Education Budget Fails in the Senate; Spin Ensues: Updated

By NIGEL JAQUISS
Sen. Chris Edwards

When Sen. Chris Edwards (D-Eugene) voted against the $6.55 billion K-12 budget today, he temporarily derailed the largest chunk of state spending and gave the leaders in Salem an opportunity to present the same news in pretty different ways.

Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat, struck first with a statement at 12:53 pm:

At 12:56 pm, the Senate Democrats released a statement that made no mention of Edwards' vote:

And at 1:01 pm, Senate Republicans trumpeted the vote as a "bi-partisan" achievement:

Updated at 5:25 pm:


In a statement, Edwards provided the following explanation for his vote: 



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