Oregon’s 38th governor Kate Brown was sworn in on Wednesday, taking the oath of office as John Kitzhaber’s resignation became effective. Kitzhaber’s resignation stems from an ethics investigation that has since expanded to both a criminal probe and a federal grand jury subpoena.
In Brown’s acceptance speech, some of the first comments since it became apparent she would succeed Kitzbaher, the new governor focused on restoring faith in Oregon’s state government and creating well-paid jobs.
“We are all keenly aware of the difficult circumstances that brought us to this moment,” said Brown. “In order for us to move forward, the first order of business is to regain the confidence of the people.”
In her efforts to regain trust, Brown pledged that neither her family nor her staff would take outside compensation. She also called on the legislature to pass “meaningful” transparency laws, including addressing the timely release of documents, and to strengthen the role of the state’s ethics commission.
“We should not leave here without getting this done,” she said.
Before outlining her plans to reform government transparency, Brown noted her predecessor’s work.
“Governor Kitzhaber dedicated most of his life to serving the people of Oregon. The contributions of his life are well-woven into the fabric of public life,” she said. “But now, we must restore the public trust.”
Kitzhaber was conspicuously absent from Brown’s swearing in ceremony.
Brown, who was second in line for the governorship, will be the nation’s first openly bisexual governor, a historic moment, but one likely to elicit a shrug from many as attitudes have changed.
She will have to run for re-election in 2016, according to several media outlets, rather than serve out Kitzhaber’s term, which would have run through 2018.
Brown is a familiar face in Oregon politics. Her first term in elected office was the result of an appointment in 1991, when she served in the state’s house. She was elected twice more, and was then elected to the Oregon senate. There, she was chosen as Senate Democratic leader in 1998, and became the first woman to serve as Senate majority leader in 2004.
But Brown has not escaped criticism. She was first elected secretary of state in 2008; when she ran for re-election in 2012, she failed to secure the endorsement of the Oregonian, the state’s largest paper.
The Oregonian wrote that during Brown’s term, her experience in state politics “led neither to memorable leadership as the state’s top election officer, nor to immunity from high-profile blunders”.
The paper also criticized Brown for her handling of a labor commissioner election. Brown pushed back election day, a move that some perceived as helping the Democratic candidate. And she declined to reform the state’s redistricting process, a contentious redrawing of legislative districts that occurs once every 10 years in the state.
As recently as January, Brown was criticized on social media for submitting a letter to the Federal Communications Commission in support of the proposed Comcast-Time Warner mega-merger. The Verge reported that the letter was ghostwritten by Comcast, and just three sentences changed between the version Brown sent to the FCC and the letter originally sent to Brown by Comcast government affairs specialists.
Before entering politics, Brown earned her law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School, and practiced juvenile and family law at Portland State University.
“Secretary Brown is an Oregonian through and through,” Brown’s website insists. “When she’s not busy at the capitol in Salem, you’ll find her horseback riding, hiking or practicing yoga.”
Her undergraduate degree is in environmental conservation from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She grew up in Minnesota but was born in Spain.
Brown, 54, has been married to her husband, Dan Little, for 15 years. The couple live together with Brown’s two stepchildren, according to the Christian Science Monitor. Little is a US Forest Service data expert, and keeps a degree of separation from Brown’s political career.
