Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown is set to become the first openly bisexual governor in U.S. history now that embattled Gov. John Kitzhaber
has announced his resignation, The Washington Post reports.
The development would be significant for the LGBT community, the newspaper said, noting that there has never been an elected LGBT governor, though New Jersey Democratic Gov. Jim McGreevy came out as gay in 2004 and admitted an affair with an appointee, only to resign three months later.
Kitzhaber is embroiled in an ethics scandal that revolves around his fiancée,
Cylvia Hayes. It is alleged that she used her connections to the governor to win hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of consulting contracts.
Kitzhaber had denied he would resign from his fourth term in office, but announced Friday that he would indeed step down.
If Brown takes over as governor, it would be the second time in her career that she gained office as a result of a resignation.
In 1991, she was appointed to the state House after Democratic Rep. Judy Bauman left office after being appointed to an executive position. Brown stayed in the House until 1997 when she won a seat in the Oregon state Senate.
In 2008, Brown was the first woman to serve as Oregon Senate majority leader, the Post reported.
Brown said in a statement that she is "ready" to take office. The Post said it's unclear what shape her tenure would take but noted that she has put a strong emphasis during her time in office on increasing political transparency.
One issue that could dog her is her connection to Comcast, the Post said. She found herself in hot water for writing to the FCC endorsing Comcast's merger with Time Warner Cable after having received campaign contributions from the company.
Arizona Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema became the first bisexual member of Congress in 2013 and there are roughly 525 openly LGBT public officials in office at all levels of government, the Post said, citing the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. Most of those are Democrats.
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