This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Projecta nonprofit newsroom covering the state.
During the first gubernatorial debate of 2026, Gov. Tina Kotek and Republican challenger Christine Drazan both said they believed Oregonians were in trouble, but for different reasons: with the incumbent blaming President Donald Trump and the state senator blaming Gov. Kotek.
The first of three debates this election season, the debate held in a closed-door meeting room turned television studio in Eugene, on the University of Oregon campus, was fiery, with the candidates regularly throwing jabs at each other.
“I don’t know if the governor is starting a drinking game tonight, but I’m a little tired of her pushing everything on the federal government,” Drazan said.
“Well, I’m really tired. Actually, you’re just twisting the truth,” Kotek retorted after discussing a question about mail-in voting. Kotek said she would not change the current system, while Drazan said she wants to bring voting booths back to Oregon.
While in the House in 2025, Drazan sponsored House Bill 3872, which would have made in-person voting the “normal method of voting” and would have offered mail-in voting only to voters who were unable to make it to the polls on Election Day. It also required showing a government ID, two goals of Republicans nationally, especially after Trump’s defeat in 2020. This has not progressed.
Later in the debate, Drazan was directly asked who won the 2020 presidential election. Drazan simply said “Biden,” which is a substantial difference from many Republicans who still won’t admit it.
In a national political environment in which Republican pundits fear a “blue wave” — Reuters reported Oct. 1 that red-state Democrats view the 2026 midterm elections as a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity — the Oregon gubernatorial race is a toss-up, according to the latest poll.
Oregon hasn’t had a Republican governor since Vic Atiyeh, who was re-elected to a second term in 1982, long before partisan media bubbles or even the Internet.
Kotek invoked the president’s name 13 times, but Drazan did not take the bait.
“The only person I care about in this election is defeating Tina Kotek,” she said, “and making sure that Oregonians actually have a voice and a chance to thrive in their future. She is crushing the hopes and dreams of Oregonians.”
During the hour-long debate, the candidates faced questions from Nigel Jaquiss of the Oregon Journalism Project, Ben Botkin of Lookout Eugene-Springfield and Bayla Orton, a student journalist at the University of Oregon. The questions covered housing, affordability, data centers, education and more, with Kotek touting initiatives underway and warning that his opponent’s record poses a “risk” to the state, and Drazan asking for a chance to clean house by focusing on solving problems without new taxes.
Here is an overview:
Accommodation
Drazan said Kotek fell far short of meeting its own housing goals and had focused on “the availability of land to build on,” she said. “We can protect upper valley farmland and forestland and maintain Oregon’s commitment to our environment without restricting housing availability; we must advance permitting and ensure permits are issued quickly.
Kotek insisted that while the state hasn’t built as much housing as she promised when she was elected governor, the state is producing more housing “because of the work we’ve done here to streamline permitting, cut red tape, invest in infrastructure and help our communities plan better to have the housing they need.”
Data centers
Both candidates have shifted their positions on data centers in recent weeks as public opinion has shifted dramatically in favor of the opposition. Both candidates now support a moratorium, and neither candidate has been able to articulate a clear policy.
Drazan advocated for “a different type of relationship with the data centers that are currently growing in our state.” She said leaders should ensure that future data centers provide a “shared benefit to the community” and that the communities where they are proposed want them. There “should never be a data center imposed on any community in Oregon.”
Kotek was also less than specific, adding that on day one, if re-elected, she will introduce a bill requiring centers to produce their own energy, and that it be clean energy, built by union workers, and that they provide benefits to those communities.
Affordability
When asked how to address affordability, Kotek explained that as governor, she would be a consumer watchdog.
“It’s about tackling hidden fees,” she explained. “It’s about standing up to grocery stores that want to monitor your business and change their prices accordingly. You have to do all of those things and make sure that companies aren’t taking advantage of struggling Oregonians.”
Drazan, however, had a different strategy: “The best thing that can be done for Oregonians when it comes to affordability is to ensure that Tina Kotek doesn’t get a second term because she solves every challenge she sees, every problem in the state of Oregon with a new tax.
Climate protection
Oregon’s climate protection agenda is considered wildly out of step with the rest of the country. Earlier this year, the Governor’s Prosperity Council recommended this summer that Oregon replace the current CPP, which channels fees from polluters through a nonprofit to groups affected by climate change, with a cap-and-invest model favored by other West Coast states.
Asked if she supported her council’s recommendation, Kotek said, “I 100 percent support our current climate protection program because it’s going to help us reduce our carbon pollution here in the state,” while adding, “I’m in favor of the Legislature taking this up again next year to figure out how we could be more competitive.” » But in the meantime, the CPP remains in place, she said.
Drazan was clear and said: “I will cancel Tina Kotek’s climate protection program from day one… We cannot afford to continue promoting a political agenda that harms families and makes us particularly costly.” »
Education
Both candidates were asked why Oregon’s educational outcomes were so poor, given that Oregon spends more money per student than many states. Kotek maintained that she was making progress and called attention to the fact that “I passed an accountability bill that said we should have statewide performance standards. I think we need to reduce our chronic truancy in the state. We need to track it better. We need to help our districts help our students get back into the classroom. That’s why I’ve been fighting since day one to do things like invest in early literacy. We’re seeing improvements in our districts.”
Drazan placed the blame on Kotek: “She voted to eliminate graduation standards. She kept our schools closed longer than anywhere else in the country (during COVID-19). As she pushed politics in the classroom, she failed to keep teachers safe inside the classroom. The problems we are facing in our schools right now can be blamed on the sitting governor; there is no other way around it.”
Some of the questions in the debate proved difficult to get clear answers to. Both candidates were asked about the lack of financial support for higher education (Oregon ranks 46th in state support for public universities) and were also asked whether Phil and Penny Knight’s $1 billion gift for a new engineering school in Eugene made sense, given that Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, has one of the largest engineering schools in the country. While Drazen said the state needs to avoid layoffs, Kotek largely avoided the issue.
The two are scheduled to face off again in Medford (Oct. 7) and Bend (Oct. 13).
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