Kitzhaber wants four more years

PORTLAND, OR -- A day before he was to embark on a series of press conferences throughout the state to announce plans for his political future, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber let out a little secret. He told a crowd of about 90 union leaders that he would, in fact, run for re-election.

Addressing one of the largest crowds ever to assemble for a breakfast sponsored by the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, Kitzhaber said, "There is much left to be done if we want to keep Oregon the best place in the world to live."

Kitzhaber, 50, who is in the last year of his first four-year term, pledged to focus on education, transportation, juvenile crime and growth issues in his second term.

"This election is about how Oregon will enter the 21st century," he said.

At the time, Kitzhaber didn't know who his Republican opponent might be. But days after Kitzhaber's announcement Bill Sizemore, the anti-union, twice-failed businessman and director of Oregon Taxpayers United, ended all speculation by announcing his candidacy in the Republican primary. At the labor council breakfast, Kitzhaber wondered aloud why "the GOP would turn their party over to someone like Sizemore. It's hard to believe. But if they do, that's great," he said, although still not convinced that someone like former Republican Congressman Denny Smith might not get involved. Kitzhaber defeated Smith soundly in 1994.

Kitzhaber reiterated his support of prevailing wage laws and his opposition to "right-to-work (for less)," which would become a reality under Sizemore.

-END-

Home | About