similar measure, 2004's Measure 37, subsequently passed, and was amended by 2007's Measure 49. 1998 gubernatorial election Sizemore ran for Governor of Oregon as a Republican in 1998. He won his party's primary, defeating the Republican Party Chairman and three other candidates who had little or no name recognition. During the general election, The Oregonian ran three major articles detailing Sizemore's alleged shady business practices, both in private business and in the operation of his political action committee and non-profit educational foundation. These included one about a "Trail of Debt" he had allegedly left behind, one of which involved an outstanding loan from a fellow church member, which Sizemore says was eventually repaid; one about a fishing club on a private lake, to which he tried to sell memberships before obtaining state permission; and one about an apparently falsified loan application on which he claimed not to have declared bankruptcy when, in fact, he had done so. Sizemore said he did not check the boxes on the loan application relating to bankruptcy and that the loan officer who submitted the application did that on his own. Sizemore lost the November general election to incumbent Governor John Kitzhaber, a Democrat. Sizemore won 30% of the vote, to Kitzhaber's 64%. Racketeering case In July 2000, the Oregon Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers filed a civil racketeering lawsuit against two of Sizemore's organizations: Oregon Taxpayers United and the OTU Education Foundation. Sizemore was not named personally as a defendant or party to the case. During the trial Becky Miller, Sizemore's top aide, under protection of state and federal immunity deals, testified in detail about allegedly unethical and illegal practices of Oregon Taxpayers United. These included alleged money laundering involving both Sizemore and Americans for Tax Reform founder Grover Norquist, as well as falsification of federal tax returns and state campaign finance reports. Additional testimony reported financial deals allegedly designed to disguise or hide the sources of funding for campaigns, as well as to allow Sizemore to personally profit from the campaigns. After three weeks of testimony and a million dollars in union legal fees, the jury found Sizemore's organizations guilty of racketeering, and the organizations were fined approximately $2.5 million. Sizemore refused to pay the fines and attempted to continue doing business by changing the name of his organizations to Oregon Taxpayers Association and carrying on with business as usual.