Kulongoski Wins Renomination; Saxton Wins GOP Primary

(PORTLAND) - Gov. Ted Kulongoski scored a surprisingly solid victory in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, despite criticism from traditional allies within his party. He's promising to do the same thing when he faces Republican and independent challengers for governor in the fall.

"I'm going to fight like heck and I'm going to beat both of them," a triumphant Kulongoski said Tuesday night as he looked ahead to a November matchup with Portland lawyer Ron Saxton - who easily won Tuesday's GOP primary - and independent contender Ben Westlund.

In the Democratic race, Kulongoski drew 54 percent percent of the vote, turning back a challenge by former State Treasurer Jim Hill, who got 29 percent, and Peter Sorenson, a Lane County Commissioner, who drew 16 percent.

Kulongoski drew a spirited challenge from Hill, in particular, who regularly called Kulongoski a "do-nothing" governor who had failed to show leadership on education, health care and the environment.

Still, the Democratic governor said he is "grateful" for the tough fight Hill and Sorenson had given him in the primary.

"I'm going to be a better general election candidate because of the campaign effort they made," Kulongoski said.

Kulongoski had failed to gain the backing of public employee unions - normally among his strongest allies - because of his moves to pursue reforms of the state's public employee pension system that reduced benefits for many workers.

Still, Kulongoski said the main lesson he learned from his primary race was he had to do a better job of touting his accomplishments - including helping to bring Oregon's economy out of a recession and creating thousands of jobs.

"I should have taken Political Primary 101 in self-promotion," Kulongoski joked.

After vanquishing Kevin Mannix and Jason Atkinson to win the Republican gubernatorial nomination, Saxton promised a united GOP effort in the fall to defeat Kulongoski.

"Republicans are ready for a change. They want to win in November," Saxton told supporters.

Mannix defeated Saxton in the 2002 gubernatorial primary, but lost to Kulongoski in the general election.

During the Tuesday primary, Saxton had 43 percent of the vote to Mannix's 30 percent. Atkinson, a state senator from Central Point and the third major contender for the nomination, had 22 percent.

The Saxton-Mannix race was filled with negative attack ads and acrimony, but as Mannix conceded defeat Tuesday night he pledged to help Saxton in his November race with Kulongoski.

"I will do my duty to help our nominee in November. It is so important for this state," said Mannix.

Political observer Jim Moore said Republican voters made it clear that Mannix, after four unsuccessful runs for statewide office in the past 10 years, needed to step aside to make way for a contender who could win in November.

"There was a sense that the Republicans finally needed to have a winner. Republicans are really hungry to win any statewide office," said Moore, who teaches political science at Pacific University in Forest Grove.

Moore said Kulongoski had made a respectable showing despite the strident criticism he got from his opponents.

"But clearly, he's going to have to reach out in November to the 45 percent of the Democrats who didn't vote for him, and say, `Join me in keeping this office in Democratic hands," he said.

The Republican race featured a high-spending, hard-fought contest between Saxton and Mannix, who raised nearly $2 million each to persuade Republican voters that they were in the best position to defeat Kulongoski in the November election.

Saxton, who finished third in the 2002 race, made a strong bid for the party's conservative vote, taking a hard line on illegal immigration and pledging to oppose partial birth abortions.

The Portland lawyer also ran as the only contender who was not a "career politician" and who would have the best chance of winning the governor's office after five Republican losses.

Mannix worked to raise doubts about Saxton's conservative credentials, and he ran on his record as a former legislator who helped pass state laws cracking down on stalkers and increasing prison terms for violent offenders.

However, the $731,000 in campaign contributions Mannix got from Nevada conservative Loren Parks became an issue. Saxton asserted that Mannix would be beholden to Parks, which Mannix disputed.