Article V, Section 7 to 8a of the Oregon State Constitution

In this post we look at Article V, Sections 7 to 8a of the Oregon State Constitution.  Article V is entitled "Executive Branch" and defines the role of Governor.
Section 7 defines the term as 4 years long.  This repeats what is stated in Section 1.  The Oregon Revised Statutes section 176 give the exact timing.
Section 8a defines a succession in the case the Governor cannot fulfill her or his duties.  The chain goes to:

• Secretary of State
• State Treasurer
• President of the Senate
• Speaker of the House of Representatives

However, the appointments create vacancies and these can be filled by way of further appointments of Acting Secretary of State or Acting State Treasurer.  If it happens that both the Governor and then Secretary of State and Treasurer all end up unable to fulfill the role, people appointed as Acting cannot be promoted to Governor.  In other words, the Governor has to have been elected by the people to some office.  Worst case, the Legislature calls for emergency elections, I guess.
This succession provision has been used, most recently with Brown taking over from Kitzhaber, but looking through the list of Governors and dates, it has occurred regularly that a the 4 year term has not been fulfilled.  There is a list of Governors and their dates of office here.