No Inaugural Ball for Kitzhaber. Go Ducks!

Kari Chisholm

On Monday, John Kitzhaber will be sworn in for an unprecedented third term as Governor. But after the ceremony, there won't be a fancy inaugural ball -- not even a "wear your jeans" inaugural ball (as Minnesota's new Governor, Mark Dayton, is planning.)

Rather, the Governor will be headed for Mahonia Hall to gather with a few family and friends to do what most of the rest of us will be doing too: Watch the Oregon Ducks play the Auburn Tigers for the national championship in college football.

That makes Kitzhaber the only Governor-elect in the country to decline a big inaugural ball. (Correction: Gov. Jerry Brown - also one of the comeback kids - declined a fancy ball, and instead hosted a low-key reception for supporters, per a California reader of BlueOregon.)

From the Register-Guard:

Kitzhaber said he decided against any inaugural events because of the seriousness of Oregon’s economic and budgetary challenges.

“We’ve got 200,000 people out of work in this state and a $3.5 billion budget deficit. I think it’s just inappropriate to be spending a lot of money on an inaugural program.”

That said, Kitzhaber said he really enjoyed the Western hoe-down that supporters put on to celebrate his very first inauguration in 1995, and won’t rule out a similar event later this year.

OPB's Chris Lehman details the formal activities scheduled for Monday morning:

[H]ere's what's on tap: The House and the Senate will have separate organizational sessions first thing in the morning. (It's unclear how organized the House will be at that point, but that's a separate issue altogether.) Then, the House and the Senate will convene a joint session at 10:45. It's expected to last about 90 minutes and will include Kitzhaber's swearing in and his inaugural address. And other than the aforementioned reception, that's it. Wojcicki says Kitzhaber is planning an "informal" event this summer that will take the place of any inaugural ball this time around.

In other news, there's still no word on whether Kitzhaber plans to once again wear blue jeans for his formal oath - as he did in 1994. (Count me as one vote in favor of denim -- it was always nice to be able to say, "If the Governor can wear jeans to be sworn in, then I can wear jeans tonight...")

By Kari Chisholm Jan. 05, 2011