John Kitzhaber Politician
Dr. John Albert Kitzhaber (born March 5, 1947) is an American politician and is the 37th and current Governor of Oregon, since 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, Kitzhaber has previously served as the 35th Governor, for two terms from 1995 to 2003. He also served in the Oregon House of Representatives and Oregon Senate, including as Senate president. He was also an emergency room surgeon and has worked as a health care administrator.Born in Colfax, Washington, Kitzhaber is a graduate of Dartmouth College, earning his M.D. from Oregon Health & Science University. Kitzhaber began his career as an emergency room physician before he was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1978. He served one term in the Oregon House from 1979 to 1981 and was elected to the Oregon State Senate in 1982. He served three terms in the Oregon Senate from 1983 to 1993, and served as Oregon's Senate President from 1985 to 1993.In 1994, after incumbent Governor Barbara Roberts announced she would not run for reelection, Kitzhaber declared his candidacy to run for Governor. He prevailed in the Democratic primary and defeated former Representative and Republican nominee Denny Smith with 50% of the vote in the general election and was sworn into office on January 9, 1995. He was then reelected in 1998, defeating conservative activist Bill Sizemore.After his first tenure as Governor, Kitzhaber became the Director of the Center for Evidence Based Policy at the Oregon Health & Science University, served as the Executive Chair and President at both the Foundation for Medical Excellence and the Estes Park Institute, and founded the health care advocacy group the Archimedes Movement. In September 2009, Kitzhaber announced he would run for a third term as Governor, defeating Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury in the Democratic primary and former professional basketball player Chris Dudley with 49% of the vote in Oregon's 2010 gubernatorial election. He was reelected to a historic fourth term in the 2014 gubernatorial election, defeating state representative Dennis Richardson.
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Office holder
| office | President of the Oregon State Senate Member of the Oregon State Senate 35th and 37th Governor of Oregon from the 23rd district |
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