PORTLAND- In Portland’s Director Park on Friday morning, media mogul Steve Forbes announced his support for Senatorial candidate Jim Huffman.
Huffman, running as the Republican candidate against incumbent Ron Wyden, welcomed support from Forbes, calling it a “boost” to the campaign.
Huffman’s wife Leslie was formerly employed as an editor at Forbes magazine, which Huffman said likely helped him in getting the endorsement.
Forbes, however, stated that Huffman is an ideal candidate, being a citizen who came out of the woodwork due to concern for the country.
A small group of protesters dressed in cocktail dresses and three-piece suits cheered on the announcement, saying Huffman will help to save jobs for billionaires if put into office.
PORTLAND- In a move expected by most local political experts, the Service Employee International Union made public their endorsement of former Democratic Governor John Kitzhaber on Thursday.
SEIU represents over 50,000 employees, primarily in state and local government but also in some private sector industries like nursing homes, hospitals, and property services.
According to a press release sent out by the organization, the decision was recommended by the SEIU political action committee and then affirmed by the SEIU Oregon State Council.
“We were impressed by Governor Kitzhaber’s grasp of the issues, sincerity and candor,” stated Barbara Casey in the same press release.
Casey, chair of the SEUI Local 503 political action committee, continued by saying, “more than anything else we believe he shares the values of our members and Oregon’s working families.”
The state council put willing participants through the task of filling out a questionnaire, appearing before members, and spending a day shadowing one member in the work place.
Republican candidate Chris Dudley declined to participate in the process.
