Democratic, Independent and Pacific Green gubernatorial candidates came to the University Tuesday and amicably debated about how to improve and fund Oregon’s higher education system.
Democrats Jim Hill and Pete Sorenson, Independent Ben Westlund, Pacific Green candidate Joe Keating and Courtney Warner, a representative for Democrat incumbent Gov. Ted Kulongoski, presented their platforms and answered questions from audience members in 150 Columbia.
Each candidate gave a seven-minute introduction and open statement on topics provided beforehand. In the following hour-long session, candidates had three minutes to respond to each question. Warner refused to participate in the question-and-answer section.
Emeritus political science professor and moderator Jerry Medler said he had hoped the questions would pertain to education, but audience members’ questions touched on topics ranging from tuition to the environment and corporate contributions.
Most candidates spent their time criticizing Gov. Kulongoski’s leadership and the state of education in Oregon.
Hill said that in terms of governors’ popularity, Kulongoski ranked third to last according to SurveyUSA, and joked that the other two were probably under indictment. Sorenson, Kulongoski’s most vocal critic at the forum, said Kulongoski lacked leadership skills. Sorenson received a large round of applause when he said it was immoral that so many people in the state lacked health insurance.
Warner, a 2005 graduate of the University, spoke on behalf of Kulongoski. She said the governor’s success was proof of higher education’s effectiveness, noting that he was able to attend college because of the GI Bill. She also highlighted Kulongoski’s Education Enterprise plan, which she said seeks to reduce college tuition, improve education programs and expand community colleges for people who cannot afford to attend a four-year college.
Warner said that when Kulongoski was elected, Oregon was running a multi-billion dollar deficit and had the highest unemployment rate in the nation. Now more Oregonians are working, she said, and the state has the fifth-fastest growing economy in the nation. She said Kulongoski is looking for student support in his re-election campaign.
“With our economy on the rebound, we can invest in priorities for Oregonians like education, health care and increasing our energy independence,” Warner said.
Each candidate offered ideas on cutting tuition and funding Oregon’s education.
Hill, a former state treasurer who ran for governor in 2002, said improving Oregon’s funding and investing in students are the most important challenges facing higher education. The three most important things for the state are education, education and education, he said, attributing the statement to a former North Carolina governor. He added that the governor has a role in securing money for the universities.
Hill, who said he grew up in Atlanta, attended an all-black university because the University of Georgia didn’t accept black students at the time. He said his undergraduate experiences shaped his character. After graduating in 1964 he left Georgia to attend Michigan State University, but he still drew a lot of attention and stares from white students. He wondered whether they were reacting to him personally or to the color of his skin, he said.
“After a while, I came to the conclusion that if they’re looking at me as something other than who I am, that’s their problem,” Hill said. “I lifted a great weight off my shoulders, and I said I’m here to be myself. In fact I’m everywhere to be myself, and if those people don’t like it, it’s their problem.”
Westlund, an Independent state senator and former Republican,
described himself as a husband, father and entrepreneur. Despite winning his seat in 2004 with Democrat and Republican endorsements, he said he recently became an Independent because good public policy had been affected by extreme partisan politics and gridlock. He said he was the only candidate with the budget experience and proven ability to fix Oregon’s fiscal system, especially for the benefit of education.
“As a state representative since 1996 and as a state senator in 2003, I brought people together and worked across party lines to find the best solutions for real problems,” Westlund said. “As governor, I will bridge the gap between Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives.”
Keating, a long-time Oregon activist and co-founder of the Pacific Green party, said students are burdened with debt after graduating college and are forced to work for “the man” to pay it off.
“To me, that is not what education is about,” Keating said.
The state should work to help pay off student debt, he said and added that his campaign is also looking for new creative ideas to save money and solve the problems in the state. He said he didn’t have all of the answers, but was considering talking to students to gather ideas.
Sorenson, a former state senator and a current Lane County commissioner, also worked on James Weaver’s congressional campaign and helped defeat a four-term incumbent while a student at the University, he said. It would only take 160,000 voters to defeat Kulongoski in the primary and create a progressive Oregon, he told the audience.
Sorenson said tuition was a much different situation when he was a student. When he attended the University he said it was possible to graduate with just a year of debt if a student worked a minimum-wage job while studying, but now his daughter, a senior at the University, pays more in income taxes than two-thirds of most corporations.
He suggested that the state should be involved in loan-forgiveness and promised to set an agenda to lower tuition.
The event was sponsored by the Pi Sigma Alpha honor society for students of government and politics, and it was the first time the debate has been hosted on campus, Chelsea Byers, the society’s president, said.
“We were very persistent as far as calling their campaign consultants,” Byers said.
Byers said the Republican candidates had been contacted, but none were able to attend because of scheduling conflicts.
The candidates declined to attack their opponents. Westlund said he attended previous debates with Hill and Sorenson and praised their participation, although he disputed Sorenson’s claim that Sorenson was the only candidate in the voter’s pamphlet addressing Oregon’s finances.
“We’re all going to be in good shape if one of these candidates wins,” Keating said.

Contact the city, state politics reporter at [email protected]