Last week The Oregonian ran an editorial backing a move that would make the Secretary of State a non-partisan position, citing the erosion in public confidence prompted by the 2000 recount fiasco in Florida, in which then Secretary of State Katherine Harris, a known Bush ally, was at the core of the election results, as well as Ohio in 2004, when the Secretary of State, Ken Blackwell, also served as an honorary co-chair of the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign.

Blackwell’s dual role prompted a number of lawsuits and allegations of voter disenfranchisement, and since then, several states have considered making the position of chief election officer non-partisan, as some areas have seen an increase in partisanship as both Republicans and Democrats hope to gain an advantage.

While the Oregon GOP has not yet named a candidate for Secretary of State, the Democratic field is plenty busy, with four members of the State Senate running in the primary.

Monday morning, the most recent entry into the race, State Senator Rick Metsger, declared on Thom Hartmann’s radio program that he indeed supported the idea of having a non-partisan Secretary of State, and in an interview later, one of his advisers, Stacey Dycus, elaborated.

“If the Secretary of State endorses a candidate, and then something happens so it’s a tight election, then it is difficult for the secretary of State to maintain the appearance of neutrality, even if all the rules have been followed,” Dycus explained.

But Metsger’s colleague and opponent Vicki Walker firmly rejected the idea in an interview Monday.

“You can dress up a pig any way you want, and it’s still a pig, so it’s not the nature of the office being partisan or non-partisan, but the nature of the individual,” she said, reasoning that most people have personal political views, so concealing them would be silly, and that the right candidate should be able to conduct his or herself appropriately, regardless of political affiliation.

“I’ve been a Democrat all my life, because I believe in their views, and I can’t just turn that off, but it doesn’t mean I can’t behave in such a way that one would expect from an elected official who presides over state elections.”

Walker also suggested that she has demonstrated a pattern of independence, and a willingness to challenge and criticize her own party.

“I have been a loud critic of members of my own party. I’ve gone after Neil Goldschmidt, and I didn’t hesitate to go after Ted Kulongoski because I didn’t think he was doing a very good job, and I believe that I, and others, helped persuade Ted to become a more responsive Governor,” she said.

Walker said it was unclear where the line should be drawn between appropriate and inappropriate political involvement, but did point to the fact that current Secretary of State, Bill Bradbury has pledged to be non-partisan, yet has still stumped against Senator Gordon Smith.

“It’s a tough line I think, but I am who I am, and I think I’ve made pretty clear that I’m not afraid to go after the bad guys, regardless of what party they belong to,” she said.

Last year the Public Commission on the Oregon Legislature offered a report that recommended creating a non-partisan secretary of state, a report that current frontrunner Kate Brown said Monday she would like to review more thoroughly before landing on a firm position.

State Senator Brad Avakian’s camp did respond by Monday night.