The Oregon State Firefighters Council announced their endorsement of John Kitzhaber for Governor today. The support of the Firefighters represents the first major public safety endorsement in the 2010 campaign for Governor and gives Kitzhaber another significant labor endorsement.

“We are proud to be an early endorser of Oregon’s next Governor,” said Oregon State Firefighters Council President Kelly Bach. “As firefighters, our job is to step into a crisis to rescue and protect the people in danger. Right now, Oregon needs the same thing from it’s next Governor. John Kitzhaber has the on the job experience and character we need to create jobs, protect public safety and stand up for front line firefighters and all Oregon families.”

Kitzhaber said, “Like all Oregonians, I am deeply grateful for the work Oregon firefighters perform every day. I am honored by their support and look forward to working closely with firefighters throughout Oregon over the course of the campaign.”

The Oregon State Firefighters Council represents around 3,000 members in 44 different locals. They supported John Kitzhaber’s successful campaigns for Governor in both 1994 and 1998.

To date, Kitzhaber has received the support of all three labor unions that have made public endorsements. The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48 have also thrown their support behind the former Governor. Kitzhaber also boasts the endorsement of over 60 current and former elected officials, including four statewide office holders.

John Kitzhaber is a former two-term Governor of Oregon. An emergency room physician from Roseburg by trade, he has also served in the Oregon House of Representatives and as the Oregon Senate President. In his career he enacted many progressive reforms, including the Oregon Health Plan, the Oregon Education Act for the 21st Century, the Oregon Children's Plan, the Oregon Salmon Plan, and he helped establish Oregon’s Statewide Trauma System. Since leaving office in 2002, he has continued to work on health care reform, natural resource issues and energy policy, leading several nonprofit foundations and boards.