Republican Christine Drazan will run for governor in 2026

Christine Drazan, a Republican state representative from Canby, lost the last governor’s contest to Democrat Tina Kotek. She will seek for governor again in 2026.

Drazan made her official announcement at 11 a.m. Monday to a crowd of more than 100 workers, Republican lawmakers, family members, and news organizations at a shipbuilding plant in Portland.

Drazan reminded the crowd, “Your jobs are important, and you deserve a governor who knows that.” “You deserve a governor who will fight for you and your family’s future.” At some point, Oregon’s leaders have forgotten those ideals. They are now running the government for headlines instead of results.

Drazan is likely to be the Republican Party’s top candidate to run against Kotek next year. Kotek has been raising money but hasn’t formally revealed her plans yet. Drazan got $22.6 million in donations before the 2022 election, while Kotek got $30.1 million.

If there is a Drazan-Kotek rematch, there will be one big change from 2022: Betsy Johnson, an independent candidate who used to be a Democratic representative and appealed to both independents and some Democrats, won’t be in the race.

Another well-connected Republican, Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethell, has said she will run for governor in 2026. According to campaign finance records, Bethell has raised $107,500 this year. Drazan will have a hard time getting a statewide job in Oregon, which is a solidly blue state that hasn’t elected a Republican governor since 1982 or any Republican to statewide office since 2016.

Drazan is likely to spend a lot of her campaign talking about how Kotek hasn’t made any real progress on the state’s biggest problems, such homelessness, lack of housing, poor public education, and mental health services that aren’t good enough.

There was a lot of excitement during the kickoff ceremony on Monday. After Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, a Republican from Albany, introduced her, Drazan walked into the huge shipbuilding site and shook hands with scores of workers before going on stage to announce her race.

Drazan’s 18-minute address was very critical of Democrats. She said they have created Oregon a state with high taxes and too many rules, which is driving young people and businesses away.

She also criticized Oregon’s approach to drug use and treatment, saying it has let some people fall between the gaps. She said she wanted to step up drug enforcement.

Drazan told the crowd, which included three Republican congressmen, “For too long, programs meant to reduce harm have taken away hope.” “For too long, our state has put its own goals ahead of being responsible.” For too long, aimlessness has substituted an addition for the general good.” Drazan was first elected to the House in 2018. Before that, he worked as a parliamentary aide. She rapidly became recognized for her strong political tactics, and just a few months into her first term, she was able to beat the former House Republican leader.

In the end, Drazan lost the 2022 contest to Kotek by 3 percentage points. Johnson, on the other hand, was not as important as many people thought, getting only 9% of the statewide vote.

Drazan subsequently left politics in the state to start a charity called A New Direction, which she said would push for what she called centrist policy interests. She got back into the Legislature this year after easily beating an incumbent Republican legislator in last year’s primary. After Drazan won the election to go back to the Legislature, it looked like she was ready to run for governor again right away. Just days after winning the election, she was able to take the job of the outgoing House Republican leader, who was a well-respected moderate Republican.

Drazan yelled at Democrats for including tax hikes in a big transportation bill throughout most of this year’s five-month legislative session. She was also a big reason why Democrats couldn’t get any of their proposals passed during this year’s regular session. Democrats passed a bill last month that raised taxes less than they had planned after months of political theater and mistakes.

Drazan was given an empty state Senate seat last Thursday. She intimated that she would seek for governor again in 2026.

Source: Minnesota man arrested for threatening Pam Bondi in alleged “murder-for-hire” TikTok post

Share on Social Media