SALEM, Ore. — Looking for a fresh start after a year of political setbacks, Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber took the oath of office Monday to begin a fourth term that he says will be his last.
Kitzhaber begins his term with an improving economy and declining unemployment. But he said the gains are exacerbating inequality and threatening the idea that “hard work will be rewarded with a better life.”
“Disparity is the enemy of community,” Kitzhaber said, according to prepared remarks. “It separates us, it divides us, it reflects inequality, a lack of fairness. And it means someone is being left behind, that someone is being excluded from the community.”
Kitzhaber spoke hopefully about the ability of government to solve problems and called on lawmakers to tackle them.
He also faces continuing controversies that consumed the final year of his previous term — the collapse of Cover Oregon, the state’s health insurance exchange, and ethical questions about his fiancee’s business.
The Oregon Government Ethics Commission is investigating whether Kitzhaber’s partner, Cylvia Hayes, illegally used taxpayer resources to advance her consulting business. During the gubernatorial campaign, Hayes tearfully admitted that she had accepted around $5,000 to marry an immigrant who was seeking a green card.
Bucking a national trend that swept Republicans into office around the country last year, Oregon voters expanded the Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate, the strongest Democratic legislative majorities Kitzhaber has had in his 12 years as governor.
Sen. Peter Courtney, D-Salem, was elected to a record seventh term as Senate president. Rep. Tina Kotek, a Portland Democrat who was the first openly gay woman to lead a state legislative chamber in the United States, was chosen for a second term as House speaker.
Kitzhaber is already Oregon’s longest-serving governor. He served eight years beginning in 1995, and returned in 2011 after two terms out of public office. He says his fourth term will be his last.
A former emergency-room doctor, Kitzhaber has spent most of his adult life in elected office. He said the next four years “will complete the arc of my political career.”
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