john lim to run for oregon governor

In Oregon, businessman John Lim, who served twelve years in the Oregon Legislature before losing a re-election race last year, has announced that he plans to seek the Republican nomination for governor: John Lim says he's also running for governor.

This won't be his first shot at governor. Lim first gained political attention when he ran as a long shot candidate in 1990 GOP gubernatorial primary, gaining 11 percent of the vote. He has previously served eight years in the Senate and four years in the House.

Lim is an active in a number of Korean American associations and will no doubt tap those ethnic connections for campaign contributions. He said he expects to spend at least $1 million on the primary, through a mixture of his own money and donations.

He joins a field that includes businessman Allen Alley, who ran for state treasurer last year and has been campaigning for the GOP gubernatorial nomination for months, and State Sen. Jason Atkinson (R-Central Point), who says he will formally announce his candidacy later this month.