A former West Linn-Wilsonville School Board chair has joined the pool of applicants hoping to fill an open seat in the Oregon House of Representatives.

Chelsea King, a former small business owner and nonprofit executive, is one of three finalists who are aiming to represent House District 26. The seat was vacated when Sen. Courtney Neron Misslin, D-Wilsonville, was appointed to the Oregon Senate to replace late Sen. Aaron Woods following his death last month.

The district covers Wilsonville, King City, Sherwood and parts of Tigard, and the vacancy will be filled through a vote by commissioners within Clackamas, Washington and Yamhill counties during a meeting on Friday, June 6. Wilsonville resident Mary Pettenger, who serves on the school board’s Long Range Planning Committee announced her intention to seek the position last week.

The third candidate being considered for the seat is former Tigard-Tualatin School district superintendent Sue Rieke-Smith. Wilsonville resident Maegan Vidal, a current West Linn-Wilsonville School Board member, recently announced her intention to seek the position, but said in an interview she was not chosen to move forward in the process.

King served as the chair and vice chair of the school board during her two terms from 2015-2023, and has a background in education with experience teaching at Portland State University and Linfield University as an adjunct professor. She also has a background organizational development and communications, earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the field from Portland State University, according to her LinkedIn page. King has been a Precinct Committee Person for the Democratic Party of Clackamas County since 2015.

King is a mentor for the Wilsonville High School Robotics Team and co-founder of the Wilsonville Alliance for Inclusive Communities. She is the former Parent Teacher Association of Lowrie Primary School.

“I am thankful for the eight years I served on the school board,” King stated in the press release. “Leading during the pandemic was very challenging. I remained steadfast, and balanced many competing interests while keeping the best interests of our students as my north star.”

King’s priorities include “shame-free” treatment for substance abuse, particularly for those who are pregnant or care for young children, and preserving families and foster care prevention. She also supports investing in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life “to improve long-term health and education outcomes,” the release said.

King also hopes to focus on health care, including advocating for health care as a human right, protecting reproductive health care access and supporting adolescent mental and behavioral health.

Since 2022 King has led the Upstream Initiative through the Oregon Health and Education Collaborative, which she is executive director of. The initiative is a statewide effort to support young families that helped inform the bipartisan Child Success Act bill currently in the Oregon Legislature, the release said.

“This bill is designed to support the beginnings of a statewide investment strategy for the first 1,000 days of life,” King said. “But our long-term strategy must include more partnership and intentionality within our K-12 and Healthcare infrastructures, including both policy and budget.”