Democrats picked up four seats in Oregon’s House, breaking a 30–30 deadlock (and making Tina Kotek the first openly lesbian speaker in any legislature in the U.S.). A Democratic governor and Democratic Legislature now confront $16 billion in unfunded liabilities in a Public Employee Retirement System that has lost 27 percent of its value since […]

Read more

John Kitzhaber was first elected governor in 1994, the year of the “Gingrich Revolution.” For the first time in 50 years, Republicans controlled both houses of the Oregon Legislature—by such large margins that Democrats were not needed for quorums. Democratic Governor Kitzhaber, M.D., set a record. In two terms in office he vetoed 203 bills, […]

Read more

In 1994, An Oregon state senator drafted legislation extending Medicaid beyond the welfare recipients who had previously qualified for it. Results were good. In its first year, the Oregon Health Plan’s (OHP) enrollment climbed from 260,000 to 360,000, as 100,000 Oregonians who had depended on emergency rooms or charity clinics for their health care were […]

Read more

When Oregon governor John Kitzhaber needs to get away from the stresses of work, he heads to the Rogue River and rafts the great whitewater rapids that churn through its canyons. In calmer waters, he fly-fishes. “It’s my church,” the 65-year-old politician explains. “You’re in the moment. Ospreys, eagles, bears. It’s the most spiritual place […]

Read more

I was covering the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2008 when right-wing radio commentator Laura Ingraham introduced Mitt Romney as “the conservative’s conservative.” Ingraham had no clue that Romney would conclude his speech by accounting that he was withdrawing from the race, handing the nomination to John McCain. After Romney ended his speech, […]

Read more