Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, a UO “double duck” alum who earned a BS in Sociology in 1971 and a law degree in 1975, announced that she will not be seeking reelection in 2025.

Rosenblum has been an active supporter of the UO and a pillar of the Oregon legal community. Her career path included practicing law as an assistant U.S. attorney in Eugene and Portland and serving as an Oregon district, circuit, and court of appeals judge. In 2012, she made history when she was elected the first woman to serve as Oregon Attorney General.

Rosenblum has served as attorney general since June 2012, when she was appointed to finish the term of former Attorney General John Kroger. She won election in 2012, 2016 and 2020.

Unlike the positions of governor, secretary of state and treasurer in Oregon, the attorney general doesn’t have term limits. But Rosenblum, 72, said in a statement Tuesday that she decided to impose her own. 

“Every state agency, no matter how well run, can benefit from new leadership, new energy, and new initiatives,” she said. “By making this announcement more than a full year before the next general election — and eight months before the primary — I expect there will be good candidates to succeed me as the People’s Attorney for Oregon.”

“I deeply appreciate the faith Oregonians have placed in me these past eleven years,” Rosenblum continued in the statement. “At the same time, a job like this belongs to the people of Oregon — not to any one individual.”