Ted Kulongoski

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Oregon Supreme Court Justice
Ted Kulongoski

36^th Governor of Oregon
Incumbent
Assumed office January 13, 2003
Preceded by	John Kitzhaber
Succeeded by	Incumbent
In office 1997 – 2001

Born	November 5, 1940 St. Louis, Missouri
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Mary Oberst
Religion	Roman Catholic
Current term of office ends January 10, 2011; Prior offices include State Representative, State Senator, and Oregon Insurance Commissioner.

Theodore R. "Ted" Kulongoski (born November 5, 1940, in rural Missouri [1]) is an American Democratic politician. Since 2003, he has served as the Governor of Oregon. He was re-elected in 2006.

When he was four, his father died, and Kulongoski spent the rest of his childhood in a Catholic boys home. After high school, Kulongoski served in the Marines, and with the help of the G. I. Bill, obtained an undergraduate and law degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. [2]

After law school, Kulongoski moved to Eugene, Oregon and became a labor lawyer.[3] In 1974, he was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives, and in 1978 to the Oregon State Senate. In 1980, he ran an unsuccessful campaign for the United States Senate, losing to incumbent Republican Bob Packwood. In 1982, he made his first bid for governor, only to be defeated by Republican incumbent Victor G. Atiyeh.[4]

However, in 1987, Oregon Governor Neil Goldschmidt appointed Kulongoski to the post of state insurance commissioner. In that role, Kulongoski reformed the state's workers' compensation insurance system, a move that is widely credited for increasing benefits to workers while lowering costs to business.

1 1992 & 1996 Elections
2 2002 Election
3 2006 Election
4 See also
5 External links
6 Electoral history

[edit] 1992 & 1996 Elections

In 1992, Kulongoski was elected as state Attorney General defeating Republican Rich Rodeman. [5] As Attorney General, he focused on reforming the juvenile justice system.[6] In 1996, Kulongoski decided against running for re-election as Oregon's Attorney General, and instead successfully ran for Oregon's Supreme Court. [7] He resigned from the court in 2001 to run for governor.

[edit] 2002 Election

After winning the nomination in the 2002 race for governor, Kulongoski's opponent was Republican Kevin Mannix. Kulongoski ran a low-key campaign, emphasizing his reputation as a consensus-builder and problem solver. His television commercials featured such feel-good scenes as the candidate bowling. He argued for a pragmatic approach to solving the state's budget crisis and recession, a marked departure from the more confrontational style of outgoing governor (and fellow Democrat) John Kitzhaber. Mannix argued that the Democratic Party had held the governorship in Oregon too long, and pledged to reduce government spending without cutting vital services. Many of Kulongoski's supporters were disappointed with his campaign, feeling he did not adequately respond to Mannix's challenge. Kulongoski narrowly won the election, winning 618,004 votes, with 581,785 votes going to Mannix, and 57,760 votes going to Libertarian candidate Tom Cox.[8]

Kulongoski took office January 13, 2003. [9] He inherited a state facing a massive budget deficit and high unemployment. Furthermore, he faced the task of dealing with problems with the public employees' pension system without angering the labor unions that backed his campaign. As Governor, he is a member of the National Governors Association and the Democratic Governors Association.

[edit] 2006 Election

On December 1, 2005 the Eugene Register-Guard, reported that former Democratic Governor John Kitzhaber was unhappy with Kulongoski's leadership, and was considering challenging Kulongoski in the Democratic primary. But one month later, Kitzhaber announced he would not do so, as did another potential Democratic rival, State Senator Vicki Walker. This left Governor Kulongoski with two challengers: Lane County Commissioner Pete Sorenson, and former State treasurer Jim Hill, both of whom accused Kulongoski of betraying Democratic Party principles in the primary debates. Stated Hill, "From my standpoint, it [the Democratic Party primary debate] is a good opportunity to show what a horrible Democrat Ted has been".[10] The Service Employees International Union Local 503 [11] decided to endorse Jim Hill [12], and the Multnomah County Democratic Central Committee [13] decided to endorse Kulongoski's rivals but not him at a February 19 2006 meeting.

Some other interest groups also indicated unhappiness with Kulongoski. Palestinian supporters from Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights [14] questioned Kulongoski's connections to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, after the governor was quoted as saying that "support for AIPAC is an article of faith for both political parties." And in April 2006, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde started running advertisements for Jim Hill over Ted Kulongoski, due to the Governor's decision allowing a rival tribe, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs to build a casino in Cascade Locks. Hill attacked Kulongoski stating, "Let's be real clear: Once again, Ted lied". Kulongoski denied the accusation, stating that he endorsed the Cascade Locks site only to prevent the Warm Springs tribe from building on tribal land near Hood River, in the scenic Columbia River Gorge, which by law they are allowed to do. [15]

On May 16, 2006, Kulongoski won the Democratic primary with 54% of the vote. Jim Hill finished second with 25%, and Lane County Commissioner Pete Sorenson garnered 16% of the vote.

Kulongoski faced multiple opponents in the general election: Republican Party candidate Ron Saxton, Constitution Party candidate Mary Starrett, Libertarian Party candidate Richard Morley, and Green Party candidate Joe Keating. Republican Ben Westlund planned on running as independent, but on August 10, 2006 withdrew from the race, stating that "I made a commitment to the people of Oregon that I was in it to win it and that I absolutely would not play a spoiler role". [16]

On November 7, 2006, Kulongoski won a second term by a result of 50% to 42% over Ron Saxton. [17]

[edit] See also

Oregon gubernatorial election, 2006

[edit] External links

[edit] Electoral history

2006 Race for Governor
- Ted Kulongoski (D), 50%
- Ron Saxton (R), 42%
- Mary Starrett (C), 3%

2002 Race for Governor
- Ted Kulongoski (D), 49%
- Kevin Mannix (R), 46%
- Tom Cox (L), 5%

Preceded by John Kitzhaber	Governor of Oregon 2003 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by Charles Crookham	Oregon Attorney General 1993 – 1997	Succeeded by Hardy Myers