John Kitzhaber

John Kitzhaber (2011)

John Albert Kitzhaber (born March 5, 1947 in Colfax , Whitman County , Washington ) is an American politician ( Democratic Party ). From 1995 to 2003 he was the 35th governor of the state of Oregon for two terms  ; he had taken this post again from January 10, 2011 after his victory in the 2010 gubernatorial election . On February 18, 2015, he resigned after allegations of corruption were raised against him and his partner , which culminated in his public prosecutor's investigation. His resignation came three months after his re-election in November 2014. He was succeeded by Kate Brown .

Early years and political advancement

Kitzhaber has German ancestors and attended South Eugene High School until 1965 . He then studied at Dartmouth College until 1969 , before completing a medical degree at Oregon Health & Science University . After successfully completing this, he worked from 1973 to 1986 as a doctor in the emergency room in Roseburg (Oregon).

Between 1979 and 1981 he held his first political mandate as an MP in the Oregon House of Representatives ; thereafter he sat in the State Senate until 1993 , of which he had been President since 1985. There he designed a new health insurance concept for Oregon ( Oregon Health Plan ). For this he was awarded by the American Medical Association in 1992 . Since 1989, Kitzhaber was also a professor at Oregon Health & Science University . In 1994 he was elected the new governor of his state.

Governor of Oregon

John Kitzhaber took up his new position on January 9, 1995. After being re-elected in 1998, he was able to remain in office until January 2003. As governor, he expanded the new health insurance system. At that time, the rate of uninsured children fell from 21 percent to 8 percent. He worked on cutting red tape in the administration and managed to create nearly 20,000 new jobs. He was also committed to the environment and the preservation of threatened salmon species in Oregon's waters. In the field of education policy, the so-called "Education Act for the 21st Century" was passed, through which the country's education system is to be adapted to the needs of the 21st century.

Especially towards the end of his second term, Kitzhaber had problems with the opposition Republican Party , which made up the majority in the Oregon Legislative Assembly . Many of the state parliament's bills were vetoed by the governor. Relations between the governor and the leading Republican politicians were strained, and both sides played their part. Under these circumstances, the governor's popularity also suffered. As a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 , Oregon also suffered an economic depression. The result was an increase in unemployment. The budget also got into trouble. By the end of his reign the deficit had reached its highest level since the Great Depression.

Another résumé

John Kitzhaber during an election campaign in 2010

After the end of his second term, Kitzhaber became head of the Estes Institute , a training facility for medical management personnel. Both in 2002 and 2006, he was put into discussion for a candidacy for Congress , but he declined. Kitzhaber is now also a director of Oregon Health & Science University . He is divorced and has one child.

Governor of Oregon again

On September 2, 2009, Kitzhaber announced that he would be applying for the post of governor for the upcoming 2010 election as the successor to Ted Kulongoski . On May 18, 2010, he won his party's primary ; in the November elections of the same year, he prevailed with a narrow majority against the Republican Chris Dudley . Since January 10, 2011, he is the first governor of the state to have a third term. Kitzhaber was again able to win the gubernatorial election on November 4, 2014. With 49.8 percent of the vote, he defeated his Republican challenger Dennis Richardson , for whom around 44.7 percent of the voters were in favor. On January 12, 2015, he was sworn in for a further term as head of government.

On February 5, 2015, The Oregonian newspaper called for Kitzhaber's resignation from the governorship. This was noteworthy in so far as the editors of the paper had issued an election recommendation for the governor in November 2014, as in 2010. The background was the start of public prosecution investigations against Kitzhaber and his partner Cylvia Hayes. Allegations had previously been raised against Hayes that she had used her relationship with Kitzhaber for the purpose of personal gain. Among other things, business partners of his partner were appointed to government posts; Hayes supported Kitzhaber's election campaigns with large sums of money in 2010 and 2014. Kitzhaber himself rejected calls for resignation in a tumultuous press conference. He assured me that there would be a strict separation between his partner's business activities and government work; therefore he did not intend to resign after he had only received a mandate from the electorate three months earlier. Republicans, who are in the minority in the state legislature , joined the resignation calls. Already in the 2014 election campaign, his challenger Dennis Richardson accused the governor of corruption . The political pressure on Kitzhaber was further increased by the opening of investigations by the public prosecutor. Most recently, his support from the democratic members of the legislature had also waned. Some joined the opposition Republicans' calls for resignation. On February 13, 2015, Kitzhaber finally announced that he would resign his mandate on February 18.

Since Oregon is one of the five US states without a lieutenant governor , State Secretary Kate Brown succeeded him. Unlike in most states, however, she did not run the business for the rest of the term, but only until November 2016, when a special election took place parallel to the presidential election, in which Brown was confirmed in office. This did not affect the next ordinary gubernatorial election, which took place in November 2018.

Web links

Commons : John Kitzhaber  - Collection of Images

• John Kitzhaber in the National Governors Association (English)
• Website of the campaign Kitzhaber for Governor 2010 (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Oregon Daily Emerald: Kitzhaber wins Oregon gubernatorial election  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ John Kitzhaber must resign: Editorial , The Oregonian, February 5, 2015 (English)
3. ^ Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber quits amid criminal probe , USA Today, February 13, 2015 (English)
4. ↑ Kate Brown 'ready' to replace John Kitzhaber as Oregon governor , The Oregonian, February 12, 2015 (English)