Stage Set For Unprecedented Governor’s Race

NWC Endorses Republican Christine Drazan For Oregon State Governor

There are many important things we don’t know about the race that will decide who will be Oregon’s next governor. There’s never been an election in Oregon like this. It is likely that Oregon’s next governor will be elected by a plurality of voters not a majority of voters.

Political experts and commentators are unable to predict if Independent candidate Betsy Johnson will siphon off more votes from Republican Christine Drazan or Democrat Tina Kotek. We will probably not know the answer to that question until the election is over. Here are the possible scenarios as we see them.

If enough Republicans, looking to shake things up, decide to vote for Johnson, Drazan will come up with less votes than would be normal for a moderate Republican running for statewide office. In that scenario, Drazan’s prospects become slim. While it would improve Johnson’s chances of being elected governor, such a decision by Republican voters might not result in sufficient votes for Johnson to prevent Kotek from being elected Oregon’s next governor.

As awful as one-party Democrat rule demonstrably has been, it is unlikely that many Democrats will vote for Drazan. However, if enough Democrats are disaffected with Kotek and decide to vote for Johnson just to shake things up, Johnson might be Oregon’s next governor. Johnson has promised to govern as an “Independent governor” if elected. “Independent” however, might not be the proper term to describe a lifelong Democrat, which Johnson has been and may still be.

Johnson stated in a gubernatorial debate, that Oregonians “don’t trust the far right and are terrified of the far left.” She has vowed to take the best ideas from both parties and rule from the political center. She says that she will use a commonsense approach to issues. Johnson claims that her commonsense approach will be based on what she sees as the issues that matter most to Oregonians and she will endeavor to reach an outcome on those issues that are supported by the majority of Oregonians. She has condemned efforts to defund law enforcement and is stanchly pro-choice.

If centrist Democrats decide they’ve had enough of the “progressive” ideology Kotek espouses and vote for Johnson, and Republicans remain loyal to the Republican standard bearer, Drazan, Johnson could be Oregon’s next governor.

Ms. Drazan has talked the talk and walked the walk that any Republican running for statewide office in Oregon would be expected to take on issues that are important to most Oregon Republicans. Drazen is also credibly threading the needle of moderation that reaches across party lines. Drazen is strong on education and the economy. Drazen is promising bold policies aimed at tackling the homelessness crisis that Johnson claims has turned Portland from “the City of Roses to the City of Roaches.” On right-to-life, Drazan position is that the Supreme Court has left it up to the states to decide what abortion rules each state’s voter will enact. Drazen’s position is that she supports “common sense regulations on abortion, including protecting life in the third trimester.”

For all that we don’t know about the upcoming governor’s race, there is one thing that can be stated without doubt: if Kotek is elected, Oregon’s next governor, Democratic liberal policies will rule Oregon for another four years.

The Northwest Connection endorses Christine Drazan for next governor of the State of Oregon.