For months the Oregon Republican Party has said it will be using two methods this election season to help it win statewide positions: Endorse only one candidate for each position and wait to announce its selections until close to the March 11 filing deadline.
By the time Tuesday’s 5 p.m. deadline passed, the party’s list for three of the state’s most powerful positions included only two candidates, neither of whom have held any significant government position, and no Republican candidate for the state’s attorney general position.
The other statewide offices up for grabs in the May 20 primary are the secretary of state – often called the second most important position behind the governor – and the state treasurer.
Attorney General
The field for the state’s top lawyer was dominated by two Democratic candidates during the past few months as the Oregon Republican Party refused to issue the name of its nominee for the position to stymie any possible in-party fighting.
Brianne Hyder, spokeswoman for the Oregon Republican Party, said the party did not nominate a candidate for attorney general because the GOP had recruited former legislator and gubernatorial candidate Kevin Mannix for the seat. The party decided against finding another candidate because it felt Mannix was the best person available and did not want to find a replacement, she said.
Mannix recently filed to run for an open U.S. Congressional seat that is being vacated by incumbent Darlene Hooley, who said she will not run for reelection.
The winner of the Democratic seat for attorney general will run unopposed to succeed incumbent Hardy Myers, who has held the position since 1996.
The two democratic candidates who battled it out in the media were three-term state Rep. Greg Macpherson, D-Lake Oswego, and former federal prosecutor John Kroger.
Both have résumés chock full of legal experience and Ivy League education.
Macpherson sits at the head of the House Judiciary Committee and spent more than 30 years as an employee benefits lawyer. He graduated from Harvard University and Georgetown Law School.
Kroger graduated from Yale University and attended Harvard Law School. He now teaches criminal law at Lewis & Clark Law School and has a laundry list of high-profile criminals he has prosecuted including Enron executives, drug kingpins and Mafia killers.
Secretary of State
In the secretary of state race, four heavyweight Democrats are vying for the position against two unorthodox candidates, the lone Republican and a lesser-known Democrat.
Rick Dancer, a former local TV news anchor on KEZI 9, quit his job as a journalist to jump head-first into a political race some have said may be too high-speed for him.
Dancer, who filed as a Republican, said he feels this is the one state government position that should be nonpartisan, and as a former journalist he fits that ideal perfectly, he said.
“You get into a place where you can really make a difference … You have to be fair, and it’s been my life’s work to be fair,” Dancer said of his entering the race as a former journalist.
On the other side of the political party divide sits Paul Wells, a registered Democrat with a slice of irony.
The secretary of state oversees the elections process, which Wells has spent years trying to change, according to his Web site.
Although Wells did not immediately return calls from the Emerald, his filing information lists his prior experience as an independent voting rights advocate, and his personal Web site states he has been “actively involved in election reform since 1992.”
The perceived big four, the Democrats who have the most recognizable résumés running for the secretary of state position, include four state senators: Vicki Walker, D-Eugene; Rick Metsger, D-Welches; Kate Brown, D-Portland; and Brad Avakian, D-Beaverton.
State Treasurer
The state treasurer’s race will be a one-on-one battle between Republican Allen Alley and Senator Ben Westlund, D-Tumalo.
Alley served as a top advisor to Gov. Ted Kulongoski from Jan. 2007 until he resigned on March 5 to run for the treasurer position. Before his tenure in government, Alley presided over a technology company, Pixelworks, Inc., as president and CEO.
Alley’s opponent, however, has a much more extensive history of public service.
Westlund’s résumé includes six years of work in the state’s House of Representatives, and he has served as a state senator since 2003.
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