In 2004, Salinas registered as a federal lobbyist on behalf of the National Treasury Employees Union. She lobbied for two years before moving to Portland, where she later lobbied from 2015 to 2017.[5]
Early political career
After graduating from Berkeley, Salinas was a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Harry Reid and U.S. Representatives Pete Stark and Darlene Hooley.[2] She then worked as the legislative director of the Oregon Environmental Council. She left the Oregon Environmental Council to start her own legislative consulting practice. Before joining the Oregon House of Representatives, she was the Oregon Vice President of Strategies 360, a political consulting firm.[2][6]
In the 81st Oregon Legislative Assembly, she served in the leadership team as the majority whip.[9] She also was the chair of the House Committee on Health Care.[4]
In November 2021, Salinas announced her candidacy to represent Oregon's new congressional district. This announcement came with controversy, as she did not live in the district. But living in the district is not a requirement for Congress. Salinas said that if she won the race, she would move into the district.[10][11]
On November 8, 2022, Salinas won the open seat with 50.0% of the vote, defeating Republican Mike Erickson.[12] After the election, Erickson filed a lawsuit against Salinas over a television ad. The lawsuit initially sought to block her from taking office. He sued under a state law that allows a judge to set aside election results if the judge determines that a false statement by the victor swayed voters enough to change the election's outcome. During a December hearing, Erickson indicated through his attorney that he did not wish to overturn the election results, but was still seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages because of Salinas campaign ads that said he had been charged with drug possession.[13] Salinas was represented by the Portland law firm Markowitz Herbold PC and the Elias Law Group.[14][dead link]
In the 118th Congress, Salinas was the freshman representative for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.[15]
Salinas has cosponsored legislation to provide $300 million in federal funding for mental health services in public schools.[20] In 2023, Salinas and Diana Harshbarger introduced a bipartisan bill to provide $10 million for telehealth services in rural areas.[21]
