Remembering the legendary Oregon statesman Peter Courtney

Think Out Loud

Peter Courtney died this week at the age of 81. He was first elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1980. He moved to the Senate side in 1999 and became Senate President four years later. Courtney, who grew up in what he liked to call “West by God Virginia,” served for 38 years in the legislature, including a record 20 as the senate president. In an institution that he cared about deeply, he was a kind of institution himself: passionate and bombastic, often dramatic and sometimes dour. We talked to Peter Courtney many times over the last 15 years. We listen back to our conversation with him in January of 2022, soon after he announced he would not be seeking re-election.