Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber Announces Resignation Amid Conflict of Interest Scandal - East Idaho News
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Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber Announces Resignation Amid Conflict of Interest Scandal

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Getty 021315 Kitzhaber?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1423865011342Photo by Anthony Pidgeon/Redferns(PORTLAND, Ore.) — Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber announced on Friday that he will resign his position after having been the subject of a conflict-of-interest scandal involving his fiancée.

Kitzhaber, a Democrat, was elected to his fourth term as governor in November 2014. He said in a statement on Friday that his resignation is effective 10 a.m. PST on Wednesday. Oregon’s Secretary of State Kate Brown will take the oath of office at that time and assume the role of governor.

While Kitzhaber says it is “not in my nature to walk away from a job I have undertaken,” he vowed to continue to pursue the goals he shared with his supporters “in another venue.”

“I understand that I have become a liability to the very institutions and policies to which I have dedicated my career,” Kitzhaber admitted. “As a former presiding officer I fully understand the reasons for which I have been asked to resign.”

Still, the governor denies that he was involved in any wrongdoing. “I am confident that I have not broken any laws nor taken any actions that were dishonest or dishonorable in their intent or outcome,” he said in his statement. He added that he has asked the Ethics Commission and the Attorney General to “take a full and comprehensive look at my actions.”

Kitzhaber’s lawyer Jim McDermott said Friday that he is “deeply disturbed by those who believe in due process for violent criminals yet abandon that bedrock principle in the case of a duly-elected governor.” Kitzhaber “served our state with distinction,” McDermott said, “his career didn’t deserve to come to this premature end.”

Both the Democratic Governors Association and the Republican Governors Association released statements Friday saying that Kitzhaber was “right” to resign. The DGA affirmed its faith in Brown to lead Oregon, while the RGA expressed concern that Democrats in the state had been “silent for months on the matter,” arguing that Oregon “is in critical need of new leadership” as “their current leaders have made it clear they are unfit to govern effectively.”

Brown, the incoming governor, is openly bisexual, and will become the nation’s first openly bisexual governor on Wednesday. In 2004, she wrote a brief essay for a project profiling the U.S.’ openly LGBT elected officials. She has served as Oregon’s secretary of state since 2009.

Brown released a statement Friday calling it “a sad day for Oregon,” while also expressing confidence that “legislators are ready to come together to move Oregon forward.”


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