Gov. Brown wants next SOS to keep eye on election

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Oregon Gov. Kate Brown wants to select a new secretary of state who does not plan to seek re-election in 2020, saying that person should be focused on running elections and not running for office.

Brown told reporters Thursday that when she was elevated from secretary of state to governor in 2015 with the resignation of Gov. John Kitzhaber over an ethics scandal, she named a secretary of state to replace her who would not run for re-election the following year.

Soon after Jeanne Atkins became secretary of state in 2015, she said she would not be running in 2016 after completing Brown’s term.

Brown said she wants someone with the same commitment, since a presidential election is again coming up. She wants a Republican with management skills to replace Dennis Richardson, a Republican who died in February.