Comment Democrat Tina Kotek is expected to win the tight Oregon governor’s race. The former speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives beat Republican Christine Drazan, a former state lawmaker, and Betsy Johnson, a former Democratic lawmaker who left the party and ran as an unaffiliated candidate. Kotek will replace Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) — who is term-limited — after surviving a tight race in a state that hasn’t elected a Republican governor in 40 years. With the win, Kotek is now one of two women — along with Maura Healey of Massachusetts (D) — to become the nation’s first openly lesbian governor. During her nearly decade-long tenure in the state legislature, Kotek played a key role in expanding access to abortion, raising Oregon’s minimum wage, investing $50 million in clean energy and passing legislation guaranteeing sick leave leave for all Oregon workers. Tina Kotek’s historic campaign meets Oregon at a crossroads And while Kotek’s experience might once have made her run for governor easy, the divisions and bitterness over Brown’s pandemic policies, the growing housing crisis and the fallout from intense racial protests Portland justice after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis raised the stakes in President Biden won by nearly 16 points in 2020. Oregon Republicans have attacked Democrats for not taking action against crime, and Kotek has fought to distance herself from the attack that Democrats want to defund the police. Drazan, meanwhile, campaigned on improving Oregon’s public school system, declaring a state of emergency on homelessness and repealing a 2020 drug decriminalization law while increasing funding for police and prosecutors. Although the fight call didn’t come until Thursday night, Kotek declared victory Wednesday, saying in a news release that she looked forward to working to solve Oregon’s problems. He celebrated the victory again at a press conference Thursday in Portland, noting that he had spoken with Drazan and Johnson and told them he would work to address the issues they campaigned on. Kotek said in remarks Thursday that she was honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve as Oregon’s next governor. The GOP appears to be gaining ground in Oregon with public safety in mind “I’m asking my fellow Oregonians, regardless of who you voted for, or even if you voted at all, to believe in our state and our future,” he said. “Please commit so we can all help solve problems together.” Kotek said that once she takes office, she will focus “on three things first”: Declaring a state of emergency over the state’s homelessness crisis, expanding access to mental health and addiction treatment services and working to “bridge the divides in our state. “ Anne Branigin and Camilla DeChalus contributed reporting.
