Dudley: jobs key issue in Ore. race
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Chris Dudley is known to many Oregonians as a former NBA player. But as a Republican candidate for governor, he's still largely an unknown quantity.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Dudley offers some clues: He's a fiscal conservative who opposes tax increases that will be up for a statewide vote next month. But he's a moderate on social issues, supporting abortion rights and giving domestic partnership rights to same-sex couples.
Dudley and others think that Oregon Republicans, who haven't won an election for governor since 1982, are ready to put aside social issue litmus tests and back the candidate who can revive Oregon's struggling economy.
"The reason I'm running is to get Oregon working again. I'm not driven by the abortion issue," the former Portland Trail Blazers center said.
In the 2006 governor race, the GOP nomination was won by Ron Saxton, who was pro-choice on abortion. Saxton won partly because he backed laws sought by anti-abortion activists to require parental notification before teens can have abortions and to ban partial birth abortions.
Some political observers believe that stance hurt Saxton in the general election, in which Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski defeated Saxton to win a second term.
Dudley, in the AP interview, made it clear that he has personal qualms about abortion. He said if a family member had an unwanted pregnancy, "I would do everything I could to encourage adoption" over an abortion.
"But I don't want to make that choice for others," he said.
On another hot-button social issue, Dudley said he supports the constitutional amendment adopted by Oregon voters in 2004 defining marriage as being between a man and a woman.
However, Dudley said he favors the decision by the 2007 Oregon Legislature to enact a domestic partnership law giving same-sex couples many of the rights and responsibilities afforded to married couples.
"It is very important to me that all couples have equal rights," he said.
Dudley's stance in favor of abortion rights and domestic partnerships parallels the views of businessman Allen Alley, who is probably Dudley's chief competitor for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in the May 18 primary.
The Oregon Family Council's Tim Nashif, a socially conservative political consultant who led the 2004 campaign to pass Oregon's gay marriage ban, said he could support either Dudley or Alley for governor despite their views on abortion and same-sex couples.
"The key issue in this race is what's going on in Oregon's economy, and how are we going to fix this stinking mess?" Nashif said. "We believe that fiscal issues are moral issues as well. Many families are facing a financial crisis right now."
Portland pollster Tim Hibbitts said that lingering problems in Oregon's economy could work against the party in charge - the Democrats - and boost Republican chances of winning back the governor's office.
"Maybe some socially conservative Republicans will conclude that it would be nice if the party could win a statewide office sometime in the 21st century" and decide to support Dudley or Alley, Hibbitts said.
Dudley, who retired from the NBA in 2003 and currently works with a wealth management company, said no issue would be more important to him as governor than bringing down Oregon's chronically high unemployment rate.
"Creating jobs would be the most compassionate thing we could do for this state," he said. "We need to create an environment where people feel if they work hard and apply themselves, they can succeed."
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
