Bailey Thompson | News Editor
With the 2018 Midterm Elections approaching fast, Oregon voters have a limited amount of time before Nov. 6, the day they must elect Oregon’s next governor. Although Oregon has not had a Republican governor since 1987, Knute Buehler’s moderate social views have recently made this race a toss-up, according to Real Clear Politics and the Cook Political Report. On the other hand, Gov. Kate Brown, after being elected the first openly LGBTQ+ governor of a U.S. state in 2015, is looking to be elected for her first full term.
Kate Brown
Oregon’s current governor, Kate Brown, is the Democratic gubernatorial candidate who is also endorsed by the Working Families party. During her time in office, Brown raised Oregon’s minimum wage, signed a law to phase out coal power and signed the bill for Oregon Promise, among other things. The main issues Brown emphasizes on her official website: economy and jobs, government efficiency, healthcare, education, the environment, public safety and strong communities.
Brown has a background as a family law attorney, but she has also held a number of governmental positions such as representative, senator and secretary of state.
According to an Oregon Public Broadcasting article, however, Brown’s critics have complained about her time in the governor’s office, stating that “the state faces massive problems, yet…the governor hasn’t articulated a clear vision or unveiled a comprehensive plan to solve them.”
Her supporters, on the other hand, assert that Brown simply has a different leadership style that isn’t as assertive as people are used to seeing in a governor.
Knute Buehler
Republican candidate Knute Buehler hails from Bend, Oregon and has, until recently, worked as an orthopedic surgeon. In 2015, Buehler was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives, where he has since served two terms. The four issues that Buehler lists on his campaign site are education, health care, homelessness, and bridging Oregon’s rural/urban divide.
Even though, in many ways, Buehler’s fiscal conservatism aligns with popular expectations for Republican candidates, some of his progressive social beliefs have taken some voters by surprise — in both positive and negative ways. Buehler, unlike some traditional Republicans, is a pro-choice candidate who both believes in climate change and supported the legalization of gay marriage. While these views are may be a deterrent to a number of conservative Republicans, there are others for whom this is a selling point. For instance, according to the Oregonian, Nike co-founder Phil Knight — who has supported both Republicans and Democrats in the past — has contributed $2.5 million to Buehler’s campaign, which breaks the record for a single political donor in Oregon’s history.
Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu
Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton
