Annessa in the Media

Personal and Professional Update from Rep. Annessa Hartman

Gearing up for a new fight as we close 2025 and looking ahead to a strong, healthy 2026

Today, I am sharing something deeply personal. After a few weeks of testing and conversations with my medical team, I am taking this time to share that I have been diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer. I will begin my treatment at OHSU the first week of December, which will include a combination of targeted radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. Even though this diagnosis is terrifying, my medical team and I are optimistic about my treatment plan, and I enter this next chapter with clarity and determination.

The past several weeks have been some of the most painful, surreal, and awakening days of my life. When being confronted with your own fragility, the noise of the world fades, and what remains is what truly matters: connection, purpose, and presence. I’ve been reminded that strength is not the absence of fear or uncertainty, it is choosing to stand in the truth of who you are, even when the ground beneath you shifts.

I also need to be clear that I remain fully committed to completing my term in the state legislature, and continuing my campaign for Clackamas County Commission. Public service is not something I do only in moments of ease; it’s something I believe in wholeheartedly, especially now. This diagnosis has only strengthened my sense of purpose and my commitment to building a place where compassion, accountability, and community care guide our decisions.

I want to share how profoundly grateful I am to my family and friends who have held me up during these early, difficult weeks. Their love has been and will remain my anchor throughout this entire process. 

I share this news with transparency because I believe in honesty, humanity, and showing up as my whole self — even in the hardest moments. To all the Oregonians dealing with health crises while juggling the challenge of a broken health care system, your work, your mental health, and your family, my heart is with you. I am sending you strength and courage, and know that I am in this fight alongside you.

And if you take anything from this news, let it be this: Prioritize your health. Get screened. And please, slow down enough to feel your life while you’re living it. Life is fragile, terrifyingly fragile but it is also unbelievably beautiful when you allow yourself to live inside it instead of rushing past it. While this is not the journey I expected at 37, I am choosing to move forward with grace, courage, and an appreciation for life I didn’t know was possible.