In politics:
Big news for Oregon… especially Southern Oregon.
Today, third term Oregon House Representative and Central Point retired lawyer Dennis Richardson announced he’s running for governor.
“This not be an R. v.s. D campaign. You know in baseball it’s three times, your out. Maybe it’s time we have that baseball analogy apply to governorship,” Richardson comments.
Today kicks off the first stop in a 16 month campaign trail.
“This is not about further dependency, it’s about leading our state into a new direction, one of opportunity…” states Richardson.
We asked his stance on issues currently facing oregon: regarding Obama Care and Cover Oregon rolling out this fall he responded…
“We need to have care for every Oregonian, but we need to do it in a way that’s financially sustainable.”
We also asked what his approach would be to Oregon’s more than 20% living in poverty.
“That differential has to change, urban or rural needs good paying jobs, not by raising taxes but by increasing the number of tax payers,” says Richardson.
He will potentially face off against current Democratic Governor John Kitzhaber… Kitzhaber has not yet decided if he’ll run for a fourth term.
Another Republican party member from Sherman County, John Justesen, also announced an *exploratory* campaign.
Oregon has not voted in a Republican governor in 31 years… when Vic Atiyeh won a second term in 1982. Former Portland Trail Blazer and Republican Chris Dudley came close in 2010, losing by only 1 percent.
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