Dancer camp: ‘Secretary of state office no place for a career politician’

Aaron Larsen, campaign manager for Rick Dancer (R-Springfield), said Thursday that the journalist turned secretary of state candidate was looking forward to Thursday night’s debate so that he could convince voters that his journalistic background made him more qualified for the position than a legislative background.

“When it comes to experience, Rick Dancer's experience as a fair and objective journalist makes him far more qualified to be the next Secretary of State than that of his opponents,” Larsen said in an email.  “The Secretary of State is meant to be the watchdog for the people. The person in that position is supposed to protect the people from government by ensuring that elections are fair and that taxpayers' money is spent wisely by auditing state agencies."

Kate Brown’s (D-Portland) campaign manager Aimee Wilson pointed out Wednesday that the secretary of state is Oregon's Liutenant Governor, and legislative experience was necessary to be able to understand and fill that role.

“Secretary of state is the position in Oregon where experience does matter,” Wilson told PolitickerOR.com Wednesday.

Brown does have vast legislative experience. She was the Oregon senate’s first female majority leader, and she has been a member of the Oregon legislature for 16 years. That is slightly longer than the 14 years current Secretary of State Bill Bradbury served in the Oregon Legislature before becoming Secretary of State in 1999. But Larsen said that the experience the executive position needed was not legislative experience.

“The secretary of state's office is no place for a career politician,” Larsen said. “It is a place for those who aren't afraid to buck their party affiliation in order to do what's right for the people of Oregon. “

Dancer and Brown will take part in their first debate Thursday night in Salem.

EARLIER on PolitickerOR.com: Secretary of State candidates head into their first debate