Golden announces he will not run for U.S. Senate

Jeff Golden of Ashland announced today that he will not run for U.S. Senate, taking the occasion to criticize the Democratic Party for perpetuating a “broken” political system.

While exploring a run against Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., the former Jefferson Public Radio talk-show host said he found that Oregonians are “fed up with the political manipulation and shortsightedness of both political parties.”

“[O]ur problem is not Senator Smith but rather the rigged political system he’s been serving the last eleven years, and that the solution involves more than replacing him with a Democrat,” Golden said. “That message hasn’t sat well with campaign professionals and party officials.”

He added, “They generally recognize Oregonians’ restlessness but aren’t encouraging a hard look at how and why the system’s broken, perhaps fearing that people might be distracted from the simple task of voting for their candidates next year.”

The 57-year-old Golden, a Jackson County commissioner from 1987 through 1990, was married to former longtime Ashland Mayor Cathy Shaw, now a Democratic strategist in Southern Oregon.

In addition to writing several books, Golden appeared in the 2003 feature documentary, "The Same River Twice," which chronicles a 35-day, clothing-optional rafting trip that he and 16 others made in 1978 down the Colorado River.

Golden, who was host of JPR’s “The Jefferson Exchange” until his then-political aspirations became known publically on June 27, said he is “completely open” to returning to JPR, which has yet to name his replacement.

Smith, 54, who was handily re-elected to a second term in 2002, defeating Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury with 56 percent of votes, had raised $3.5 million for his re-election bid, according to the most recent campaign finance filings.

Along with three other Republican senators, the national Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is targeting Smith, seen by Democrats as particularly beleaguered this election cycle, in part because of his loyalty to President Bush who is wildly unpopular with Oregon’s Democrat-leaning electorate.

“Gordon Smith is one of the most vulnerable senators in the country,” DSCC spokesman Matthew Miller said in an earlier interview, adding that unseating Smith is among the committee’s “highest priorities.”

So far in the Democratic race for a chance to unseat Smith, the only Republican senator representing a West Coast state, is state House Speaker Jeff Merkley and attorney Steve Novick, both of Portland.

Chris Rizo covers politics for The Ashland Daily Tidings.  He can be reached at csrizo@hotmail.com.