Oregon Governor’s Race

Oregon’s current governor, Kate Brown, is a woman, and that will be true of the next governor even though Kate Brown is termed out and cannot run. That’s because there are three candidates, all women: Tina Kotek for the Democrats; Christine Drazan for the Republicans; and Betsy Johnson, long-time Democrat, running as an independent.

The election will be extremely close. Polling shows that each candidate is currently drawing about 30%, and each candidate has produced a poll showing they are in the lead.

Here are the websites for the three candidates:

Tina Kotek (D)                   https://www.tinafororegon.com/

Christine Drazan (R)        https://www.christinefororegon.com/

Betsy Johnson (I)             https://www.runbetsyrun.com/                             

The Multnomah County Democrats support Tina Kotek. That’s the right call for at least two major reasons: (1) The Oregon legislature will have a Democratic majority, and Tina Kotek, as the current (Democratic) Speaker of the Oregon House, is the only person with a demonstrated ability to get major legislation passed; and (2) The other candidates are saying things which do not make sense.

Specifically, Betsy Johnson is running as someone who will make both sides in the legislature work with her. How’s that? The majority Democrats will be angry with her for splitting away votes from the Democratic candidate. The minority Republicans have not only shown no willingness to work with anyone outside their party, they have repeatedly left the state in order to prevent the legislature from having a quorum. The only question is whether the number of legislators willing to work with Johnson is small or zero.

Johnson has refused to support common-sense gun controls. Simply put, that is a position the majority of Oregonians do not agree with.

Christine Drazan’s ads indicate she is running against 3 people: Tina Kotek, Betsy Johnson and Kate Brown, whom she calls “The Squad”. Really? After the election, Kate Brown is out the door. Politically, Tina Kotek and Betsy Johnson have little in common. So how is this group a “Squad”, other than this is GOP doublespeak for 4 liberal Democratic Congresswomen in the US House of Representatives?

Drazan’s primary ad, now withdrawn, accused the (nonexistent) “Squad” of imposing a sales tax on Oregon voters at a time when we can least afford it. What does Drazan have in mind? Oregon does not now have, or has it ever had, a general sales tax.

On abortion, Drazan has refused to state her position on a woman’s right to choose. According to Johnson’s campaign commercial, Drazan is receiving significant financial support from an anti-abortion group.

Tina Kotek, as Speaker, passed Oregon’s protection of abortion rights, the strongest in the nation.

In summary, please vote for Tina Kotek, so together the governor and the Democratic legislature can pass legislation in line with Democratic values.

UPDATE September 29, 2022: Two recent polls have produced similar results: Drazan 32%, Kotek 31%, and Johnson 19%: https://freebeacon.com/elections/poll-oregon-could-elect-its-first-republican-governor-since-1982/ . So, in this Democratic state, clearly Johnson, a former Democrat, is pulling more votes away from Kotek than Drazan. Polling supports this, as The Oregonian reports: https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2022/09/christine-drazan-tina-kotek-neck-and-neck-in-race-for-governor-new-poll-shows.html (pay site).

In addition to the concerns about Drazan and Johnson listed above, both Drazan and Johnson are endorsed by the NRA. Despite flooding the airwaves with commercials, Johnson’s support is slipping to the point that she no longer appears to be a viable candidate. However, she looks like a powerful spoiler.

The keys to this race are: (1) bringing the significant number of undecideds into Kotek’s camp; (2) getting Johnson’s potential voters to recognize she is no longer viable; and (3) most importantly, turning out the Democratic vote in this vote-by-mail state. As a Precinct person, I am canvassing my neighborhood through the Oregon Democratic Party as well as publishing this content and website as a supplement to these canvassing activities. I hope you’ll help in this important fight – most importantly, please vote for the Democratic candidates on your ballot.