Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber's resignation caps months of growing concerns

L.A. Timea ^ | 2/14/15 | Maria L. La Ganga and Nigel Duara

[Mozilla]

For months, concerns over what Gov. John Kitzhaber has called the "gray area" between his 47-year-old fiancee's private and professional lives haunted the longtime politician — through his 2010 election, his third term in office, his historic bid for a fourth term and the weeks since his January inauguration.

Kitzhaber's problems came to a head Friday, when the former emergency room physician resigned from office, effective Feb. 18. His decision came after a week of political drama, which Secretary of State Kate Brown called "bizarre and unprecedented" and which has absorbed this normally quiet capital.

Under the state constitution, Brown will become Oregon's 37th governor. When she takes the oath of office, she will be the nation's first openly bisexual chief executive. Like Kitzhaber, she is a Democrat.

With journalists packed into the anteroom of his office Friday waiting for the governor to appear, Kitzhaber announced his resignation just after noon via an emailed news release.

The state Government Ethics Commission is investigating whether Hayes falsified tax forms and was paid consulting fees to influence her future husband, and just what Kitzhaber's involvement may have been. On Monday, the state attorney general announced she had begun a criminal investigation into the troubled first couple.

[Mozilla]

Left wing corruption. Cronyism.

[Veggie Todd]

If the election was held today, he would still win.

[Mozilla]

Sad, but true.

[logi_cal869]

I want to remind everyone just catching wind of this ‘scandal’ for the first time since the beginning of 2015 that this began BEFORE the election and many, INCLUDING me, feel DEFRAUDED by the abject LACK of attention the local media paid to Kitzhaber vacating the public campaign scene in the runup to the election to avoid unwanted attention on what has now exploded into full scandal.

I, for one, consider it criminal that, so close to an election, an elected Governor can resign and have his next-in-line of like-party replace him rather than his opponent, who would have won handily had the questions raised prior to the election NOT been ignored by local & national media.

[crazyhorse691]

My feelings exactly. I would not be surprised in the least that there was a criminal conspiracy cover-up orchestrated by high ranking dems so the governorship would remain in democrat hands.

[Dacula]

Let them stew in their $hit.

[Random Access]

When Kate Brown takes office she will have a voter mandate of exactly zero votes while the 641,650 people who voted for the Republican candidate are disenfranchised.

Funny how democrats always worry about voters being disenfranchised. I guess they are right about that.

[Salvation]

If you would like more information about what's happening in Oregon, please FReepmail me.

I lost my Oregon list when my computer crashed last year, so please send me your name by FReepmail if you want to be on this list.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

And we’re always called haters and deniers for questioning these green policies.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

And I really believe the DemonRats that say this guy had a sterling career for 36 of his 37 years in office and he only started doing wrong in the last couple of months.

He's a DemonRat, so it's not like anything is really going to happen to him. He'll probably get to keep his tax-free quarter million, too. This guy will go on vacation for 6 months and quietly take a no-show job with one of the green companies that he's been slumming for, that's how these things always work out.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Place your bets on whether the ex-guv’s fiancée will stick with him. The new guv is openly bi, so that opens up all kinds of opportunities for a gold-digger looking to expand her horizons (and bank account).