Tina Kotek (D) has won the race for Oregon governor, defeating Christine Drazan (R), the Oregonian reports.
“It was a hard-fought and expensive win by Democrats, who have a huge party registration advantage in Oregon but faced strong headwinds this year amid voter frustration at problems including homelessness, violent crime and lackluster delivery of government programs and services.”
The final Emerson College Polling survey in Oregon finds 44% of voters support Democrat Tina Kotek for Governor while 40% support Republican Christine Drazan, and 8% support non-affiliated candidate Betsy Johnson.
Just weeks before the election, KFOR has unearthed Gov. Kevin Stitt’s (R) “secret plan” to build a brand new governor’s mansion on the grounds of the capitol complex.
“Oregon’s most well-known billionaire appears to have switched allegiance in the governor’s race,” the Oregonian reports.
“After donating $3.75 million to unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson — including $2 million on Sept. 1 — Nike co-founder Phil Knight on Thursday contributed $1 million to Republican candidate Christine Drazan.”
A new Oregonian poll finds Christine Drazan (R) and Tina Kotek (D) are neck-and-neck in the race for governor, 32% to 31%, with Betsy Johnson (I) at 18%.
Cook Political Report: “With less than two months until Election Day, the 2022 gubernatorial map has seen some surprising shifts since the outset of the cycle. Republicans had initially started targeting the Rust Belt, hoping to flip control in perpetual swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania. But, saddled with weak and cash-poor candidates, those contests have moved down the priority list as new opportunities have emerged.”
“No race for governor has been more surprising than Oregon, which we last shifted into the competitive column at the end of July, moving it from Likely to Lean Democrat. Now, we are changing our race rating once again into the Toss Up column.”
Stan Pulliam (R), a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for Oregon governor, told Willamette Week that prior to entering the race, he and his wife, MacKensey, “explored relationships, mutual relationships with other couples, for a brief period of time before ultimately deciding that it wasn’t for us.”
Oregon Public Broadcasting: “After nearly a month of keeping his fundraising activity private — an option allowed under state law — the former New York Times columnist and Democratic candidate for governor revealed a massive flood of contributions Monday. Kristof has raised more than $1 million in less than a month, a torrid fundraising pace that is more than twice what his main Democratic rivals have raised to date.”
Former New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof (D) formally announced his run for Oregon governor with a new video.
Kristof will face a competitive Democratic primary in the race to succeed Gov. Kate Brown (D), who is term limited.
“After 37 years at The New York Times as a reporter, high-level editor and opinion columnist, Nicholas Kristof is leaving the newspaper as he considers running for governor of Oregon,” the New York Times reports.
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof officially formed a political action committee, a move that will allow him to raise money and hire staff ahead of a likely official announcement of his candidacy for Oregon governor, Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof appears to be getting more serious about a possible run for governor of Oregon, approaching “high-level Democrats” about who he could get to work on a campaign, Politico reports.
“Nicholas Kristof, the two-time Pulitzer winning columnist for the New York Times, is considering a run for Oregon governor,” Willamette Week reports.
“In recent days, a poll includes Kristof’s name and asks voters how they would feel about a journalist who grew up on a farm running for office. The poll also includes other Democratic hopefuls. Kristof was raised on a sheep and cherry farm in Yamhill County, about an hour southwest of Portland.”
“Contacted about the poll, Kristof says his friends are attempting to recruit him.”
“The chairman of the Oregon Republican Party on Monday filed paperwork to launch a recall against Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, citing some of the laws Democrats passed in the 2019 legislative session,” the Oregonian reports.
“Organizers now have 90 days to gather 280,050 valid signatures from voters… That’s a high bar: it’s not unusual for campaigns to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars collecting signatures to qualify initiatives for the ballot.”
“If recall supporters gather enough signatures, a special election could be scheduled sometime in November.”
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) “is expected to resign Friday, perhaps in the early afternoon,” multiple sources told KOIN 6 News.
“The decision came after intense debate among the governor and those close to him. These sources say Kitzhaber has wanted to pursue that course since the weekend but had been dissuaded by his fiancée, Cylvia Hayes, and his legal team.”
Update: The Oregonian reports Kitzhaber resigned effective next Wednesday, Feb. 18, in a letter submitted to Secretary of State Kate Brown.
The Oregonian has called for Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) to resign over “revelations about the apparently borderless world of public policy and private gain in which he and fiancée Cylvia Hayes exist.”
“More ugliness may surface, but it should be clear by now to Kitzhaber that his credibility has evaporated to such a degree that he can no longer serve effectively as governor. If he wants to serve his constituents he should resign.”
“To recite every reported instance in which Hayes, ostensibly under Kitzhaber’s watchful eye, has used public resources, including public employee time and her ‘first lady’ title, in pursuit of professional gain would require far more space than we have here and, besides, repeat what most readers already know. Suffice it to say there’s a pattern, and the person who bears the responsibility for allowing it to form and persist is Kitzhaber, who should know better. After all, as he pointed out during Friday’s press conference, he’s been serving in public office on and off since the 1970s.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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