As analysts predict that Oregon’s 2026 gubernatorial election cycle is becoming more competitive, some of the fiercest barbs the candidates have exchanged are taking place not on the debate stage, but instead on Oregonians’ screens.
On one side, incumbent Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek, backed by an increasingly vocal Democratic party apparatus, seeks to tie her two-time challenger’s record to the Trump administration. Kotek’s campaign has launched two ads: one criticizing the federal government’s cuts to federal food benefits and another slamming state Sen. Christine Drazan for introducing a bill to effectively end mail voting.
“Being a governor right now means protecting our state, defending our values against an overreach of a federal administration that does not care about people fundamentally and so that is a big part of my job right now,” Kotek told KOIN in a recent televised interview. “Senator Drazan has said nothing about President Trump and his policies, whether it’s abusive immigration enforcement to tariffs to his cuts around healthcare.”
Drazan, a Republican from Canby who lost to Kotek by nearly 4 percentage points in 2022, is making a push to convince Oregonians that she is able to offer an alternative to what her party has long described as failed leadership on issues such as economy and education. Her team has accused Kotek of spreading falsehoods about her positions, pointed to polling suggesting the race is competitive and launched two television ads slamming Kotek’s leadership.
“Tina Kotek is lying about Christine’s record because she can’t defend her own. From driving up costs for families, record homelessness, failing schools and businesses leaving our state, Oregonians are fed up with Tina Kotek’s failures and excuses,” Drazan campaign manager Trey Rosser said in a statement. “Oregonians expect results and Christine Drazan will deliver them when they elect her as governor in November.”
The dueling approaches are playing out across television waves and the internet. Both candidates have declined opportunities to debate one another, meaning Oregonians could have fewer chances to see Drazan clarify the extent to which her positions align with the Trump administration and Kotek defend the state’s performance on issues such as housing, education and economics. So far, both campaigns have agreed to debates in Eugene and Medford in early October, compared to three debates between the candidates in 2022.
Drazan seeks to provide alternative to Kotek, points to polling
Oregon hasn’t elected a Republican governor since 1982, and the GOP’s control of the White House and Congress is expected to generate significant political headwinds for Republicans nationwide. Campaign finance records show Kotek has raised more than $10.1 million since last year, leading Drazan by more than $3.9 million.
Drazan’s campaign, however, has seized on a poll it commissioned showing the Republican gubernatorial hopeful with 48% of the vote, up 4 points against Kotek, within the poll’s 4-point margin of error. The Virginia-based firm Public Opinion Strategies, which often works for conservative and Republican causes, conducted the polling.
Other analysts have also adjusted their forecasts away from favoring Kotek this time around. The Cook Political Report updated its ranking from “Solid D” to “Likely D” for the Oregon governor’s race in July. The newsletter Inside Elections made a similar change over the summer as well, citing a potential for voters to express dissatisfaction with Kotek and decades of the state’s Democratic control.
Drazan backers see a chance to cut into Kotek’s margins in major population centers, seizing on issues such as homelessness and economic development.
“People see a state that they used to be really proud of, including Portland,” said Chuck Adams, a Salem-based conservative political consultant. “Portland’s a place that we used to tout and be really proud of, and now we have less to be proud of because of policies, really bad policies. I think that’s what Christine offers — a different approach to a lot of those issues.”
Drazan, a Klamath Falls native, appears to have adopted that strategy, describing Oregon’s problems in an advertisement as “not partisan.” She has also recently backed a campaign to ask Oregon voters to enshrine a right to hunt, fish and farm after an unsuccessful signature gathering campaign for a measure that would have effectively outlawed most of those practices.
“When I was young, we moved more than a dozen times just trying to get our feet underneath us. The politicians sat by and watched while the mills closed and jobs disappeared,” Drazan said in her most recent ad. “Today, it’s Tina Kotek’s policies that are killing jobs and leaving kids and families like yours and mine behind.”
Kotek, Democrats emphasize Trump
The Democratic Party of Oregon, meanwhile, has been particularly vocal about tying Drazan to the federal administration. The party recently purchased multiple domain names tied to Drazan’s name to link to a site comparing her and Kotek on various issues when it comes to aligning with Trump.
“After weeks of refusing to make clear where she stood, Christine Drazan said she supported military deployment in Portland and stood by while Trump turned federal troops against Oregonians,” one section of the website reads. “Following The MAGA Agenda Instead of working to protect Oregonians from Trump’s gross abuse of power, Drazan blamed local leaders who were working to protect our communities.”
Drazan’s statement following Trump’s announcement of an attempted deployment to Portland condemned “violent mobs and domestic terrorists” and said “we need order, we need to restore safety, and Oregon’s local leaders have failed to provide it.”
Ashley Quinton, a campaign spokesperson, wrote in an email that the website had “plenty of inaccuracies and blatant falsehoods,” adding that Drazan “never said she supported military deployment to Oregon.”
But approaches like the website help Democratic politicians like Kotek to keep the focus on the federal administration rather than their own record, according to Jake Weigler, a Portland-based Democratic political consultant.
“Their base is frustrated and feeling like we are at an existential moment for the future of our country, and that the Democratic establishment is failing to meet the moment in terms of the intensity of their opposition,” he said. “I think it’s useful for Kotek to shift the focus to Trump and his record versus trying to stand up for what she’s done.”
The governor appears to be taking note of those dynamics. Her campaign announced on Friday that she received a nomination from the state’s progressive Working Families Party, which previously declined to endorse her primary election bid. Kotek’s office also touted data last week projecting that Oregon has seen a rise in housing production for 2025 and 2026, bucking a national downward trend and reversing a decline taking place in Oregon when she took office.
“Here in Oregon, we always have competitive races for governor. We always have. Four years ago was no different and Senator Drazan is back,” Kotek said during her television interview. “What I think voters will end up deciding (is that) they will look at my record. Elections are about choices. We are in a very difficult time in our country and in our state.”
The first debate both campaigns have agreed to participate in so far is set to take place Oct. 1 in Eugene.
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