Rosenblum sworn in as Oregon's first female attorney general

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Ellen Rosenblum became Oregon's first woman attorney general Friday, breaking through one of the last remaining glass ceilings in Oregon politics a century after the state first allowed women to vote.

The retired judge and former federal prosecutor was feted in a ceremony at the state Capitol before Gov. John Kitzhaber administered the oath of office.

"As attorney general I will lead the Department of Justice so citizens are represented at the highest level of ethics, professionalism and devotion to public service," Rosenblum told dozens of her family and friends, along with leaders of the politics and the legal community.

Rosenblum replaces Democrat John Kroger, who is leaving office six months early to become president of Reed College in Portland. Kitzhaber selected Rosenblum to finish Kroger's term after she won the Democratic primary for the office last month. She is the front-runner against Republican James Buchal in November.

"I didn't appoint her to this position because she's a woman, but because she's the most qualified person to be Oregon's top lawyer," Kitzhaber said.

Barbara Roberts, Oregon's first female governor, celebrated the achievement for Rosenblum, noting that women have been elected to most other statewide offices.

Rosenblum, 61, retired last year after more than 20 years as a judge, first for the Multnomah County trial court and later for the state appeals court. Before taking the gavel, she was a federal prosecutor and a lawyer in private practice in Eugene.

In her new job, she becomes one of the state's highest-profile officials with a bully pulpit and a budget of more than $400 million. And she will be chief of the state's largest law firm, employing 1,200 people, including nearly 300 lawyers.

Rosenblum grew up outside Chicago and moved to the West Coast in 1970 to attend the University of Oregon, where she earned a bachelor's degree and her law degree. Her husband, Richard Meeker, is publisher of Willamette Week, and they have two children.

She's due to be sworn in Friday during a ceremony at the governor's ceremonial office in the Capitol.