Governor Faces Tough Re-Election Bid

Oregon's Governor could be in for an uphill battle Photo By: Tim King

(SALEM) - In a year when Democrats are considered in a good position to take control of more than half the nation's governorships, one of their worries lies in Oregon

Even some of Gov. Ted Kulongoski's own Democratic allies say he often has been disappointing. Many voters say the centrist lacks pizzaz, charisma and big ideas.

The governor admits no policy failures. But, with a primary election coming up, he does acknowledge a need to do a better job of touting his accomplishments: seeing Oregon out of a recession, reforming the public employee retirement system and creating thousands of construction jobs through a transportation program.

"Some things I have not done well," the 65-year-old governor said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I should have told the public on a more regular basis about the things I have been doing."

Kulongoski faces two rivals for the Democratic nomination in Oregon's May 16 primary — former state Treasurer Jim Hill and Peter Sorenson, a commissioner in Lane County. Kulongoski is expected to win the nomination.

But his real test could come in November, when he faces one of three major Republican contenders. Another threat is an independent candidate, state Sen. Ben Westlund, whose base appears to be growing.

The race is being closely watched nationwide because Democrats need to gain only four governorships to pull ahead of the Republicans. A Democrat has sat in the Oregon governor's office since 1987.

An April poll by Survey USA showed that 33 percent of those questioned approved of Kulongoski's performance and that 57 percent did not — among the lowest ratings for any governor. The poll of 600 adults has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

"Ted is in trouble because, to a large extent, he has taken a low profile and he has lowered people's expectations about what they are going to get from him," says Russ Dondero, who teaches political science at Pacific University in Forest Grove.

Public employee labor unions haven't endorsed Kulongoski, a rarity for a Democrat; they don't like that he reduced benefits for their ranks through his push for reform of their retirement system.

Kulongoski upset conservationists — normally Democratic allies — by backing a proposed tribal casino in the scenic Columbia River Gorge.

Education supporters complain that he should more vigorously pursue extra money for schools. Health care advocates say he didn't do enough to prevent thousands of low-income people from being cut from the Oregon Health Plan.

Some staffers within Oregon's Democratic congressional delegation have privately expressed concern about what they see as Kulongoski's lackluster campaign, wondering when he's going to start energizing the party base.

Hill opened his own campaign by declaring in a television ad that Kulongoski is "not a good Democrat."

Sorenson, Kulongoski's other Democratic challenger, has made an issue of Kulongoski's early support for the war in Iraq. The governor has become a critic of the way President Bush is conducting the war and is demanding an exit strategy.

Portland pollster Tim Hibbitts released a poll this month showing Kulongoski leading his Democratic rivals. In the survey, 43 percent of Democratic voters said they support or lean toward Kulongoski, with Hill at 30 percent and Sorenson at 8 percent.

Kulongoski's fall campaign will be much more difficult if he makes an anemic showing in the May 16 Democratic primary and draws less than 60 percent of the vote, Hibbitts said.

Kulongoski was raised by nuns in a St. Louis orphanage because his mother was too poor to take care of him. He joined the Marines out of high school and worked in a steel mill before going to college on the GI Bill.

He was a state legislator, state attorney general and Oregon Supreme Court justice before winning his current post in 2002.

Kulongoski says that for the rest of the campaign he intends to hammer on economic themes.

"That's what people worry about," he said. "'Is my job going to be outsourced? What's going to happen to my company?'"