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By The Associated Press November 04. 2014 8:38PM Kitzhaber wins fourth term John Kitzhaber PORTLAND — Oregon voters on Tuesday elected Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber to a historic fourth term. As of 11 p.m., Gov. John Kitzhaber was holding a nearly 4-point lead over Republican challenger Dennis Richardson. Kitzhaber led Richardson 492,438 to 454,356, with 49.1 percent of the vote. Richardson had 45.3 percent, while four minor party candidates shared the remainder. In Jackson County, Richardson, who is from Central Point, was leading 35,113 to 29,044, or 52.4 percent to 43.4 percent.  Kitzhaber already is the state's longest-serving governor, and he will extend his run after defeating Republican state Rep. Dennis Richardson. Kitzhaber overcame ethical questions about his fiancee's role in his administration and the revelation that she was in a fraudulent marriage years ago. He also was damaged by the state's massive spending on its failed health insurance website, Cover Oregon. Kitzhaber touted Oregon's steady economic recovery and his work overhauling the systems of delivering public health care and education. Richardson hammered Kitzhaber on Cover Oregon and his fiancee's consulting work. He has conservative positions on abortion and gay marriage but downplayed them, saying he'd uphold current laws. Richardson hoped voters had enough dissatisfaction with Kitzhaber's performance to pick a Republican governor for the first time since 1982. Richardson, a retired lawyer from Central Point who flew helicopters in Vietnam, has represented a southern Oregon district in the state House for more than a decade. He has become one of the Legislature's top budget experts and promised to be an honest, trustworthy steward of the public trust. He aggressively slammed Kitzhaber and his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, over Hayes' work for organizations seeking to influence state policy. Richardson said Hayes' work violated federal law and constituted corruption. Kitzhaber has maintained Hayes carefully avoided conflicts. Despite the controversies, he won by a wider margin than he did four years ago. "That's his personal business; it was just a media scandal," said Allison Dumas, 22, after dropping off her ballot in Portland. Dumas said she voted for Kitzhaber. Kitzhaber improved his performance with men by about 10 percent compared with 2010, when he was opposed by former Portland Trail Blazers center Chris Dudley, according to preliminary results of an exit poll conducted for The Associated Press and the television networks. The poll showed Kitzhaber and Richardson splitting the male vote. The Democrat, however, got support from about six in 10 women. Self-described liberals and conservatives voted predictably along party lines, while moderates backed the incumbent. More than half of those polled disapproved about the way Kitzhaber carried out the 2010 federal health care law, and Richardson enjoyed a 2-to-1 edge among those voters. The survey was conducted by Edison Research. A total of 972 voters were interviewed by landline or cellular telephone from Oct. 24 through Nov. 2. Results for the full sample were subject to sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points; it is higher for subgroups. Richardson struggled to overcome his socially conservative views in a state that strongly supports abortion rights. Democrats pummeled voters with two decades worth of Richardson's controversial statements about gays, illegal immigration and abortion. http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141104/NEWS/141109837 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->