Nick Kristof Running: Quits Paper, Official Announcement Looms

OREGON CITY, OR — “You all know how much I love Oregon, and how much I've been seared by the suffering of old friends there.

“So I’ve reluctantly concluded that I should try not only to expose problems but also see if I can fix them directly.”

With those words, Nick Kristof told his colleagues at The New York Times he is resigning from the paper where he's worked for the past 37 years.

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Kristof, who was born in Yamhill and still lives on the farm where he grew up, filed the paperwork creating a campaign committee Tuesday.

Forming “Nick for Oregon” allows him to hire staff and raise money as he looks toward the Democratic primary in May, where he hopes that he'll be picked to succeed Gov. Kate Brown. Term limits prevent her from running for another term.

Praising Kristof, Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger said that he's “one of the finest journalists of his generation. He is as empathetic as he is fearless.”

At the Times, Kristof was a reporter, served as China bureau chief, and worked as the associate managing editor overseeing the Sunday paper before becoming a columnist in 2001.

Kristof moved back to the farm full time with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn — with whom he shared a Pulitzer Prize, back in 2019. They've turned it from what had been a farm focused on cherries and sheep to a winery and orchard.

He won't be the only Democrat seeking the seat. House Speaker Tina Kotek and State Treasurer Tobias Read have also said they want to run. On the Republican side, Stan Pulliam, the mayor of Sandy, is also running.

A date for an official statement has not been announced.