Akasha Lawrence-Spence

Akasha Lawrence-Spence is an American politician and a former Democratic member of the

Oregon State Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the State legislature (United States), statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. Ther ...

. She previously represented the 36th district in the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, the upper house being the Oregon State Senate. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of ...

; appointed on January 17, 2020, to replace Jennifer Williamson who resigned to run for Secretary of State. Lawrence-Spence was appointed by the

Multnomah County Commission Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland metropolitan area. The state's smallest and most populous county, its ...

which by law appoints members of the same party to replace resigning legislators. She did not run for re-election. She has previously served as a member of the Portland Planning and Sustainability Commission. In November 2021, Lawrence-Spence was appointed to the Oregon Senate to fill the vacancy caused by

Ginny Burdick Virginia Burdick (born December 3, 1947) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Oregon, who served seven terms in the Oregon State Senate. She represented Tigard and Southwest Portland in Senate District 18.Year of birth missing (living people) Living people African-American state legislators in Oregon Democratic Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly Democratic Party Oregon state senators Women state legislators in Oregon Politicians from Portland, Oregon 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century African-American women politicians 21st-century African-American politicians African-American history of Oregon {{Oregon-politician-stub