YAMHILL, OR — Longtime New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof will appeal today’s decision that he’s ineligible to run for governor in 2022.
“A failing political establishment in Oregon has chosen to protect itself, rather than give voters a choice,” Kristof said on Twitter. “We will challenge this decision in court, and we are confident we will prevail, because the law is on our side.”
Earlier today, the secretary of state said Kristof doesn’t meet the requirements to run or stand for office.
“The rules are the rules and they apply equally to all candidates for office in Oregon,” Secretary of State Shemia Fagan said in a news release. “I stand by the determination of the experts in the Oregon Elections Division that Mr. Kristof does not currently meet the Constitutional requirements to run or serve as Oregon Governor.”
Kristof, 62, who announced his candidacy on Oct. 27, 2021, does not meet the residency requirements, according to the release.
The Oregon Constitution requires that gubernatorial candidates have been a “resident within this state” for three years before the election.
Kristof was born in Chicago, IL, but raised in Yamhill, OR, according to Wikipedia.
In 2018, Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, his wife, began converting his family’s cherry orchard to an apple orchard and vineyard, according to The Oregonian.
His resignation from The Times was announced on Oct. 14, 2021, according to the newspaper. He’d been on leave since June.
But it is unclear when he returned to the family farm.
Kristof is a registered member of the Democratic party, and a self-described progressive.
Current Oregon Gov. Kate Brown cannot run again due to term limits.
Kristof won Pulitzer Prizes in 1990 for International Reporting on the democratic movement in China with WuDunn; and in 2006 for Commentary for his coverage of the genocide in Darfur.
He was hired by The New York Times in 1984, where he wrote a column from 2001 to 2021.
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