As a refugee from war-torn Somalia, Kayse Jama arrived in Portland in 1998 with little hope of employment and only the phone number of another Somali immigrant who allowed him to couch-surf as he adapted to life in a foreign nation.
After 26 years, Jama remains one of the most powerful figures in Oregon politics. After being elected to the state Senate in 2021, he soon rose to the position of chair of the housing committee, where he helped draft significant policy changes and secure hundreds of millions of dollars to support Oregonians in obtaining and maintaining stable housing. Additionally, his Democratic caucus colleagues elected him as their majority leader for the 2025 legislative session following the election in November.
Jama told the Capital Chronicle that he concentrates on establishing rapport and finding common ground with people because of his history. Jama will command a Democratic supermajority of 18 senators when lawmakers return for a brief special session next week and a six-month marathon in January. As the first refugee and Muslim to hold a Senate seat in Oregon, he has dedicated his professional life to demonstrating that the people of the state have more similarities than differences.
Collaboration is the cornerstone of everything I do in my life, and relationship development is the cornerstone of everything I do in my business, he stated.
A diverse group of MPs were chosen to lead the Democratic caucus for the next session, including Jama, the first Black man to hold the position of Senate majority leader. Aloha Sen. Wlnsvey Campos, a Latina, is the deputy majority leader, Portland Sen. Khanh Pham, the first Vietnamese American lawmaker in Oregon, is the assistant majority leader, and two other Black men, Eugene Sen. James Manning as Senate president pro tempore and Portland Sen. Lew Frederick as majority whip, are part of the Senate Democratic leadership team.
According to a statement from Campos, co-chair of the Legislative BIPOC caucus, Jama will be a powerful advocate and unwavering leader for our communities. Democratic Representative Ricki Ruiz of Gresham, the other co-chair, emphasized that BIPOC caucus members will play a significant role in shaping Oregon’s future.
Being a part of history and witnessing leadership that genuinely embodies our state is empowering, Ruiz added. Not only are our towns represented at the table, but we also play a significant part in the discussion about Oregon’s future.
Way to the Legislature
After a few months in Oregon, Jama secured his first U.S. position with Lutheran Community Services Northwest, where he assisted immigrants and refugees in navigating housing, healthcare, and education. After seeing that those problems were not limited to immigrants, he co-founded the Center for Intercultural Organizing, which is now known as Unite Oregon, in 2003. The statewide nonprofit promotes health equity, economic justice, housing, education, community safety, and climate justice throughout the state.
He met with folks in rural Oregon as part of his effort, who told him how they felt powerless and unrepresented in decisions made in Portland or Salem.
He was fully aware of the topic they were discussing.
“That’s kind of how we feel as former refugees and immigrants ourselves,” Jama remarked. Thus, a certain synergy is present right away.
He spent time in Salem, where he focused on housing and pushed initiatives before the Legislature. Jama believed that as an elected person, he could be of greater assistance to the numerous people he had encountered in both urban and rural locations who were struggling to pay their rent and other costs.
2017 House Bill 4, one of the legislation he supported, would have prohibited no-cause evictions and permitted local governments to implement rent control ordinances. Tenant groups attributed the bill’s failure to Rod Monroe, a longstanding Democratic lawmaker and landlord who was then the state senator for Jama’s east Portland district.
One day, when advocating, I recall driving from Salem and saying, “I believe I should be able to address this issue in a way that helps the community to get where they need to be,” Jama recalled. I was deeply affected by the bill that failed that day. I chose to run for office after saying, “I’m going to go out and run for office.”
In the 2018 Democratic primary, he faced Monroe, but another progressive Portlander with a gripping backstory had the same idea: Shemia Fagan, a civil rights attorney who had served two terms in the state House before, won that three-way primary with over 60% of the vote after telling voters about her childhood visits to her homeless mother.
Two years later, Fagan was elected secretary of state and was regarded as a strong candidate for the U.S. Senate or the governor’s office until her political career ended abruptly in 2023 after it was revealed that she had accepted a $10,000-per-month consulting job for a struggling cannabis company that was the subject of an audit by her office.
However, someone had to complete the last two years of her Senate term after she was elected secretary of state in 2020, and county commissioners unanimously selected Jama. In the 24th District, which runs from east Portland to Damascus and Boring, he was handily reelected in 2022.
Jama claimed that the instant influence he could have as a lawmaker pleased him. He had pushed for the establishment of a state office devoted to assisting immigrants in integrating and advancing for over ten years prior to his appointment. It only took a few months after he entered the Senate to enact legislation and establish the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Advancement, which is currently located in the Department of Human Services and the governor’s office.
“It demonstrates why representation is important and how you can make a difference in the lives of all Oregonians, regardless of their background. As a legislator, you can make a huge difference and make Oregon a better place for all Oregonians,” he added.
Put housing and cooperation first.
After entering the Legislature, Jama continued to prioritize housing, and during his first term, he was appointed chair of the Senate Housing and Development Committee. Eugene Democrat Julie Fahey, who is currently the speaker of the House, and his counterpart on the House housing committee From stronger rent control regulations to COVID-era eviction safeguards to a compromise earlier this year between land use campaigners and builders to permit additional homes to be built on the periphery of cities, Jama spearheaded parliamentary efforts to pass historic legislation.
His working relationship with Sen. Dick Anderson, a Republican from Lincoln City who is the vice chair of his committee and was one of only three Senate Republicans permitted to run for reelection due to his non-participation in a six-week walkout in 2023, has garnered him praise from Capitol observers along the way. They collaborated closely on housing policy, striking a balance between left-leaning ideas like rent control and more traditionally conservative ones like loosening rules for builders.
Jama stated, “Senator Anderson is a really nice human being, an amazing person to work with, and an incredible leader himself, so he makes my work very easy.” My approach to working with others is simply to work together to care for all Oregonians, regardless of their background, and to work with the idea that, in the end, we must prioritize Oregonians over our leadership positions.
Jama stated that he will adopt the same strategy as the majority leader, seeking to establish a shared understanding with both Republicans and his caucus members. According to him, all senators speak for all Oregonians, not just those in their districts, and they can agree on issues like cutting expenses, preventing drug abuse and homelessness, and enhancing the state’s transportation system to make it easier for people to move about.
According to him, those kinds of problems affect all Oregonians, irrespective of their background. As lawmakers, those are the topics that bring us together, and we can hopefully concentrate on them and ensure that Oregonians receive services that improve their quality of life.
— Oregon Capital Chronicle’s Julia Shumway
Established in 2021, The Oregon Capital Chronicle is a nonprofit news outlet that specializes in Oregon politics, government, and policy.
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