John Kitzhaber is headed back to office for an unprecedented fourth term as Oregon Governor.
The Democrat held a four-point lead over Republican challenger Dennis Richardson Tuesday night.
Kitzhaber had been expected to cruise to an easy victory through much of the campaign. Then several embarrassing revelations involving First Lady Cylvia Hayes last month took some of the wind out of Kitzhaber's sails.
But in the end the state that hasn't elected a Republican as governor since 1982 continued its streak of favoring Democrats. Kitzhaber told a crowd of supporters in Portland that it's time to move on.
"We have just gone through a difficult campaign and we have some healing to do," Kitzhaber said. "And that healing needs to start right now."
Kitzhaber was elected twice as governor in the 1990s. He has said this would be his last campaign of his political career.
Copyright 2014 Northwest News Network