State Rep. Sara Gelser, who represented Corvallis House District 16 in this year’s Legislative session, has announced she will run for re-election. The district includes Corvallis and Philomath.

“This is a great job, and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve,” she said. “We had a great session in 2007, but there is so much work left to do.”

In December 2005, local Democrats selected Gelser to finish the term of former Rep. Kelley Wirth, who resigned after being charged with drug possession and accused of state ethics violations. In November 2006, voters elected Gelser to the District 16 seat by a two-to-one margin.

During her first term, Gelser served as assistant majority leader. In the 2007 session, Gelser introduced and passed initiatives including “Karly’s Law,” which tightened the requirements for investigating potential child-abuse victims; housing support for severely disabled children and legislation creating a statewide program for processing construction permits online, the first of its kind in the nation.

Gelser also successfully advocated for funding to build a new health and science center at Linn-Benton Community College and the Linus Pauling Center at Oregon State University.

A founding member of the Senior and Disability Caucus, which is discussing the reform of long-term care in Oregon, Gelser serves as co-chair of the Majority Office Policy Committee, which is developing the legislative agenda for the 2009 session.

Gelser serves on the Oregon Progress Board, the State Interagency Coordinating Council for Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education and the Child Welfare Advisory Committee.

Gelser’s first elected office was the Corvallis School Board, where she served from 2001 to 2006. She also worked as a policy analyst for the Oregon Department of Human Services.