Rick Metsger stands out in Secretary of State primary

Published: April 19, 2008

In the crowded race of Democrats running for Secretary of State, we support Rick Metsger, state senator from Welches.

Perhaps best known as a television news anchor in the 1980s and 90s, Metsger represents a fairly conservative district in East Multnomah and Mt. Hood counties. He has been re-elected in that district precisely because he understands both rural and urban voter issues.

His principle opponents both are state senators - Kate Brown from Portland and Vicki Walker from Eugene. A fourth candidate is Paul Damian Wells from Newberg, who doesn't seem to be actively campaigning.

Because Oregon doesn't have a lieutenant governor, the secretary of state is the most important executive office after governor. That office runs statewide elections, audits various government agencies and departments, and has a seat on the state land board, which manages more than 2 million acres of land held in public trust.

During this next term, the new secretary will be responsible for redistricting after the 2010 census, and likely will look at significant campaign finance reform laws.

With little difference in most policy positions among the three major candidates, we looked at instances where they don't agree.

Metsger favors making the secretary of state office nonpartisan, and we're inclined to agree, especially because of its redistricting power. Both Brown and Walker want to keep the office partisan.

Going back to 2003, when Oregon faced the long-term debt of a Personal Employee Retirement System gone wild, Metsger voted against his rivals and favored reforms that would curtail PERS debt.

In the 2005 legislative session, both Democrats and Republicans worked to pass HB2614, which effectively shut out third party candidates. Independent candidates who gather signatures to be placed on a General Election ballot suffer a significant handicap now that those signers who voted for a partisan candidate in the Primary Election will find their petition signatures thrown out. Metsger voted against the bill; Walker and Brown voted for it.

Brown, who leads her three competitors in fundraising by a substantial margin, is smart, aggressive and has been a strong proponent of equality and fairness in government. She spearheaded legislation that created the searchable online database of campaign contributions and expenditures, known as ORESTAR.

Walker is like a Chihuahua nipping at the heels of government. She's feisty and independent, and promises an aggressive audit division if elected. In fact, if someone else wins this election, he or she would do the state a service by appointing Walker to head that division.

Both Walker and Brown would do a fine job. However, we feel Metsger is a better choice because he's not afraid to cross party lines if he thinks it's in the best interest of the public.

And briefly, on the Republican side, former television anchor Rick Dancer of Eugene is running unopposed and will face the Democratic standard-bearer in November.