Oregon gubernatorial race in three-way tangle between far-right extremists, big biz, and the people

The governor’s race in Oregon is tight. Democrat Tina Kotek is facing off against Republican Christine Drazan, as well as former conservative Democratic State Sen. Betsy Johnson, who announced her plans to run in the Beaver State’s gubernatorial race last year—as an independent. 

Three-way races are often messy affairs, but the situation in Oregon is especially grim. The people of an entire United State are hanging their hopes on Kotek, the lone contender campaigning for equity and progress; meanwhile, Kotek’s campaign must fight back against the GOP-lite Johnson, as well as the seemingly bottomless purse of the state’s QAnon “patriot” contingency, which is funding Drazan.

Recent polling has shown that Johnson’s pro-gun, pro-big-business version of centrist politics has taken a toll on Kotek’s polling numbers. The most recent polling has Drazan edging out Kotek 32-31 (with Johnson receiving 18%) among Oregonians.