By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-10-02 22:26:58 | Updated at 2026-10-04 02:11:52
1 day ago
Democratic Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek speaks at a news conference in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 27, 2025, after Republican President Donald Trump said he would send troops to the city. Claire Rush/AP Photo, File
In a contentious first gubernatorial debate, challenger Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan blamed Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, for the state’s high cost of living and tax burden, while Kotek criticized President Donald Trump and tied Drazan to his policy agenda.
The hourlong debate on Oct. 1 at the University of Oregon in Eugene, hosted by KVAL News and several local journalism partners, was a rematch of 2022, when Kotek defeated Drazan in a three-way race.
Drazan framed affordability around Kotek’s record, saying that, as a legislator and governor, Kotek had backed more than $30 billion in tax increases. She said she’d repeal Kotek’s climate protection program, a state rule aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
“The best thing that can be done for Oregonians to address affordability is to ensure that Tina Kotek does not get a second term, as she solves every single challenge that she sees—every single problem in the state of Oregon—with a new tax,” Drazan said.
Kotek said Drazan voted against a low-income tax break this year and against the Power Act, a law Kotek signed that she said lowers household utility rates by making data centers pay more for power. She vowed to keep fighting federal cuts to the Oregon Health Plan and food assistance.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan greets her constituents at a rally in Aurora, Ore., on Oct. 18, 2022. Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images
“I don’t believe [Drazan] would do that because she is in lockstep with President Trump,” Kotek said.
The governor also called for a pause on new data centers in the state and said she would introduce a bill requiring them to supply their own clean energy, use union labor, and provide community benefits.
Drazan said data centers should only be built where communities want them. Calling the Power Act “window dressing,” she maintained that state regulators could have set rates for large energy users all along.
On immigration, asked why she supported Trump’s 2025 decision to send federal troops to Portland, Drazan said she did not, and that she had only called for Oregon to enforce its own laws. Kotek accused her of rewriting history.
On the topic of abortion, Drazan said she personally holds a pro-life view but would respect Oregonians’ choices.
“I do not support banning abortion,” she said.
Kotek said Drazan’s past endorsements from Oregon Right to Life showed she could not be trusted on the issue.
The two also clashed over a 2025 bill Drazan sponsored that would have returned Oregon to in-person voting. Drazan said she supports vote-by-mail and backed the bill over concerns about the U.S. Postal Service. Kotek said the bill would have ended vote-by-mail.
The Democratic Governors Association said in a statement that Drazan “wants to bring Trump’s MAGA agenda to Oregon.”
The Republican Governors Association weighed in, saying that Oregonians can “see and feel the decline” of the state under Kotek’s leadership.
“Kotek has overseen Oregon’s decline as governor and it’s time for change,” RGA Communications Director Kollin Crompton said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times. “Christine Drazan showed that she will lead with integrity, deliver results, and serve the people of Oregon. This election is about holding Tina Kotek accountable and putting Oregon back on the right track, and that was on clear display.”
The candidates meet again Oct. 7 in Medford.
Kotek and Drazan’s campaigns did not respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times prior to publication.
The Cook Political Report moved the race from Likely Democratic to Lean Democratic on Sept. 10, making it more competitive but still favoring Kotek. The state’s last Republican governor, Victor Atiyeh, was elected in 1982.
