Oregon Public Broadcasting

Both of the leading candidates for Oregon governor come from unique and elite professional backgrounds. Democrat John Kitzhaber was governor for eight years, from 1995 to 2003. Republican Chris Dudley was a professional basketball player.

Today, we begin a two-part series on these two gubernatorial hopefuls, looking at what voters can learn about the candidates based on their prior experience. First, Chris Lehman has a look at former two-term Oregon governor John Kitzhaber.

You don't have to be a former pro basketball player for people to request your autograph. As John Kitzhaber tours a Beaverton software firm, an employee comes up with pen and notepad in hand.

Employee: "I'll put it next to President Obama's signature."

John Kitzhaber: "Well, I don't know if I'm in that league. I know I'm not in that league."

Michael Clapp / OPB

Kitzhaber is trying to become the first former governor in Oregon history to return to office. When he was first elected, Kitzhaber was no stranger to Salem, having spent more than a decade in the Legislature.

But he says his first day as governor was like nothing he'd experienced before.

John Kitzhaber: "Well, I remember standing in the inner office there, with the window open. I could feel this cool air coming in, in January of 1995. And I felt sort of astounded that I was there and profoundly grateful that I had this opportunity."

That opportunity came with some challenges. During his entire eight years in office, both chambers of the Oregon legislature were controlled by the opposing party.

Kitzhaber says he got along well with the Republicans.

John Kitzhaber: "I had a very good personal working relationship. That's my style, having a big table, real good communications."

One of Kitzhaber's GOP adversaries during that time agrees, to a point. Gene Derfler was Senate President during Kitzhaber's second term.

Gene Derfler: "I don't think we ever had any shouting matches at each other. We talked about it, and sometimes walked away not agreeing. But that's the way the system works."

But Derfler felt Kitzhaber was uncomfortable being around people he didn't see eye-to-eye with. He says that frequently left Republicans feeling out in the cold.

Gene Derfler: "Our caucus really didn't trust him, didn't believe that he was a sincere person. And I think if he had been more willing to sit down and talk with people and express his views to them, he probably would have had a lot more support from our caucus."

But Kitzhaber knew what he was doing, says a long-time aide. Bill Wyatt was the governor's chief-of-staff for seven years.

Bill Wyatt: "One thing that relatively few people appreciate about Governor Kitzhaber is, he's a great politician. He really understands the political process. He came to understand the legislative process very well. As a result he really didn't get outsmarted over the course of his two terms, despite being outnumbered in the legislature."

Wyatt says Kitzhaber was very detail-oriented. Every minute of his day was scheduled, including time to read and time to write. Very little escaped his attention.

Bill Wyatt: "I'd been there for about a week or so and I sent him a memo. And it came out of the printer, and I shot it into his office. And it came back to me corrected for grammar. And I took kind of a deep breath and concluded that would be the last memo I would send in."

Perhaps that attention to detail was what enabled Kitzhaber to achieve two major policy objectives: an expansion of the Oregon Health Plan and a plan to restore salmon habitat.

He says voters should feel free to decide whether to support him based on his prior record in office.

John Kitzhaber: "I think they should absolutely look at my first two terms as governor, my work in the Legislature, just as they should look at what Chris Dudley's done with his life in the last 20 years. It's a job interview, after all."

The Dudley campaign is already attacking Kitzhaber's record as governor, pointing especially to the economic meltdown that marked his final year in office. But the Democrat says he stands by his record.

He says during the current fiscal crisis voters should turn to someone who has experience running government.

On the Web:

http://www.capitolcurrents.com/