Even the mainstream Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tina Kotek’s ads are shit-talking predecessor Kate Brown, first openly bisexual governor in America and the lowest-polling one in the country.
Which is pretty much because Oregon is so white that the Civil Rights Movement never led to a realignment so a lot of the state Democratic Party was still on a “white working class from rural areas with extractive economies” basis that are getting restive with an state party that’s increasingly nationally-aligned in service to a Portland-based professional class that more and more didn’t even come from Oregon
Which creates the situation where I say “even the mainstream Democrat” ‘cause there’s a third party “Democrat Like The Old Times” (like Bill Clinton in Arkansas!) in this race, Betsy Johnson
Recent polling suggests she’s in 3rd, from a respectable short-of-30% down to 11%, but the defection of her constituency could leave the Republican in 1st. I have sensed a more conservative vibe from her lately, which I don’t read as “mask off” so much as appealing to Republicans as a way to license herself to Democrats as not a spoiler
Even so, Phil Knight, head of Oregon’s flagship corporation Nike, who underwrote much of her campaign, has switched to Republican Christine Drazan, as well as backing Republican state legislators to “bring balance” to the Salem statehouse, which was evenly split when I arrived merely a decade ago. Oregon has no political contribution limits, and between him and timber money it’s clear if the Dems continue their pivot away from being resource-state backslappers there’s a war chest for realignment.
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