Peter Michael Coleman Courtney (June 18, 1943 – July 16, 2024) was an American politician, lawyer, and professor who was a 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 ...

, representing the 11th District (in Marion County and including parts of Salem, Woodburn, and Gervais) from 1999 until 2023. He served as President of the Senate from 2003 to 2023, the longest tenure in state history. Courtney was a member of 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 ...

from 1981 to 1985 and from 1989 through 1998. Courtney previously taught at

Western Oregon University Western Oregon University (WOU) is a public university in Monmouth, Oregon, United States. It was originally established in 1856 by Disciples of Christ pioneers as Monmouth University. Subsequent names included Oregon State Normal School, Oreg ...

Early life

Courtney was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania, on June 18, 1943.Senate President Peter Courtney.
Oregon State Legislature. Retrieved October 10, 2007. He grew up in

Moorestown, New Jersey Moorestown is a Township (New Jersey), township in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an eastern suburb of Philadelphia and geographically part of the South Jersey region of the state. As of ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, the son of a life insurance agent. Both his parents earned college degrees, with his mother's degree in Latin. In high school, Courtney played on the school's football team. He attended college at the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science in 1965 and a master's in public administration the following year. He graduated from Boston University's law school, and then moved to Oregon in 1969 to become the law clerk of William S. Fort of the

Oregon Court of Appeals The Oregon Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court in the US state of Oregon. Part of the Oregon Judicial Department, it has thirteen judges and is located in Salem. Except for death penalty cases, which are reserved to the O ...

. Courtney arrived in Salem and stayed at the YMCA for two years.

Political career

Courtney's first political office was as a member of the Salem City Council where he served from 1974 until 1980. He was first elected to the

Oregon Legislative Assembly The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the State legislature (United States), state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper house, upper and lower chamber: the Oregon State Senate, Sena ...

in 1980 as a Democrat representing

Marion Marion or MARION may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Marion (band), a British alternative rock group * ''Marion'' (miniseries), a 1974 miniseries * ''Marion'' (1920 film), an Italian silent film * ''Marion'' (2024 film), a UK short People a ...

and

Polk DNA polymerase kappa is a DNA polymerase that in humans is encoded by the ''POLK'' gene. It is involved in translesion synthesis DNA repair is a collection of processes by which a cell (biology), cell identifies and corrects damage to the ...

counties in the

. Courtney gave up his House seat to run for the U.S. House of Representatives, 5th district, in the 1984 primary. Courtney narrowly lost to state senator Ruth McFarland, who had been the 1982 nominee. In the House he served as Democratic leader for eight years, longer than anyone else had before him. After repairs to the

Oregon State Capitol The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the Oregon Legislative Assembly, state legislature and the offices of the Governor of Oregon, governor, Oregon Secretary of State, secretary of state, and Oregon State Treasurer, treasurer of t ...

were finished in 1995 after damage from the 1993 Scotts Mills earthquake, he gave a small piece of marble with an engraved image of the building to each Democrat in the House. He served as minority leader during the 1997 session.

He avoided term limits by moving from the House to the Senate in 1999, representing only Marion County. In 2002, he had surgery to remove a burst appendix and even received last rites prior to the surgery when survival was unknown. After 13 days at the hospital he recovered and returned to the legislature. In 2003, Courtney was selected as the President of the

. The Senate was evenly divided between the state's major parties at the time, with 15 Democrats and 15 Republicans. Republican Lenn Hannon was chosen as President Pro-tem; the two were recognized as having forged a strong bipartisan working relationship during the previous legislature's five emergency sessions. Courtney was the longest-serving legislator and Senate President in Oregon's history. His support and advocacy in animal-related measures saw him labeled as a 2011 "Top Dog" by the Oregon Humane Society. In January 2022, Courtney announced he would not seek reelection to the Oregon Senate due to health issues. Courtney served as co-chair of the Legislative Counsel Committee, the Legislative Policy and Research Committee, and the Legislative Administrative Committee.

Personal life

Courtney taught speech at

, and served as an administrator at the

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

school. He married Margie (née Brenden) Courtney in 1976; they had three sons. He worked as a political commentator for

KPTV KPTV (channel 12) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Gray Media alongside Vancouver, Washington–licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate KPDX (channel 49). The two stations sh ...

television and KSLM (now KZGD, as of 2020) radio. Courtney appeared in the documentary film ''Running Forward: Conquering Oregon's Hood to Coast Relay'', that was released in 2011. He served on several boards of directors, and was a member of the

Oregon State Bar The Oregon State Bar (OSB) is a public corporation and instrumentality of the Oregon Judicial Department in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded in 1890 as the private Oregon Bar Association, it became a public entity in 1935 that regulates the lega ...

. In 2021, Courtney had one of his kidneys removed due to his

ureteral cancer Ureteral cancer is cancer of the ureters, muscular tubes that propel urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder. It is also known as ureter cancer,

Electoral history

References

External links