[Mark Padgett]

Former NBA player Chris Dudley lost his bid to become governor of Oregon yesterday. Running as a Republican, he lost a close race to former Oregon Democratic governor Dr. John Kitzhaber. Dudley ran a really strong campaign and actually led the race late into the afternoon (Oregon has vote-by-mail and votes start being counted early on election morning) but he fell short as tons of last minute ballots were counted later in the day in Oregon's most populous county which has an almost 4 to 1 Democratic registration edge. Dudley conceded the election around dinner time and was very gracious about it.

Also OT - there's a public memorial service for Maurice Lucas this coming Monday at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland. That's where the Trailblazers played when he was on the team.