Theodore Ralph Kulongoski (/ˌkʊlənˈɡɒski/ KUUL-ən-GOSS-kee; born November 5, 1940) is an American politician, judge, and lawyer who served as the 36th Governor of Oregon from 2003 to 2011.

In Oregon's 1980 United States Senate election, he ran an unsuccessful race against Republican Bob Packwood.

[7] In that role, Kulongoski reformed the state's workers' compensation insurance system, a move that is widely credited for lowering costs to business.

[4] In 1996, Kulongoski decided against running for re-election as Attorney General, and instead successfully ran for the Oregon Supreme Court.

He argued for a pragmatic approach to solving the state's budget crisis and recession, a marked departure from the more confrontational style of outgoing governor (and fellow Democrat) John Kitzhaber.

Mannix argued that the Democratic Party had held the governorship in Oregon too long, and pledged to reduce government spending without cutting vital services.

Furthermore, he faced the task of dealing with problems with the public employees' pension system without angering the labor unions that backed his campaign.

Former Republican Ben Westlund planned on running as independent, but on August 10, 2006, withdrew from the race, stating that "I made a commitment to the people of Oregon that I was in it to win it and that I absolutely would not play a spoiler role".

According to Kulongoski spokeswoman Anna Richter Taylor, he was scheduled for outpatient surgery at Oregon Health & Science University on June 30, 2010, to surgically remove the vitreous gel from the middle of the eye so full vision can be restored.

[24] After leaving the governor's office, he was appointed by John Kitzhaber to the Public Safety Commission as part of a review of Oregon's sentencing guidelines.