SALEM -- Gov. Kate Brown administered the oath of office to Rep. Andrea Salinas of Lake Oswego on Monday, making her the newest member of the Oregon Legislature.

Salinas was appointed to the seat by the commissioners of Multnomah and Clackamas counties, which select legislators to fill vacancies in districts that overlap their counties. She replaces Ann Lininger, whom Brown appointed to a Clackamas County judgeship.

Until last week, Salinas, 47, was a lobbyist for powerful public employee unions SEIU Local 503 and AFSCME Council 75 and other left-leaning groups. She said she has resigned from lobbying firm Strategies360 and from the Oregon Capitol Club lobbying association. It's unclear who will lobby in her place for SEIU, Salinas said, and she suspects AFSCME will hire an in-house lobbyist.

Salinas worked as a lobbyist in Oregon for nearly a decade, formerly ran her own political consultancy and was an aide to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Rep. Peter Stark, D-Calif.; and Darlene Hooley, D-Ore.

Oregon's lawmakers are supposed to hold outside work and are paid only about $23,000 a year for their official duties. Salinas said she's unsure what she will do for work now that she's resigned her lobbying post.

On policy, Salinas said she plans to work on legislation that aims to alleviate the Portland-area housing crunch.

"I feel like we need to provide some relief to renters," she said.

Salinas' district includes southwest Portland, Multnomah Village and Lake Oswego. She was welcomed to the Legislature by Democratic and Republican leadership in the House of Representatives.

To keep her newly-acquired seat, Salinas will need to run for election to the job in November 2018. She said that although she has not formally declared her candidacy, she plans to run for the seat.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman