John Kitzhaber has been in talks with key politicos across the state over the last few weeks, gathering information about what it might take to run for governor in the next election and if he would have support from Oregon power players. Some people close to Kitzhaber say that his demeanor and attitude towards the Oregon senate has changed since it become a Democratic majority. Kitzhaber told a group of reporters recently that he would speak about the idea at the City Club of Portland luncheon on Friday but gave no further details.

The last time an Oregon governor ran for a second time was in 1978 and that was Tom Mcall who lost to the then more powerful Oregon Republican party. Oregon politics is charged with all the drama and gusto of national politics and it will be interesting to see how this possible bid by Kitzhaber pans out. With the Oregon governorship still a wide open race, only time will tell when we all sit down and vote for our next governor. Because he has a past with Oregonians it may be much easier for him to glide through the questions that we will all throw at him as we know his track record on how he handles Oregon’s future. In these troubled times our governor can be just as important as our president.