Kitzhaber owes explanation on CRC consultant campaign role

Oregon Republican Party

Wilsonville, OR – The Oregon Republican Party released a statement yesterday regarding veteran political consultant, Patricia McCaig, advisor to Governor John Kitzhaber’s re-election campaign, and a consultant who received over $350,000 as an unregistered lobbyist for the failed Columbia River Crossing project.

Margie Hughes, Executive Director of the Oregon Republican Party stated: “We are concerned about the propriety of a political operative like Patricia McCaig, who benefitted generously from consulting fees paid for promoting the failed Columbia River Crossing project, while being an unpaid and unreported consultant to the Governor,” as reported by Willamette Week.

“Governor Kitzhaber should clarify McCaig’s role in the 2010 governor’s campaign and her CRC consulting work, and her unpaid role as a consultant to the current governor’s campaign.

This connection crosses the line between lobbyist, generously-paid consultant and unpaid, behind-the-scenes manager of the Kitzhaber campaign. We urge the Governor to justify McCaig’s role and why he has not been forthcoming about the connections between the government-funded projects like the CRC and Cover Oregon and his campaigns,” continued Hughes.

“The voters of Oregon deserve to know when McCaig started advising Governor Kitzhaber about his current re-election campaign and exactly what role she has played in providing damage control for the Governor on the Cover Oregon scandal,” Hughes concluded.