Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek has won her re-election bid in Oregon, defeating Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan, NBC News reports.
The contentious race is a rematch of 2022, when Kotek defeated Drazen by just 4 percentage points in the solidly Democratic state.
Kotek’s approval ratings are low, with polls showing voters are worried about the state’s cost of living and homelessness. Drazen was particularly critical of Kotek’s policies on taxation and data centers. According to a Pew Research Center study earlier this year, Oregon is among the ten states with the most data center programs. In September, Kotek announced she would support a statewide moratorium on new data centers.
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Meanwhile, Kotek has tried to tie Drazan to President Donald Trump, but his approval rating has dropped 14 points in 2024.
“So Christine Drazan said, ‘Take a chance and vote for me.’ But if we look at her voting record and see who she listens to, I don’t think we as a state should take that risk,” Kotek said during the first debate. “That risk would include banning abortion, cutting back on the Oregon Health Plan, eliminating mail-in voting, when it comes to the Oregon Guard, when it comes to Oregon nationals.”
Drazan has tried to distance himself from Trump and instead focused on statewide issues, trying to pressure Kotek on affordability. She said during an October debate that Kotek “solved every challenge, every problem she saw in Oregon with new taxes.”
A Republican has not won an Oregon gubernatorial race since 1982.
During the 2022 election, Kottke joined Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey as one of the first openly lesbian governors in the country. Prior to that, in 2013 she became the first openly lesbian speaker of the state House of Representatives.