New Map Predicts Oregon's 2014 Races

Former Gov. John Kitzhaber
By ANDREA DAMEWOOD

Gov. John Kitzhaber hasn't yet said if he'll run for an unprecedented fourth term, but a new map from Congressional Quarterly says he's got the job if he wants it.

The map offers the first nationwide predictions for house, senate and governor races, offering a prediction of whether the seat is safe.

Kitzhaber isn't a sure candidate, and so far only two Republicans, state Rep. Dennis Richardson (R-Central Point) and Jon Justesen, a Sherman County rancher and businessman, have declared as his opponent.

Doesn't matter: the map says Kitzhaber is on lock. So is every single incumbent in the state. Oregon remains entirely "safely Democratic" according to CQ, except for Rep. Greg Walden's Eastern and Central Oregon House seat, which is "safely Republican."

 

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