The significance of the Oregon governor race

By George Pritchard ‘23

As Election Day in America approaches, the governor race in Oregon is coming down to the wire.

The race is down to three candidates; Democrat Tina Kotek, a former state speaker of the house, Republican Christine Drazan, and Betsy Johnson, who is running as an independent. All three formerly served in the Oregon House of Representatives before running for governor.

Issues voters are concerned about this year are abortion rights, gun laws, and inflation. Homelessness and climate change are also major topics of contention between the candidates.

Kotek’s platform is based around maintaining progressive ideas in Oregon. She is in support of abortions and environmental action, as well as more restritve gun laws.

Drazan has centered much of her campaign around comparing the past lives of Oregonians to the present, questioning how Democratic leadership has improved people’s well being. She is for lower taxes and gun rights, and against abortions.

The governor race in Oregon is rarely circled by pundits around the country as one to watch. The last five governors have all been Democrats, with the last Republican being elected in 1979. In the most recent gubernatorial election, in 2018, Democrat Kate Brown defeated Republican Knute Buehler, winning 50.1% of the popular vote to Buehler’s 43%.

However, this year is shaping up differently. In the most recent polls, the Republican Drazan was leading with 37% of the vote. Kotek earned 34% and Johnson had 16%.

These poll results have people wondering why Oregon, an unwavering blue state for the past half century, is suddenly up for grabs again?

Catlin Gabel School(CGS) senior Aanna Farhang, who is supporting Kotek in the election, shared some insight into why this may be happening.

“I don’t think it’s representative of the majority at all. I know that liberal, progressive ideologies resonate more with Oregon voters.” said Farhang. “What it really comes down to is the inclusion of the 3rd party candidate, who is taking swing votes away from Kotek. People are not understanding the cost of voting for a person who has basically no chance to win.”

Pundits also point to the inclusion of Johnson in the race as a key factor for why Drazan is leading.

Johnson, who was a Democrat for all of her political life prior to this race, splits sides on many of the pressing issues in this election, as she is pro-choice for abortions, but is against more restrictive gun laws in Oregon.

"The race is agonizingly tight because Betsy is taking more votes from Tina than from Christine,” said a former Democratic legislator in an interview with ABC News.

Another thing central to the race this year is the term of Kate Brown. In May, Brown was voted the least popular governor in the country, with an approval rating of just 41%.

The race has also seen record fundraising from each candidate. As of Oct. 11, the candidates have pulled in a combined $47.1 million, smashing the totals from the 2018 race by over $10 million.

Drazan has pulled in an important donor as well. Oregon’s richest person, Nike founder Phil Knight, initially supported Johnson, giving her campaign 3.75 million at the start of her campaign.

However, he has since donated 1 million to Drazan, citing how Johnson’s campaign has swung more to the left, and how he is a "anti-Tina person"

Farhang also highlighted the importance of local elections.

“Local and state officials have a lot more power than people think. They are the barriers between a lot of the consequences that can come from skewed federal politics.”

As election day draws closer, efforts to get voters to turn out have also kicked up a notch across the state.

Since 2020, Farhang has been a board member for Next Up Oregon, an organization that works to amplify the voices of young people in Oregon, primarily through voter registration.

She got into this work after an experience at the border patrol, when her and her parents, who are Iranian, were detained crossing back into the U.S.

Since that moment, Farhang has devoted much of her time to preserving democracy in our country.

“I didn’t understand why, when my parents had been here for decades, our allegiance, our pride to our country was being questioned. That moment, and all of the stories I’ve heard from my family about the atrocities of the Iranian government have instilled these deep values of democracy.''

“Moving forward, I wanted to do everything in my power to help my communities preserve democracy, which is what makes this country special.”

Voters have a chance to exercise their democratic powers on November 8. Thousands of measures and positions are up for grabs around the country, but one of great importance this year is the Oregon governor.