Christine Drazan, a former state House Minority Leader, won Oregon’s Republican gubernatorial primary on Tuesday.
Drazan emerged from a crowded field of candidates competing for the opportunity to flip the governor’s office in a state Democrats have controlled for nearly four decades.
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The Republican primary field also included former Portland Trail Blazers player and businessman Chris Dudley, state Rep. Ed Diehl, and Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethell.
Drazan entered the race as one of the best-known Republicans in the state after her narrow loss to Democratic Governor Tina Kotek in 2022.
Diehl focused his campaign on lowering taxes and reducing state spending, while Bethell highlighted issues such as homelessness, public safety, and government accountability.
Dudley, a 16-year NBA veteran, ran as a political outsider with support from prominent Oregon business figures, including Nike co-founder Phil Knight.
The Republican candidates concentrated heavily on issues like homelessness, public safety, drug policy, and the high cost of living, arguing that Democratic leadership in Salem and Portland has failed to adequately address these challenges.
The GOP has not won an Oregon governor’s race since 1982, but the Republican Party believes that voter frustration over crime, homelessness, and affordability could make this midterm race more competitive. Drazan will now face incumbent Kotek in November, Fox News reported.
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Kotek has been criticized for homelessness issues, including the increase in unsheltered individuals and challenges in expanding housing capacity, as well as the funding of education and transportation.
However, she faced little opposition in her campaign for a second term.
Meanwhile, GOP candidates backed by President Trump continue to win primaries throughout the country, in many cases defeating incumbents who have either opposed the president or refused to support his agenda.
One of those who has been defeated is Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who was blown out in his Tuesday primary by decorated former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein.
The news comes as Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters revealed this week that Republicans may outspend Democrats in this election cycle, a dramatic reversal from past campaigns, when Democrats often held the fundraising advantage.
Speaking to Breitbart, Gruters said that Republicans are entering the midterm cycle with significantly stronger financial positioning and unprecedented coordination across the conservative movement.
Host Mike Slater asked Gruters to put the reported $70 million Democrats spent in Virginia’s recent redistricting battle into perspective.
“How much money is that for the parties?” Slater asked.
Gruters responded by painting a bleak financial picture for Democrats.
“The DNC has minus 4 million [dollars], and it wasn’t the DNC that plowed $70 million: It was the collective,” Gruters said.
“So, if you look at the collective on the right, we may have $800 million,” he continued.
“The collective on the left may have $350 million, and when you have the court, there’s gonna be a court case that is ruled on in the next week or two, coordinated campaign limits, which will magnify that, which will allow full coordination and allow the parties to spend at the candidate rate, which is massive for us,” he said.
Gruters said the financial landscape could mark a historic break from previous election cycles.
“When you have that financial advantage, people, you know, people don’t know that the Democrats routinely spend more than us on election cycles, because they have more massive donors and that will write massive checks,” he said.
“But this time, this cycle [we] will either spend a parity or will outspend them, and that’s never happened before,” he added.
According to Gruters, the RNC itself is in far stronger shape than the Democratic National Committee.
He said the RNC currently has “about $125 million” on hand compared to what he described as negative cash reserves at the DNC.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
