SALEM, Ore. — Gov. John Kitzhaber enters his fourth term Monday with the dark clouds of his third lingering.
After a largely successful start to his second stint in the governor’s office, Kitzhaber hit setbacks with the troubled Cover Oregon health insurance exchange and revelations about his fiancee’s personal life and business arrangements.
When he gives the inaugural address Monday, he’ll lay out a vision for the next four years and try to turn the corner. It won’t be easy.
In the coming months, a state ethics commission could rule on whether Kitzhaber’s fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, broke the law with her business arrangements. And the Legislature will likely vote to dismantle Cover Oregon, the failed health insurance exchange that was supposed to be one of Kitzhaber’s signature accomplishments.
Kitzhaber handily defeated state Rep. Dennis Richardson to win re-election last year, but the campaign was bitter.
The governor and his partner faced difficult questions about Hayes’ personal and professional lives. Hayes tearfully admitted in October that, as a college student in the 1990s, she accepted cash to illegally marry an immigrant seeking a green card.
More damaging, however, was the revelation that Hayes did paid consulting work for organizations that were interested in influencing state policy. Kitzhaber insists she did nothing wrong. Acting on two complaints filed by Republicans, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission is investigating whether state conflict-of-interest laws apply to Hayes and, if so, whether she violated them.
The questions about Hayes came on the heels of the Cover Oregon website failure, which stunted Kitzhaber’s ambition to make the state a model for the implementation of the federal health care law. Oregon and its main technology vendor, Oracle Inc., are now pointing blame at each other in a legal battle that will likely ensnare much of Kitzhaber’s fourth term unless he and Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum agree to settle.
Despite the setbacks, Kitzhaber does begin his new term with some advantages. The economy is improving. Revenue is growing. The Democratic governor has more Democrats in the Legislature than he had in any of his previous 12 years as chief executive — 18 out of 30 senators, 35 of the 60 House seats.
On Monday, House lawmakers will take the oath of office, followed by senators. Kitzhaber will then be sworn in, flanked by Hayes, and will give his inaugural address to a joint session of the Legislature.
Kitzhaber’s office said Friday that his speech “will look back at what the state has been able to accomplish over the past four years, and ahead to the work that still needs to be done to ensure that all Oregonians are able to meet their basic needs, support their families, and see a path to a more prosperous future.”
Jim Moore, a political science professor at Pacific University in Forest Grove, predicted that Kitzhaber’s address won’t dwell on the problems of the past year.
“The best thing, aside form maybe a quip, is probably just to ignore it,” Moore said.
Kitzhaber has served longer than any other governor in Oregon history. Prohibited by term limits from seeking another consecutive term, Kitzhaber insists his fourth term will be his last.
