Retired Judge to Become Oregon's First Female AG This Month
Ellen Rosenblum
Ellen Rosenblum hadn’t planned on becoming Oregon’s first female attorney general until November when voters make the call.
But this week, Gov. John Kitzhaber announced he’s putting her in the job six months early.
Rosenblum, a retired judge, will succeed John Kroger, who resigned his AG post early to become president of Reed College in Portland, the Associated Press reports. She’ll be sworn in on June 29.
Rosenblum is the Democratic nominee for attorney general. She faces Republican write-in candidate James Buchal, a Portland attorney, in the fall.
Rosenblum, who retired from the Oregon Court of Appeals last year, has previously served as a trial judge and as an assistant U.S. attorney, the Statesman Journal reports.
“This is a historic moment,” Gov. Kitzhaber is quoted saying. “Throughout her career, Ellen has been an advocate for the people of Oregon.”
Rosenblum is active in the ABA, having served as ABA secretary and as chair of the ABA’s Diversity Commission. She’s also a former chair of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. Rosenblum, who is currently a member of the Standing Committee on Public Education, was previously a candidate for president-elect of the ABA, but withdrew in the weeks leading up to last year’s annual meeting in Toronto.
