Novick Announces Run for Senate

(Portland, Ore.)-April 18, 2007 - Steve Novick, a former Justice Department environmental lawyer and long-time political activist, announced today that he is challenging Gordon Smith for Oregon's open Senate seat in 2008.

Novick, who has fought against corporate polluters, and challenged the Oregon Lottery's wasteful practice of overpaying video poker retailers at the expense of schools, pledged to fight for a "cleaner, greener, fairer economy," for universal health care, for fiscal responsibility, and against the growing gap between "the rich and powerful and the rest of us."

"We can ensure that every American has health insurance and restrain health care costs; we can avert global warming and build a new economy at the same time; we can prevent the federal government from going bankrupt with fair tax policies and sane spending policies," said Novick. "But we cannot meet these challenges if people like Gordon Smith remain in power."

Novick took Smith to task for voting to undermine Oregon's minimum wage while sponsoring a huge tax cut specifically for multinational corporations; for helping President Bush add $3 trillion to the national debt; for refusing to recognize the threat of global warming; and for four years of enthusiastic support for the war in Iraq. "Gordon Smith is responsible for this war. He can't blame it all on Donald Rumsfeld. He's responsible, and in this election, he's going to be held accountable," Novick said.

Novick grew up in Cottage Grove, Oregon. When his high school closed in 1976 due to the failure of a budget levy, he began attending classes at the University of Oregon and enrolled as a full-time student the next year. After graduating from the University of Oregon at 18, he enrolled at Harvard Law School, where he was the youngest graduating student in his class. Novick brought suits against corporate polluters for the U.S. Justice Department, eventually acting as lead counsel in the Love Canal case, in which he and his team recovered $129 million for the taxpayers. In Oregon, he played a leading role in initiative battles against Bill Sizemore, Don McIntire and Howard Rich. More information on Novick's stand on the issues and his background are at www.novickforsenate.com .