or_gov_KITZHABER

(CBS) 





GOVERNOR JOHN KITZHABER




Democratic incumbent seeking 2nd term

Age: 51

Born: March 5, 1947; Colfax, Washington

Education: University of Oregon, M.D. (1973); Dartmouth College, B.A. (1969)

Military: None

Family: Married - Sharon La Croix; One child

Hometown: Eugene, Oregon


Religion: No affiliation

Career: Governor (1995-present); State Senate President (1985-93); State Senator (1981-92); State Representative (1979-80); Emergency room physician (1974-88)

• Kitzhaber was born in Colfax, Washington to parents active in community life. He spent his teenage years in Eugene, Oregon where his father taught English at the University of Oregon and his mother was president of the Oregon League of Women Voters.

• As a youth, Kitzhaber had a passion for biology -- in high school he built a machine that preserved a rabbit kidney. He went to the University of Oregon but transferred to Dartmouth College. After graduating from Dartmouth in 1969, Kitzhaber went to medical school at the University of Oregon, where he received his M.D. in 1973.

• After an internship in Denver, Kitzhaber returned to Oregon in 1974 and moved to Roseburg to work in an emergency room. He got involved in the local community, helping train local firefighters in first aid, and soon established enough community support to run for the state legislature in 1978. Kitzhaber surprised local observers by beating an incumbent Republican in conservative Douglas county. Two years later, he earned election to the State Senate, where he eventually became Senate President.

• In the legislature Kitzhaber established himself as a skilled consensus builder. His most conspicuous achievement was authorship of the state's health care plan, which increases the number of people eligible for publicly funded medical care by limiting the types of services they can receive. The state no longe pays for procedures deemed too costly or ineffective. Under the plan, which went into effect in February 1994, the number of uninsured children has been reduced from 21% to 8%. Critics have said it’s allowing the state to play God.

• When Kitzhaber first ran for governor in 1994, his road to the nomination was cleared when Governor Barbara Roberts, the Democratic incumbent, dropped her re-election bid, due in part to Kitzhaber’s popularity. In the general election, Kitzhaber was elected over former congressman Denny Smith by 51% to 42%.

• Kitzhaber, a populist who favors jeans, cowboy boots, and an enormous belt buckle, continues to be popular with voters and only faced token opposition in this year’s primary.