By Rick Douglas

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. -- To be a serious candidate for any political office, the rule of thumb is "boots on the ground."

And that was literally the case Thursday morning as democratic candidate for governor, John Kitzhaber, took a walking tour of downtown Springfield. Kitzhaber said it's been 10 years since he was last here, but you wouldn't know that from the warm welcome he received from what appeared to be old friends.

"I'm a grad of South Eugene High School. The gentleman who first called me out is Wayne Ford. I used to work with him in the ER down in Roseburg, so I'm sort of a Eugene, southern Oregon guy," he said.

Kitzhaber visited local landmarks like the Academy of Arts and Academics -- a real source of pride in Springfield. He also toured the Wildish Theater, which was still on the drawing board during his last term as governor.

Springfield Mayor Leiken told KEZI that, as far as he knows, there are no immediate plans by the Chris Dudley campaign to visit Springfield, but there's plenty of time for that before the general election in November.