Stephanie Yao | The Oregonian/OregonLive / 2017

Oregon politician Peter Courtney: Dramatic, eccentric, unexpected

Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney -- who is talking about his possible retirement -- is known for his dramatic, eccentric oratory and unexpected antics. Here, we present a sampling.

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Faith Cathcart | The Oregonian / 2004

No claims to be 'the greatest thing ever'

"I think these are difficult times, so I'm offering my experience and skills. I'm not going to come up with some grandiose statement that I'm the greatest thing ever. That's not my style."

Peter Courtney in a 2004 interview about the showdown between him and then-Sen. Kate Brown about whether she should replace him after his first term as president of the Senate. He is shown at a 2004 political fundraiser in Portland with Sen. Margaret Carter, left, and Sen. Vicki Walker.

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Betsy Hammond | The Oregonian/OregonLive

'The only problem with children is adults'

Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, explaining his support for tuition equity in 2013. He is shown testifying on Ash Wednesday 2013 before a committee considering a bill on the topic.

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Peter Courtney's frank interview about asking John Kitzhaber to resign as governor

“I am worried about everything.”

Peter Courtney during a frank, surprising 14-minute interview about asking Gov. John Kitzhaber to resign in February 2015

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Shan Gordon| The Oregonian | 1992

The Senate president as a younger man

“When I was on the Salem City Council I was hot. When I was in the Legislature in the early 80s, I was hot… I was gonna run for Congress.”

Peter Courtney’s 2015 commencement address at Western Oregon University. He is shown here with then-Sen. John Kitzhaber back in 1992, when Courtney was a House member from Salem.

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Betsy Hammond | The Oregonian/OregonLive

No game plan

“I never had a game plan. I never practiced this play. I never was on this team. I have don’t have any primer. I don’t have any idea of how you do this. Because I never thought I would be here.”

Courtney on his struggle with how to handle the ethics crisis that led to John Kitzhaber’s ouster as governor in February 2015.

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Betsy Hammond | The Oregonian/OregonLive

'I am aware my personality can offend people'

“I am aware that my personality can offend people. That my style can be too flamboyant. That I frolic too much.”

Peter Courtney’s 2015 commencement address at Western Oregon University

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An epic floor speech

“According to most people, humans having sex with animals is not a good idea.”

One of the ear-catching remarks from an eight-minute 2013 Senate floor speech on an animal protection bill that was vintage Peter Courtney

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Michael Lloyd / The Oregonian / 2002

Desperate times

"I was flat-out desperate. I couldn't sleep. The institution was tearing itself apart. I thought people were expecting me to find a way to do this. I said 'Courtney, you're the veteran, you're supposed to find a way.' "

Peter Courtney on his all-night 2002 effort to remake the deal to resolve an $860 million budget shortfall. He prevailed. He is shown with Sen. Lenn Hannon, an Ashland Republican, in 2002, when they toiled over budget cuts.

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Michael Lloyd | The Oregonian | 2010

Some wacko moments

“That's an ungodly amount of money. Spending now is in a wacko frenzy!"

Sen. Peter Courtney speaking in 2001 about a campaign finance reform bill. The photo shows Courtney on the Senate floor in 2010.

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Michael Lloyd | The Oregonian | 2007

'It is never my style to embarrass people. I feel very badly about that.'

Senate President Peter Courtney on his 2007 decision to send state troopers to a baseball game to round up absent Republican senators for a vote. In the photo, Senator Ted Ferrioli, left to right, Senate President Peter Courtney, President Pro Tempore Margaret Carter and Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, gather at the presiding officer's podium near the end of the 2007 Legislative session.

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Jeff Mapes | The Oregonian | 2015

'Oregon is on the verge of its own civil war.'

Remarks at the 2015 Oregon Leadership Summit by Peter Courtney, who went so far as to compare looming ballot fights including that over Measure 97 to the bloodiest day of America's real Civil War, the Battle of Antietam

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Stephanie Yao Long | The Oregonian | April 2017

'Things have been said and done that will leave wounds. That is sad.'

Senate President Peter Courtney’s official statement about the 2017 legislative session. He adjourned his chamber early, rather than wait for the House to finish its business and hold a joint adjournment, for the first time since 2003