Gov. Tina Kotek said Thursday that she will seek reelection next year, a long expected announcement that sets the stage for a possible 2026 rematch between her and Republican lawmaker Christine Drazan.
In a press release, Kotek asked Oregonians to grant her another four years to continue her efforts to build more housing, improve the state’s education system and strengthen the safety net for those struggling with mental health issues and addiction.
She highlighted her efforts to stand up against the Trump administration this year, as the federal government has moved aggressively to slash funding for a variety of programs, ramped up immigration enforcement and attempted to send federal troops into Portland.
“I’m running for reelection because Oregon values are on the line,” Kotek said in a statement. “The choice is between a governor who will stand up for Oregon and protect what we believe in, or a governor who will let Donald Trump do whatever he wants. I will always stand with Oregonians.”
Kotek, a Democrat who previously served as Oregon House speaker for nine years, has launched a variety of initiatives intended to curb the state’s growing crises. She has successfully pushed lawmakers to alter the state’s land use laws to encourage housing development, establish a statewide system to regulate homeless shelters, more closely scrutinize school districts on their use of state dollars and pour millions of dollars into housing development and behavioral health services.
But those policies have mostly not translated into tangible wins for Oregonians. The state, particularly in the Portland area, has continued to face high housing costs, sluggish population growth, high rates of chronic absenteeism in schools and a persistently high number of homeless people living on city streets.
Earlier this week, nearly three years into her first term, Kotek unveiled a new plan to make Oregon more business friendly and improve the state’s economic landscape. It’s unclear when many of the initiatives in the plan will materialize or how effective they will be. Kotek said she will rely on a new council of labor and industry experts to establish more specific targets.
Kotek’s approval rating has hovered around 45% since entering office, according to multiple independent polls conducted throughout her term. Even in Multnomah County, where registered Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans, slightly less than half of respondents said they approved of Kotek’s performance in a poll commissioned by The Oregonian/OregonLive last October.
“I think it’ll be pretty easy for a Republican, whoever it is, Christine Drazan or whoever else, to say that Tina Kotek did not succeed” in meeting her campaign promises, said John Horvick, senior vice president at Portland-based polling firm DHM Research. “If you were a Republican running against her, there’s a record that I think can really be challenged.”
Despite Kotek’s lack of notable wins, it’s unclear if any Republican candidate could successfully challenge her. Oregon voters have not elected a Republican to the state’s top office for more than 40 years. In 2023, Kotek beat Drazan by 3 percentage points, or about 67,000 votes.
No other high-profile Democrat has indicated any plans to challenge Kotek, setting her up for an easy primary contest. Drazan might have a harder path to the general election. Republican Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethell has announced her campaign for governor. And former Trail Blazer Chris Dudley, who narrowly lost his 2010 election bid for governor, said last month he was considering entering the race.
Throughout this year, but increasingly in recent months, Kotek has opposed the Trump administration through dozens of lawsuits and policies. For example, Oregon recently formed a coalition with other states to establish their own vaccine and immunization guidelines amid what they described as inconsistent and unclear regulations from the federal government.
“Over the past months, we’ve lived through moments unlike anything our state or country has seen before — and I have never been more proud of how Oregonians have stepped up,” Kotek said, citing Oregon’s efforts to oppose the deployment of federal troops and restore food assistance benefits amid federal uncertainty.
Kotek standing up against Trump’s policies has almost certainly boosted her appeal to Democratic voters, Horvick said. In contrast, Drazan and other Republicans have mostly stayed quiet on the Trump administration.
Drazan has praised Trump’s decision to send troops to Portland, saying in a press release that it was “shameful that state and local leaders have allowed violent mobs and domestic terrorists to assault federal law enforcement, destroy property, and interfere with those seeking immigration services from obtaining assistance and case management” at the ICE facility.
The governor also announced endorsements from several high-profile Oregon politicians, including all seven Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation, and various labor unions, including statewide unions representing nurses, construction workers, electricians and carpenters.
“Gov. Kotek has been a trusted and effective partner in helping drive Portland’s comeback,” Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement provided by Kotek’s campaign. “She’s focused on expanding housing, cutting red tape and bringing people together to move our city forward.”
Kotek has experienced some setbacks within her office, but Horvick said those are unlikely to sway the minds of most voters. For example, although several high-level staffers departed Kotek’s office last year after she sought to quickly elevate her wife’s unpaid role within her administration, a move that received public backlash, most Oregonians have likely forgotten or are not overly concerned with internal office dynamics, he said.
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