Portland Mercury Endorses Kate Brown

The Portland Mercury
April 30, 2008

While the rest of our major race endorsements follow a theme of "change, change, change" (the Kool-Aid was delicious, thanks for asking), we're favoring a more establishment candidate in the race for secretary of state.

Three state senators are vying for the seat: Kate Brown, Vicki Walker, and Rick Metsger. (A fourth candidate, Paul Wells, is running on the solo issue of making the seat nonpartisan.) All three are capable, respected political leaders, but our vote goes to Brown.

Metsger doesn't have the energy of his two colleagues, and fell flat in our endorsement interview—the issues he's most effective on, like transportation, don't seem like a good fit for this office. Walker, on the other hand, is a fighter, and we love her for that (she's also put out an impressive booklet outlining her stance on the issues). But in a position like secretary of state, we'd rather have levelheaded Brown at the helm, overseeing elections and audits.

Brown spent nearly a decade as senate majority leader, and has chaired the Senate Rules and Elections Committee—two positions that have honed her leadership skills, and have prepared her well to lead the state in the important areas of elections and audits. Brown plans to watchdog the basics—keeping an eye out for initiative fraud—while also looking ahead by making it easier for people to register to vote and sign petitions, perhaps by making both possible online. We're confident that she'll uphold the high standards set by this office, and that she'll innovate where needed. Vote for Brown.