able to negotiate."

One of the Oregon Secretary of State's roles is overseeing the statewide election process. In the statement announcing her candidacy, Fagan mentioned the importance of "unrivaled ballot access and election security."

"The national trend toward obstruction and election tampering," she added, "has Oregonians concerned about the integrity and fundamental fairness of our democracy.”

In the Democratic primary, Fagan will face Sen. Mark Haas of Beaverton, Jefferson County Education Service District board member Jamie McLeod-Skinner, and Cameron Smith, the director of Oregon's Department of Consumer and Business Affairs. The winner of that race will likely face Republican Sen. Kim Thatcher in the general election.