Two Democratic candidates seek party’s nod in open House district race in southeast Portland

Willy Chotzen (left) and Mary Lou Hennrich are Democratic candidates in the primary race for the 46th House District seat. (Campaign photos)

Two Democratic candidates are vying for an open House seat in a reliably blue district in southeast Portland. 

Willy Chotzen, a public defender, and Mary Lou Hennrich, a retired health care executive, are running for the 46th House District seat. Nearly 50% of voters in the district are Democratic, while about 8% are Republican, voter registration data show. The remaining voters are independent or belong to third parties. With no Republican candidates running, the winner will likely be elected to a two-year term, replacing Rep. Khanh Pham, D-Portland, who is running for a state Senate seat 

Both candidates have experience in fields touching the most pressing issues in Oregon. As a public defender, Chotzen sees firsthand how the shortage of defense attorneys to represent criminal defendants who cannot afford an attorney impacts them and the courts system. 

Hennrich worked for decades in public health, including serving as a public health nurse for Multnomah County. She was also the first CEO  CareOregon,  a large Medicaid insurer that contracts with the state to provide health care to low-income Portland area people through the Oregon Health Plan. 

Here’s a look at the two candidates: 

Willy Chotzen

Chotzen is the chief attorney for the Metropolitan Public Defender’s misdemeanor unit, which has about 15 attorneys who handle cases in Multnomah County for people who cannot afford representation. 

Chotzen said he has seen as a public defender the need for the state to have a coordinated response to address the behavioral health and homeless crises. A major part of what’s needed is transparency, he said. For example, people should be able to see waitlists for homeless shelters, addiction treatment centers and recovery houses. 

Name: Willy Chotzen

Party: Democratic 

Age: 33

Residence: Portland

Education: Law degree, Harvard Law School, 2019; bachelor’s in economics and political science, Washington University in St. Louis,  2013

Current occupation: Public defender, chief attorney for the misdemeanor unit, Metropolitan Public Defender 

Prior elected experience: None

Family status: Married, two children

Fundraising: $165,754 as of May 10.

Cash on hand: $13,250 as of May 10.

For public defenders and others trying to help their clients, that would be a valuable tool – and it would show the public where taxpayer money is going, he said. 

A lot has been allocated in recent years.

Oregon lawmakers allocated $211 million in the last session for drug addiction treatment and court programs. And in 2021, lawmakers put about $1.3 billion toward behavioral health programs and services. 

He said voters wonder where the money has gone, seeing few results.

“I can empathize with those feelings,” he said. “I don’t think the answer is that we give up.”

As a public defender, he’s seen the criminal justice effects of an overburdened system, with overworked public defenders and prosecutors forced to dismiss charges for defendants who lack representation. It’s a complex challenge and one that will need attention in different ways, he said, such as addressing the pay of public defenders and addressing inefficiencies in the court system that can delay cases. 

But, he stressed, it’s also key that Oregon looks for ways to lower the number of people who need a public defender in the first place. For the state to do that, Oregon will need to expand addiction treatment, affordable housing and improve the education  system, he said.

“That needs to be part of the conversation around the public defender shortage long term,” he said. “How do we actually really reduce these root causes?

Chotzen also has his sights set on other issues. For example, he wants to find ways to address the state’s shortage of affordable child care for youngsters up to age 5. 

He said he’s not sure yet what the solution should look like and still has much to learn from others. But he said the state needs good pathways for Oregonians to enter the field and be paid appropriately. 

Chotzen said he would focus on building a consensus around good ideas without drawing attention to himself.

“I’m not someone who’s super focused on who gets credit for something,” he said. “I’m really good at bringing people on board with an idea and finding ways to build alliances.”

He’s worked in public education before his law career.

Before law school, Chotzen was a middle school math teacher at a public school that served low-income students in Oakland, California. The experience, he said, reinforced the need for leaders to do everything they can to eliminate inequities in education and break the cycle of poverty. 

He’s endorsed by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and Pham, among others. A variety of education and labor groups support him, including the Portland Association of Teachers and Oregon AFL-CIO, a statewide group of labor organizations that represent more than 300,000 Oregonians.

Mary Lou Hennrich

Hennrich has a long career in public health that started in 1969 as a public health nurse in Multnomah County. 

She later became an administrator at the county and then ran CareOregon, which covers more than half a million Oregonians with its affiliates, Jackson Care Connect and Columbia Pacific CCO. 

Before she retired in 2014, Hennrich was executive director of the Oregon Public Health Institute. The nonprofit has successfully lobbied for better nutrition standards in public schools so they no longer sold sugary drinks and cookies from vending machines.

Name: Mary Lou Hennrich

Party: Democratic 

Age: 76

Residence: Portland 

Education: Master’s degree in community health, University of Portland, 1979; bachelor’s degree in nursing, University of Portland, 1969

Current occupation: Retired health care executive 

Prior elected experience: None

Family status: Married, two grown children

Fundraising: $87,100, as of May 10.

Cash on hand: $17,61,6 as of May 10. 

“My whole career has been fighting for equity and justice in health care,” Hennnrich said. 

Hennrich said her longevity in the district – she’s lived there since she was 3 – and her long career in public health would be assets as a legislator. 

“I have developed relationships with people, even people that certainly don’t agree with me on things and am able to get some things done,” Hennrich said. “I’m not a miracle worker, I tell people.”

Hennrich said she wants to work in the Legislature to advance universal health care, which would put quality health care in place for all Oregonians regardless of their ability to pay. 

In 2023, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 1089, which created a Universal Health Plan Government Board. The board is required by law to submit a plan to the Legislature by September 2026. 

Hennrich said she would want to work on whatever plan comes out – and get legislation passed to make its recommendations a reality. 

She said the current health system is inequitable.

“Your race, your age, your ethnicity – all of those things really immediately kind of establish where you are in the pecking order of health care,” Hennrich said. “It’s very inequitable, and if we really want equity, we’ve got to change it to a universal system.”

While Hennrich isn’t sure what the board will recommend, she said universal health care would need to cover everyone and eliminate the relentless push for profits. 

“Everyone from the scullery maid to the queen needs to be covered,” she said.

Hennrich is steeped in Oregon’s health care history, and it would inform her work as a legislator. For instance, In 1985, as a deputy director of the Multnomah County Health Department, she helped establish one of the state’s first school-based health centers at Roosevelt High School in north Portland. The centers, which provide clinical care for public school students, now number more than 70 statewide, and advocates are seeking more to expand care for students.

Her name recognition has attracted high profile endorsements, from Gov. Tina Kotek to Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Portland, and Sen. Deb Patterson, D-Salem, each one chair of their chamber’s health care committee. The Oregon Nurses Association, which Hennrich belonged to for 50 years, has also endorsed her. 

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