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Brown, who is expected to become the state's second woman governor
on Wednesday, kept her remarks brief and upbeat, and left without
taking questions about Kitzhaber's Friday resignation.
"Our task, our challenge, is to make sure we keep Oregon the very
special place that it is, and I look forward to working with you to
make sure that happens," Brown told several hundred people who had
assembled in downtown Portland to celebrate the state's 156th
birthday.
Brown's appearance came a day after a rapidly unfolding political
drama in which Kitzhaber resigned amid growing influence-peddling
allegations involving his fiancée that have triggered a criminal
corruption probe.
Kitzhaber, a popular Democrat elected to a fourth-term in November,
has been dogged for months by questions over his fiancée Cylvia
Hayes' lobbying efforts and use of state resources.
Those allegations snowballed last week amid media reports that Hayes
received $118,000 in previously undisclosed consulting fees from a
Washington-based energy group while also advising the governor on
energy policy.
Those consulting fees were not listed in annual disclosure filings.
Kitzhaber, who has insisted he has broken no laws, said he was
stepping down because the scandal had become a distraction.
State Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, who attended Saturday's
Oregon Historical Society celebration, declined to discuss the
criminal investigation of Kitzhaber, but said she looks forward to
working with Brown.
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"She's a fantastic Secretary of State, she has great experience,"
Rosenblum said, as she stood alongside Barbara Roberts, Oregon's
first woman governor.
"Kate's going to do a great job, I'm excited for her," Roberts said.
Another former governor in attendance Saturday, Ted Kulongoski,
declined to discuss the controversy surrounding Kitzhaber's
departure.
"In my darkest, deepest moments, I always think that no matter how
dark the problem, we will overcome," Kulongoski said.
Brown will be the nation's first openly bisexual governor, holding
that post in the strongly Democratic Pacific Northwest state until
an election next year.
(Editing by Victoria Cavaliere and Gunna Dickson)
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