Grants Pass Real Estate Agent to Run for Governor as Independent

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

GoLocalPDX Politics Team

Cliff Thomason; via Cliff Thomason campaign website

The Independent Party of Oregon, the state’s third-largest political party, has a candidate for governor. Cliff Thomason, a real estate agent from Grants Pass, will challenge incumbent Kate Brown in next year’s election.

Thomason announced his campaign on Monday. On his campaign website, Thomason claims he is running to be the state’s top executive in order to help solve the state education, unemployment and corruption issues.

“Under the rule of Kitzhaber/Hayes/Brown, we have gone from being one of the most admired states to become one of the most laughed about,” Thomason’s website reads. “Scandals and failures in Oregon are constantly in the news rather than our leadership and innovation. From Cover Oregon to Public Education to unemployment, Oregon ranks at the bottom, and it is only worsening. It is time to break the chain of leadership that has brought Oregon to the brink of collapse. From dynamic leadership, the creation of a profitable and green industry, sustainable job opportunities, and to lottery money being given back to Oregon counties, Cliff Thomason has a plan for restoration of the great state of Oregon. It is time to change the culture in Salem and bring Oregon back to the top. Let's Make Oregon Great.”

As GoLocal reported, the Independent Party qualified to be a major political party earlier this year and will participate in the May 2016 Primary Election.

Related Slideshow: Timeline of Kate Brown’s Life and Political Career

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Childhood

Brown was born on June 21, 1960 in Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain where her father was serving in the U.S. Air Force, but she grew up mostly in Minnesota.

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Education

Brown graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a B.A. in Environmental Conservation. She then went on to earn a degree in environmental law from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College.

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Law Career

Before Brown began her legislative career, she worked at Portland State University and worked as an attorney with the Juvenile Rights Project, a non profit in Portland that provides legal services to children and families.

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House of Reps

Brown began her legislative career in 1991 in the Oregon House of Representatives where she served two terms.

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Senate

Kate Brown was elected to the Oregon Senate in 1996 and two years later was elected Senate Democratic Leader.

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Senate Majority Leader

In 2004 Kate Brown became the first woman to serve as Oregon's Senate Majority Leader. Brown served until July 2007 when she announced that she would give up her seat in the Oregon Senate to run for Secretary of State.

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Secretary of State.

On May 20, 2008, Brown won the election for the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State and on November 5 she won the general election by a 51-46 percent margin against Republican candidate Rick Dancer.

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Rising Star

In 2009 the Aspen Institute named Brown as one of 24 "Rising Stars" in American politics and awarded her with a Rodel Fellowship.

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Personal Life

Brown lives in Portland with her husband Dan Little who she has been married to for almost 20 years and is also a stepmother to two children. She identifies as bisexual and was America's first openly bisexual statewide officeholder.

Photo: Brown kissing Storm Large at Basic Rights Oregon's 27th annual Dinner Auction in 2009. Photo by Byron Beck.

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Cut D.C. Trip Short

On Wednesday, Feb. 11 2015 Brown left is the national conference for the Association of Secretaries of State in Washington D.C. two days early.

The 2015 Winter Conference runs from February 10-13, 2015, and draws top state officials from around the country.

Brown's spokesperson, Tony Green, confirmed she is on her way back to Oregon, and that her return is ahead of schedule.

According to multiple sources at the highest level of State Government, her return is tied to a potential resignation by the embattled Governor John Kitzhaber.

Photo: Kate Brown with Peter Johnson (left) and George Vranas (right).