PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Although the campaign for Oregon governor between Republican Chris Dudley and Democrat John Kitzhaber hasn’t generally gotten personal, there is one exception, and it deals with wages and tips for restaurant waiters and waitresses.
The issue is tip credits. Most states allow restaurant owners to count tips as part of an employee’s minimum wage. Oregon doesn’t allow tip credits, boosting the wages of servers.
In an Associated Press interview, Dudley said the Kitzhaber campaign has put out a deliberate falsehood in an ad that says Dudley supports tip credits. In another interview, Kitzhaber defended the ad and sharply questioned whether the wealthy former NBA player could relate to people just getting by on minimum wage checks.
