 In 1983, Kerans was elected by his peers as the Speaker of the House for the biennial legislative session held in that year.Kerans gave up his seat in the House in 1984 to run for Oregon State Treasurer.Chosen as the Democratic nominee in the May primary election, Kerans went on to lose to Republican Bill Rutherford in the November 1984 general election, falling to defeat by a margin of 18 percentage points.