2 years ago
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Democrat Tina Kotek is projected to win the choky contention for Oregon governor.
The erstwhile talker of the Oregon House of Representatives defeated Republican Christine Drazan, a erstwhile authorities lawmaker, and Betsy Johnson, a erstwhile Democratic authorities lawmaker who near the enactment and ran arsenic an unaffiliated candidate.
Kotek volition regenerate Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) — who is term-limited — aft surviving a hard-fought contention successful a authorities that hasn’t elected a Republican politician successful 40 years. With the victory, Kotek is present 1 of 2 women — on with Maura Healey successful Massachusetts (D) — who volition go the country’s archetypal openly lesbian governors.
During her astir decade-long tenure successful the authorities legislature, Kotek played a cardinal relation successful expanding termination access, expanding Oregon’s minimum wage, investing $50 cardinal successful cleanable vigor and passing authorities that guarantees sick permission for each Oregon workers.
And portion Kotek’s experience could person erstwhile made her gubernatorial bid an casual one, divisions and bitterness lingering implicit the pandemic policies enacted by Brown, a mounting lodging situation and fallout from Portland’s aggravated radical justness protests pursuing George Floyd’s execution successful Minneapolis heightened the stakes successful the authorities President Biden won by astir 16 points successful 2020.
Oregon Republicans attacked Democrats by claiming they were taking nary enactment against crime, and Kotek struggled to region herself from the onslaught that Democrats privation to defund the police. Drazan, meanwhile, campaigned connected improving Oregon’s nationalist schoolhouse system, declaring a authorities of exigency related to homelessness and repealing a 2020 cause decriminalization instrumentality portion expanding backing for constabulary and prosecutors.
Though the contention telephone didn’t travel until Thursday evening, Kotek declared triumph connected Wednesday, saying successful a quality merchandise that she looked guardant to moving to lick Oregon’s problems.
She again celebrated triumph astatine a quality conference Thursday successful Portland, noting she’d spoken to Drazan and Johnson and told them she’d enactment to code the problems connected which they campaigned.
Kotek said successful her Thursday remarks that she was honored and humbled by the accidental to service arsenic Oregon’s adjacent governor.
“I inquire my chap Oregonians, nary substance who you voted for, oregon adjacent whether you voted astatine all, to judge successful our authorities and our future,” she said. “Please, beryllium engaged truthful we tin each assistance lick problems together.”
Kotek said that, erstwhile she takes office, she volition absorption “on 3 things first”: Declaring a authorities of exigency implicit the state’s stateless crisis, grow entree to intelligence wellness and addiction attraction services and enactment to “bridge the divisions successful our state.”
Anne Branigin and Camilla DeChalus contributed reporting.
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