Sherwood fifth grader named 2023 Oregon Kid Governor

SHERWOOD, Ore. (KPTV) - A fifth grader from Sherwood has been elected Oregon’s 5th Kid Governor.

Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan announced Lea Andrus the winner at Hawks View Elementary on Friday.

As part of the Oregon Kid Governor program, each elementary school in the state is allowed to enter one student into a statewide election.

“More than 3,200 students and 127 classrooms participated in this year’s election,” said Secretary of State Shemia Fagan. “The Oregon Kid Governor program is an incredible civic education program teaching young Oregonians how their government works. I support this program because it gives a real-life civics education to young kids. The free program provides toolkits, lesson plans, and Oregon specific education tools celebrating Oregon democracy.”

Only fifth graders vote, then a selection committee chooses the final seven candidates. Those candidates work with their classmates to create campaign videos. They’re told to include why they want to be Kid Governor, what kind of leadership skills they have, an issue they want to focus on, and a plan to address that issue.

The issue Lea chose to focus on is ending bullying. To address her vision, she outlined a plan to foster connections between classmates through a weekly note program she calls Tootles. She also plans to help schools appoint “kindness helpers” and promote daily acts of kindness.

Lea’s campaign video can be viewed here.

The other final candidates and their community issues included:

All of the finalists for Oregon Kid Governor will now become cabinet members who will help work to advance their platform issues, along with the Oregon Kid Governor’s platform.

Lea’s one year term will begin in January 2023 with an inauguration.

To learn more about the Kid Governor Program and to view all the candidates’ videos go to: or.kidgovernor.org