Independent Party candidate files for Oregon House Dist. 4
by Damian Mann
Mail Tribune
April 16, 2008
A Central Point man announced Tuesday he is running as a candidate in the Independent Party of Oregon to challenge Rep. Dennis Richardson in the November election.
Keith Wangle, 38, who is business manager for Beaver Tree Service, filed his candidacy papers with the Oregon Secretary of State Monday.
Wangle is the only Independent Party candidate to file for House District 4. He said the party will hold a caucus in June where he will seek the nomination.
No Democrat has come forward to challenge Richardson, a Central Point attorney, in this strong Republican district.
"I threw my hat in the race after no one else did," said Wangle, who has a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and a master's degree from the University of Michigan. He graduated as a valedictorian from Crater High School in 1987.
Republican Ronald Schutz of Grants Pass will run against Richardson in the May primary.
Wangle, who was formerly registered as a Democrat, said he considers himself a centrist, sharing both Democratic and Republican views.
"I'm running left of Dennis, but shooting for the center," he said.
Wangle criticized Richardson's approach in the Legislature. "He works as a lawyer," he said. "He identifies his enemy and works to crush his enemy."
He said the incumbent also doesn't show a willingness to work with members of the opposing party. Wangle said he did support Richardson, however, for helping start a rainy-day fund to supplement the state budget when the economy falters.
Wangle said if he is elected, he will work to promote a healthy business environment, particularly because the bad economic news of late will mean more people will lose their jobs.
The Legislature, which should continue to wring out more efficiencies in government, needs to prepare better for the economic downturn that will likely mean cuts in local education, he said.
"We are going to have shortfalls in the state economy," he said.
Wangle criticized the Legislature, which had been Republican-dominated for years, for failing to create a rainy-day fund earlier that would have been available for the tough economic times to come.
Richardson, 58, said Wangle's goals don't appear to be markedly different than his own. "What do you bring that is not being emphasized by the incumbent?" he said.
Richardson, who took office in 2002, said he has strived to make government more efficient and has spent much effort understanding the complexities of the bureaucracies and making his findings known to the public.
"Daylight is the best sanitizer," he said. "Bringing this to light is the main goal of mine."
Being a legislator is a lot of hard work, said Richardson, who added he spends considerable time reaching out to about 20,000 people through an e-mail newsletter that he publishes during legislative sessions.
He said he welcomes having a candidate who is willing to challenge him.
"I'm glad to get the news that this is going to be a more interesting campaign than it would have been otherwise," he said.
Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476 or dmann@mailtribune.com.
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