PORTLAND, Ore. — Andrea Valderrama was appointed by Multnomah County commissioners to fill a seat vacated by Diego Hernandez, who was accused of harassment and ultimately resigned last month.
Valderrama, a policy director for ACLU of Oregon, will finish out the remainder of Hernandez’s term until the end of 2022. Hernandez ran unopposed for House District 47 and was re-elected in November.
District 47 is in Multnomah County between Interstate 205 and Rockwood. The Democratic Party of Oregon brought forward three names for commissioners to consider: Valderrama, Adrienne Enghouse and Robin Castro.
When asked about her top priorities as a future lawmaker, Valderrama said she would like to focus on solutions to the housing crisis, child care and providing additional accountability for officers.
Valderrama ran for Portland City Council in 2018 but lost to Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. She previously worked on Mayor Ted Wheeler's staff before becoming advocacy director at the Coalition of Communities of Color. She was there for a year and has been with the ACLU of Oregon since October 2020.
RELATED: Rep. Hernandez resigns after facing possible expulsion for hostile work environment allegations
The House seat opened up when Hernandez, facing a possible expulsion in a first-of-its-kind vote in Oregon, resigned Sunday, Feb. 21.
His announcement came after the House Committee on Conduct concluded that he, on multiple occasions, created an intimidating and hostile work environment for women at the Capitol.
This was not Rep. Hernandez’s first run-in with accusations of this type. He took a leave of absence from the Legislature after domestic violence allegations against him were made public in 2020.
