Secretary of state candidates head into their first debate

Secretary of state candidates Kate Brown (D-Portland) and Rick Dancer (R-Springfield) will participate in their first debate Thursday, and look to woo the large number of undecided voters.

The latest poll shows that Brown has a sizeable lead. Thirty-three percent of Oregonians say they are backing the state senator, while 25 percent say they are backing Dancer. Thirty-eight percent of voters are undecided.

“The secretary of state is the lieutenant governor in Oregon, and having experience working in the building with both parties working on policy and passing legislation is important,” Brown's campaign manager Aimee Wilson said. “Secretary of state is the position in Oregon where experience does matter.”

Wilson also said that Brown’s experience as senate majority leader and her position as chair of the elections committee provided her with the experience necessary to do the job. She has an intimate understanding of the issues the next secretary of state will have to deal with, Brown said.

“One thing that’s really important to talk about is initiative reform and cracking down on initiative fraud,” Wilson said. “This is a very important issue in this race.”

Calls to Rick Dancer’s campaign manager Aaron Larsen were not returned, but he when the poll was released he told PolitickerOR.com said Dancer was hard at work trying to increase his name recognition outside of the Eugene area, where he has spent years on the air as a news anchorman.

Pacific Green Party candidate Seth Woolley will also be participating.

The format for this appearance is a candidate forum, where each candidate gets to tell voters about where they stand on certain issues. It means that the candidates will have less opportunity to debate head-to-head, but it also means that voters will have the opportunity to listen to Dancer, Brown, and Woolley, and decide which one they want to support.

The debate is hosted by the Salem City Club, and will take place in Salem at Chemeketa Community College in Building Two at 6:30 p.m.