Mannix, Kulongoski still in a tight race
11/06/2002
Democrat Ted Kulongoski holds a narrow lead over Republican Kevin Mannix this morning, the day after the election.
Votes are still being counted in Oregon's tightest gubernatorial race in years.
The two contenders for Oregon governor battered each other with neither scoring a decisive blow as Tuesday night slid into Wednesday morning
At latest report, with 76 percent of the votes counted, Kulongoski was slightly ahead with 493,385 votes against Mannix's 490,745 votes. Both candidates were carrying 48 percent of the entire votes. Libertarian Tom Cox had five percent of the vote.
Kulongoski predicts he will emerge the winner when all votes are tallied, particularly in Multnomah and Lane counties, two strongly Democratic counties.
Oregon Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Kulongoski waves to supporters as he greets them at Democratic Party headquarters in Portland. (AP Photo) |
But Mannix isn't giving up. He told his supporters to prepare for a long vote count. "We may have to wait a day or two to find out where we are," he said.
The hair-thin margin meant that this boxing match to succeed governor John Kitzhaber may not be decided until later Wednesday.
The harrowing contest also meant that Multnomah County and Lane County may yet play crucial roles in who ultimately takes Oregon’s top elected post.
Elections officials had about 57,000 ballots to count in Multnomah County. In Lane County, elections officials said they would continue to count all night.
“We’re going to bring this home tomorrow morning,” Kulongoski said. “… I want you to get up in the morning with this understanding: We are going to win.”
Throughout the evening, Mannix said he was cautiously optimistic. He also chastised media pundits for writing him off early in the governor’s race.
Oregon Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Mannix, left, greets supporters at the Governor Hotel in Portland. (AP Photo) |
“We have already achieved great things in this campaign,” Mannix said.
“A candidate can stand by conservative, moral principles and values and family values and hold the line on taxes and fight against crime and support our schools and be a contender in this state.”
The near even split in the vote also means that whoever wins election as Oregon’s next governor will face a daunting task in reaching consensus among legislators.
No matter who wins the election, the next governor will inherit a state budget in crisis, an anemic economy, and grim questions about funding for schools and public safety.
“I think it represents the split among the citizens on a wide variety of issues, and it’s going to be a challenge for all of us in Salem to sit down and work this out,” Kulongoski said to KGW.
Libertarian Tom Cox, who ran on a campaign promise to slash taxes by $1.5 billion and reduce government spending, had 5 percent of the vote. Cox said he was proud of his showing.
“That tells us that we have a key group of voters who care deeply about freedom, they care about fiscal conservatism and social tolerance, and the other parties can’t afford to ignore us any more,” Cox said.
Kulongoski has picked up endorsements from Kitzhaber and former Democratic governors Neil Goldschmidt and Barbara Roberts while Mannix has picked up support from former Senator Mark Hatfield.
But Kulongoski opened himself up for criticism by endorsing a $313 million income tax increase that's aimed at averting cuts to schools and programs.
“It changed the message that we wanted to put out,” Kulongoski said to KGW. “We wanted to focus on the economy and education and ended up debating taxes.”
Mannix, a socially conservative Salem lawyer who's made two unsuccessful bids for attorney general, said Kulongoski's backing of the income tax hike shows he's a tax-and-spender.
Kulongoski began aggressively fighting back in the campaign's final weeks by pointing out that Mannix voted for various tax hikes as a legislator.
Kulongoski also has hammered on the theme that Mannix's anti-abortion stance was "too extreme" for Oregon, a state that's considered an abortion rights stronghold.
Mannix countered that abortion "isn't an issue" in the governor's race and that the U.S. Supreme Court settled the issue years ago in its Roe vs. Wade ruling keeping abortion legal.
Hailing from Missouri, Kulongoski, who turned 62 on Tuesday, was raised by nuns in a St. Louis orphanage. He joined the Marines after graduating from high school and was stationed in Thailand for three years.
Kulongoski graduated from the University of Missouri law school and headed west for Oregon.
He began his career in politics as a state House staffer in 1973. He won election to a state House seat the next year, and later moved to the Senate. He unsuccessfully challenged Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Packwood in 1980.
Mannix, 52, was born in Queens, N.Y. When Mannix was 5, his family moved to South America, where his father was posted as a U.S. diplomat. Mannix lived in various Latin American countries up to age 14.
Mannix graduated from the University of Virginia and later returned there to get his law degree. He moved to Oregon in 1974.
He served five terms in the Oregon House, first as a Democrat, then as a Republican. Mannix switched parties after losing a 1996 primary election race for the Democratic nomination for attorney general against Hardy Myers.
(The AP contributed to this report.)