|
 Kitzhaber said his resignation would take effect next Wednesday,
when Secretary of State Kate Brown would take over at the helm of
the strongly Democratic Pacific Northwest state until an election
can be held next year. She will become the nation's first openly
bisexual governor.
"I understand that I have become a liability to the very
institutions and policies to which I have dedicated my career and,
indeed, my entire adult life," Kitzhaber said in a statement
announcing his resignation. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Elected to an unprecedented fourth term in November after a
political career spanning more than three decades, Kitzhaber has
been dogged for months by allegations that fiancée Cylvia Hayes used
her role in his office for personal gain.
Those allegations snowballed last week amid media reports that Hayes
received $118,000 in previously undisclosed consulting fees in 2011
and 2012 from the Washington-based Clean Economy Development Center
while also advising the governor on energy policy.
Kitzhaber did not reveal those consulting fees in annual disclosure
filings. He said the couple did not see it as a potential conflict
of interest and therefore did not feel it had to be reported.
In the aftermath of those revelations, Kitzhaber promised that Hayes
would no longer have a policy role in his office. Nevertheless,
calls mounted from both sides of the political aisle for him to
resign, as well as from the state's flagship newspaper, the
Oregonian, which endorsed his re-election bid last year.
House of Representatives Speaker Tina Kotek and Senate President
Peter Courtney, both Democrats, met with Kitzhaber on Thursday and
urged him to resign.
MOVE WELCOMED
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said the resignation would
not affect an ongoing criminal corruption probe over a possible
conflict of interest between Hayes' role as an unpaid gubernatorial
adviser and her consulting contracts. Kitzhaber said he would
continue to cooperate with the investigation.
Hours after Kitzhaber's announcement, the U.S. attorney for Oregon
filed subpoenas seeking records related to potential conflicts of
interest related to Kitzhaber, his office, Hayes, and more than a
dozen state officials and agencies.
Kitzhaber's resignation was met largely with approval by state
political leaders. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, a Democrat,
said it would give Oregonians a government that can focus on their
needs without the distractions of "investigations and charges and
counter-charges."
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Oregon House Republican Leader Mike McLane said: "I take no delight
in John Kitzhaber's resignation but understand his decision."
Brown said the move marked a sad day for Oregon but said: "As you
can imagine, there is a lot of work to be done between now and
Wednesday."
Kitzhaber, a former emergency room doctor who has served in both
houses of the state legislature, noted the distraction the scandal
had become but expressed a note of defiance over the politics
surrounding it.
"It is deeply troubling to me to realize that we have come to a
place in the history of this great state of ours where a person can
be charged, tried, convicted and sentenced by the media with no due
process and no independent verification of the allegations
involved," Kitzhaber said.
"But even more troubling – and on a very personal level as someone
who has given 35 years of public service to Oregon – is that so many
of my former allies in common cause have been willing to simply
accept this judgment at its face value," he said.
Brown, who has commented publicly about her bisexuality, lives with
her husband in Portland. She was first appointed to the state House
of Representatives in 1991, and in 2004 became the first woman to
serve as Senate majority leader, according to a state profile.
(Reporting by Shelby Sebens in Portland, Oregon; Additional
reporting by Courtney Sherwood in Portland, Oregon; Writing by Eric
M. Johnson; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Beech)
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