Three's a crowd in GOP gubernatorial race 9
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--> --> Three's a crowd in GOP gubernatorial race BEAVERTON (AP) - Oregon's three major Republican candidates for governor may agree on some issues - but not who is the best man to end the Democrats' 15-year hold on the office they seek. State Labor Commissioner Jack Roberts, Portland lawyer Ron Saxton and former state Rep. Kevin Mannix said at a Washington County Republican Party forum that the state needs to build more roads and better help Oregon's natural-resource industries. Their main argument at the Tuesday meeting was over whose record shows the best shot at winning. A Republican hasn't won the state's top office since Vic Atiyeh was elected to his second term in 1982. Roberts emphasized he's the only one of the three to have won statewide office. He said Mannix, a Salem lawyer, has lost two statewide elections while Saxton, a former Portland School Board member, hasn't had a contested race since he ran for student body president at Albany High School. "It's too risky for us to pick someone who hasn't had that campaign experience," Roberts said. Saxton countered that both Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush had never held office before being elected governors. Mannix noted that Roberts also lost statewide in a 1995 Republican primary election bid to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of U.S. Sen. Bob Packwood. Mannix said he showed strength last year by running a close contest against a Democratic incumbent, Attorney General Hardy Myers. The trio seek election next year to succeed Democrat John Kitzhaber, who's barred by law from running for a third term. The Republican contenders all said they likely would veto any bill to put new restrictions on gun ownership and they would try to reduce growth in state government. They said the state must construct more roads. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing