Governor
John Kitzhaber (Democrat)
Kitzhaber is the current Oregon governor and has held the position since 2011. He previously served as governor from 1995 to 2003. Should he be reelected, he will be the first Oregon governor to serve four terms. Kitzhaber also served as an Oregon legislator, serving one term in the House and three in Senate.
Kitzhaber is known for his work on healthcare policy. In 1993, he created the Oregon Health Care Plan, which provides health care coverage for low-income Oregonians.
Kitzhaber was criticized for his handling of Cover Oregon, Oregon’s independent healthcare marketplace, which was plagued with website issues that shut down the $248 million marketplace.
Recently, Kitzhaber has come under fire after accusations that his finance Cylvia Hayes used her access to the governor’s office to promote her private consulting business, violating Oregon’s ethics regulations. The state ethics commission is currently investigating the matter.
Dennis Richardson (Republican)
After serving 11 years as a Republican Representative for the state of Oregon, Richardson is in the running for governor.
A resident of Oregon since 1979, Richardson worked in Central Point as a trial lawyer for over 30 years. Richardson served in the US Army as a helicopter pilot and received 19 air medals.
Richardson has also been the Chair of the Budget Committee for School District Six and a member of Central Point City Council.
His campaign focuses on fixing the state economy.
In 2006, Richardson sponsored a bill that would require minors to have a parent signature before receiving an abortion and rallied against the domestic partnership bill in 2007.
Recently, Richardson wrote a letter to the US Attorney’s Office requesting an investigation into current Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber and his fiancee Cylvia Hayes regarding accusations of bribery, money laundering and conspiracy.
Senate
Monica Wehby (Republican)
Wehby is the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Randall Children’s Hospital. In 2004, she unsuccessfully campaigned for a measure to reform Oregon’s malpractice laws. In 2007, she was elected president of the Oregon Medical Association and spoke against Obamacare.
Wehby opposes increasing the federal minimum wage, new Environmental Protection Agency regulations, federal legislation to expand background checks on gun purchases and the legalization of marijuana. Wehby has shown support for abortion rights, gay marriage and incumbent Senator Jeff Merkley’s bill on banning workplace discrimination.
Wehby was accused of plagiarizing her healthcare and economic plans by Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post in September and October. After the accusations, Wehby took down a page of her website.
Jeff Merkley (Democrat)
Merkley was born in Myrtle Creek, Oregon. Merkley is the incumbent senator, and is running for reelection this year. Before his term in senate, Merkley served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009, and was Speaker of the House from 2007 to 2009. During his time in senate, Jeff’s primary focus has been restoring the economy. He is an advocate for ending U.S. dependence on foreign oil and transitioning to a clean-energy economy to create new jobs in in new industries to help the issue of climate change.
In the past, Merkley voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003, while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels.
Congress (4th District)
Art Robinson (Republican)
Robinson graduated from CalTech, and received his PhD in chemistry from the University of California in San Diego. Soon after receiving his degrees, he moved to Oregon just outside of Cave Junction. He has helped co-found the Linus Pauling Institute and the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine. In addition, Robinson worked on medical and defense issues during the Reagan administration and on energy issues during the Clinton and Bush administrations.
Robinson ran in the 2012 election for the United States House of Representatives in which he lost to current representative, Peter Defazio.
Peter DeFazio (Democrat)
Defazio is currently a member of the U.S. House of Representatives running for re-election. Defazio is the longest-serving member of the Oregon House Delegation, remaining in office for 27 years.
A 2007 University of Oregon grad, Defazio served as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve from 1967 to 1971.
In his most recent election in 2012, he beat Chuck Hunnting and Art Robinson, who he is currently running against in the 2014 election.
Defazio has a progressive voting record, voting against the Patriot Act and bills that would increase militarization, but has been known to butt heads with other Democrats, notably on the 2009 stimulus package.
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