Thoughts of a retired journalist and communications specialist on media, politics and messaging.
Portland, OR
Joined October 2018
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At best, Kotek's answer would produce long-term benefits but no immediate relief (and that's only if you assume she magically boost childcare availability without raising taxes); Drazan's ideas are immediately possible, even without legislative support. oregonlive.com/politics/2026…
Worth remembering when you vote: Reproductive rights are constitutionally protected regardless of who is governor; vote by mail is convenient but doesn't help your family's budget; Oregon probably will be safer for everyone with a governor who is concerned about crime.
In fairness, editorial boards by definition offer opinions. My biggest issue with The Oregonian (admittedly not unbiased since I used to work there) & with most news sources is in selection of what to cover. You can't cover everything so story selection shows your priorities.
Good and fair quote.
🚨 Drazan: Oregon went from TOP 20 to BOTTOM 8.
@ChristineDrazan: “Oregon was a top-20 economy just four years ago, and she drop-kicked it into the bottom eight in four years.”
“We’ve lost 25,000 jobs in a single year here.”
Her message to Oregonians: “I don’t care what your party affiliation is. If you believe this is not good enough for you and your family… I need people to turn out to get this done.”
Most new voters are unaffiliated. Ds put no effort into encouraging them to change registration so they can vote in primaries, which allows party insiders to select nominees. Then they push turnout in the general election, when they assume most will vote for the anointed D.
This is a huge issue in Oregon. The combination of automatically registering people as unaffiliated and having closed primaries creates a big barrier to voting in the primary election, where most races are determined. oregonlive.com/politics/2026…
My latest Oregon Roundup column poses 4 questions that every voter should answer before filling out their ballot. #Electiion2026 oregonroundup.substack.com/p…
Hester Communications retweeted
My latest Oregon Roundup column looks at @GovTinaKotek and other unpopular governors. Conclusion: Unlike other lowly rated governors, Kotek's unpopularity can be traced primarily to job performance. oregonroundup.substack.com/p…
The groups with the most people considering leaving Oregon are those 18-29 and those who earn $150k a year. That's those contributing the most to the economy and those who are needed to power it in the future. Curious how this compares with other states. oregonlive.com/politics/2026…
My latest Oregon Roundup column looks at @GovTinaKotek and other unpopular governors. Conclusion: Unlike other lowly rated governors, Kotek's unpopularity can be traced primarily to job performance. oregonroundup.substack.com/p…
The economy & government are leading concerns in most states. What's different in Oregon? It's easy to determine who to blame. Only one state (Wash.) has had a D governor longer than Oregon. Two states have had R governors longer than Oregon has been D.
oregonlive.com/politics/2026…
Thoughts on polling for Oregon's governor's race:
1. It's fair to consider Drazan the underdog no matter what polls show. Too much history to ignore.
2. Comparisons with 2022 don't mean much. Too many differences. No viable 3rd party candidate this time. Trump factor bigger now.
Question: Are there any voters dumb enough to fall for edited, out-of-context quotes? I hope not. I give candidates demerits for even attempting to this trick. We all know what was going on in 2020-22.
Even my opponent agrees — Portland is better off now than it was before I became Governor. While that’s true, there’s more work to do, and I’m determined to see it through. Learn more: tinafororegon.com/oregons-fu…
I say this as someone who is personally anti-abortion because of my religious beliefs. But in a democracy, voters' wishes should matter. And on this issue, there's no question what the majority of Oregon voters want.
Don't try to do things that the overwhelming majority of Oregonians oppose. The key example is abortion. Kotek makes it sound like Drazan would ban abortion. Drazan needs to unequivocally say she won't. She couldn't anyway because the Ds still will control the Legislature.
Hope moderators force the candidates to move past scare tactics and focus on these things:
1. Will Kotek embrace changes to reboot Oregon's economy even if it angers public employee unions and other D donors?
2. Will Drazan govern in a way that is culturally in step with Oregon?
All the people who used #hurricanes to champion #climatechange have been quite this year, since the first hurricane didn't come til October. I'm not a climate change denier, but the use of weather events to promote an agenda that's much bigger than weather has always irked me.
There's almost nothing left of "boom times Oregon." #Nike stock is down 45% this year and almost 80% from its all-time high. And that's good compared with the decline in downtown real estate prices. oregonlive.com/business/2026…
Drazan's reason for hope: "OPB’s poll suggested the governor has only a slightly better image than Trump among Oregon voters: a 38% favorability rating to the president’s 37%." Oregon Ds usually surge late but there's rarely been a D as unpopular as Kotek. opb.org/article/2026/09/30/o…
A Nevada investor (appropriately) is buying up downtown Portland real estate. Even at sharply deflated prices, Portland is still a gamble. oregonlive.com/business/2026…
