SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Despite the rousing receptions Barack Obama got on his campaign swing through Oregon last week, Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski is standing by Hillary Clinton and plans to travel to Pennsylvania to campaign for her.

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U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

Kulongoski's backing is important because he's one of Oregon's superdelegates, the party leaders who can vote for whomever they choose at the party's national convention despite how Oregonians vote in the May 20 primary.

Another superdelegate, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, was at the University of Oregon Friday night when Obama received a spirited reception from a foot-stomping, chanting crowd of 9,000, most of them college students.

Bradbury says he plans to remain neutral for now, although he said he was wowed by the speech the Illinois senator gave to the crowd at UO's basketball arena.

"It's great to see a candidate who really inspires younger voters -- and he clearly does," he said.

For a time, it looked like Oregon's late-in-the-game presidential primary would be of little consequence in choosing a Democratic nominee. But with Clinton and Obama still locked in a tough fight, Oregon finds itself in the thick of things.

On the same day Obama traveled to Portland, Salem and Eugene last Friday, Kulongoski delivered his state-of-the-state address to the City Club of Portland and took questions from audience members.

One asked the governor if he planned "follow the will" of voters and throw his support as a superdelegate to the winner of the Oregon primary -- even if it is Obama.

Kulongoski indicated he would consider doing that if the election produced a lopsided vote. But he added, "I have come out for Sen. Clinton. I went to Iowa to campaign for her and I'm going to Pennsylvania."

Clinton's campaign announced last week that the New York senator will soon make appearances in Oregon and that former President Bill Clinton also plans to campaign here.

Kulongoski spokeswoman Anna Richter Taylor said that besides traveling to Pennsylvania to help Clinton with that state's primary, the governor will accompany her on campaign stops around Oregon.

"It's safe to say he stands ready to help her in any way possible," Richter Taylor said.

Kulongoski first endorsed Clinton in December, saying she is best equipped among the Democratic Party's candidates to "repair the damage of the last seven years and repair our standing in the world."