New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof is considering a run for governor of Oregon at his friends’ urging, he says, and is on leave from the Times. He told a local reporter that his friends have been “trying to convince” him that the state needs new lawmakers “from outside the broken political system.”
“I’m honestly interested in what my fellow Oregonians have to say about that,” he added during his interview with Portland-based Willamette Week published Sunday.
Kristof, who won Pulitzer Prizes in International Reporting in 1990 and Commentary in 2006, would be running as a Democrat. A representative for the New York Times told TheWrap Monday, “Nicholas Kristof is a deeply valued Opinion colleague and columnist, and although Nick has not made up his mind about whether to pursue a political candidacy, we agreed he’d go on leave from The Times, in accordance with Times standards, after he brought this possibility to our attention last month.”