Not to be outdone by the Democrats, Oregon's Republicans now
have their own gubernatorial candidate: Portland School Board
Chairman Ron Saxton.
"A lot of people have been pushing me to do this for a
while," Saxton told WW Friday. "I've been reluctant, but
now I've decided it's something I want to do."
Saxton, elected to the School Board in 1997, says it will
be a few weeks before he has an official campaign organization
up and running, but he's already been getting informal advice
from Dan Lavey, a veteran GOP strategist, for his team.
Lavey, who guided Gordon Smith to his U.S. Senate victory
in 1996, represented the Portland School District during
the 1999 Legislative Session.
Although the gubernatorial election won't take place until
2002, Saxton says he needs to start early because he has
little name recognition outside Portland.
Saxton is a lawyer with Ater Wynne Hewitt Dodson and Skerritt
in Portland. Aside from his successful School Board campaign,
his only other political race was a losing bid for a state
legislative seat from Albany in 1976.
The only other candidate who has officially announced is
State Treasurer Jim Hill, a Democrat. Earlier this week
Secretary of State Phil Keisling announced he was stepping
down, in part to consider a run for the governor's seat.
The politician most affected by Saxton's early entry is
State Labor Commissioner Jack Roberts, who shares Saxton's
moderate political leanings and is also eyeing the state's
top elected post.
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Willamette
Week | originally published September 24,
1999
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