Medford Mail Tribune Endorses Kate Brown

Secretary of state: Kate Brown
Metsger has an unfocused approach; Walker's crusades have alienated many
May 01, 2008 6:00 AM

Oregon's Democrats will have their hands full making decisions on a number of very competitive statewide primary elections. The secretary of state's race is no different, as three experienced legislators compete for the nomination.

Our choice is Kate Brown, a Portland state senator who has been in the Legislature since 1991 and the Senate majority leader since 2004. She brings a resume packed with experience and a reputation for dealing fairly with both sides of the aisle.

Brown faces two other Democratic candidates with considerable experience: Rick Metsger and Vicki Walker, both of whom began their legislative careers in 1999. On the Republican side, Rick Dancer, a Eugene TV journalist, is running unopposed.

Metsger says he sees the secretary of state taking a greater role in everything from transportation to education. It seems to us an unfocused approach to a job that requires very concentrated attention on elections, state lands, audits of state agencies and, potentially, redistricting.

Walker has earned a reputation for taking on sacred cows in state government. She challenged the SAIF workers' compensation insurance agency for its use of high profile lobbyists— including former Gov. Neil Goldschmidt — and its overly cozy connections with various legislators. She sponsored legislation that ended "golden parachute" severance packages for school administrators and helped push through a bill that ensured that taxes collected by private utilities were actually paid out as taxes.

That kind of dogged determination and willingness to buck the power structure — even her own party's power structure — makes her an appealing candidate. But along the way she has managed to alienate people throughout government, the good and the bad alike. She is widely considered a loose cannon whose focus on her crusades prevents her from effectively dealing with other issues. The secretary of state, who is first in line to succeed the governor in case of death or an early departure, must be a multi-tasker who can work well with all kinds of people on all kinds of tasks, often almost simultaneously.

Brown has proven she has that ability. She was a leader in shoring up safeguards for the state's initiative system after a variety of abuses were uncovered. She pushed through a law creating an online public system that details political campaign financing. She says a priority for her would be to focus more effort on performance audits of state agencies, to ensure that programs are administered properly and services delivered efficiently.

She was a chief architect of the current congressional districting plan for Oregon, which she points out created a safe Democratic seat in the U.S. House, a safe Republican seat and three seats that are currently up for grabs. She says if the task falls to her in 2010, she would create a bipartisan citizens panel to give her a recommendation.

The question mark hovering over Brown is her role as a leader of the Senate Democratic Caucus and the concern that the complaints of partisanship raised against current Secretary of State Bill Bradbury would continue under her watch. But Republicans who have worked with her describe her as fair and say they feel she made an honest effort to include them in the process when they were in the minority.

Brown has proven her leadership capabilities and we're convinced that she will put the best interests of the state ahead of any partisan interests. We encourage Democratic voters to send her on to the November general election.