Sen. Metsger won't seek re-election

Rep. Barton will run for vacant seat

By Garth Guibord

The Sandy Post, Sep 29, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

contributed photo / Sandy Post

Sen. Rick Metsger, D-Welches, right, discusses a key bill with Rep. Matt Wingard, R-Wilsonville, center.

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State Sen. Rick Metsger, a Democrat from Welches, announced last week he will not seek re-election next year, opening the door for Rep. Brent Barton, D-Clackamas, to announce he’ll run for the vacant Senate seat.

“Senator Metsger’s leadership will be missed,” Barton said in a statement. “He forged bipartisan consensus on many bills from transportation to education. His discipline with taxpayer money and willingness to look beyond party labels made him a great senator for this diverse district.”

Metsger, Senate president pro tem, was first elected in 1998. He said he doesn’t have plans for when he leaves the post but will evaluate things as they come.

“I’m excited about what the next thing might be, but I really don’t have any particular plans,” he said.

Metsger, who served as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, was the chief architect of House Bill 2001, the largest transportation and jobs investment bill passed by the Legislature.

He cited transportation investments totaling more than $2.5 billion from his tenure in the Senate as one of his greatest accomplishments.

“That’s the infrastructure that allows businesses to be competitive and grow,” he noted, adding he accomplished that through bipartisanship.

The Oregon Building Trades Council honored Metsger as “Oregon’s Chief Job Builder” in the Legislature earlier this month, and last year the Oregon Nurses Association named him “Legislator of the Year” for his long history of championing nursing issues.

In 2008, Metsger was inducted into the Northwest Steelheaders Hall of Fame for his career-long advocacy of habitat protection, joining former governors Tom McCall and John Kitzhaber and Secretary of State Bill Bradbury in receiving the organization’s highest honor.

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