Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters Endorse Kitzhaber

The Carpenters were the top donor to Kitzhaber’s 1998 re-election campaign.

Former Governor John Kitzhaber has tossed his hat into the ring again, for the state's top elected office.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters endorsed John Kitzhaber for Governor on Saturday at their quarterly council delegate meeting.

“Job creation is our only priority this election cycle and John Kitzhaber is the only candidate for Governor that we trust to grow our economy,” said Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters Political Director John Littlel.

“We have known John for a long time and we trust him. He has always understood the needs of working families throughout the state.”

The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters represents over 20,000 carpenters, piledrivers, drywallers, millwrights, trade show workers, shipwrights, exterior/interior specialists, scaffold erectors, insulators and related craft workers who have banded together to maintain and improve safety, wages, benefits, training and working conditions. The council includes 44 different local unions in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Carpenter union locals in Oregon include: LU 247 (Portland), LU 306 (Bend), LU 711 (Portland), LU 1001 (North Bend), LU 1065 (Salem), LU 1273 (Eugene), LU 1388 (Oregon City), LU 2067 (Medford), LU 2154 (Portland), LU 2416 (Portland).

The Carpenters were the top donor to Kitzhaber’s 1998 re-election campaign.

Other labor support for Kitzhaber includes the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council, the Oregon State Council of Firefighters, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48. Kitzhaber also boasts the endorsement of over 100 current and former elected officials, including four statewide office holders.

John Kitzhaber is a former two-term Governor of Oregon. An emergency room physician from Roseburg by trade, he has also served in the Oregon House of Representatives and as the Oregon Senate President. In his career he enacted many progressive reforms, including the Oregon Health Plan, the Oregon Education Act for the 21st Century, the Oregon Children's Plan, and the Oregon Salmon Plan. Since leaving office in 2002, he has continued to work on health care reform, natural resource issues and energy policy, leading several nonprofit foundations and boards.

Source: johnkitzhaber.com