Nike Co-Founder Phil Knight Backing Republican Christine Drazan for Oregon Governor

Oregonians have backed the Democrat in the last nine presidential elections, and by double digits in the last four. They’ve elected exclusively Democratic governors since 1982, giving the Beaver State the second-longest unbroken run of blue governor’s mansions in the country. Democrats currently control every statewide office in Oregon, with supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature. But this year, voters may have had enough. For months, polls have shown the Oregon governor’s race in a dead heat — and the last four consecutive polls show the Republican, Christine Drazan, pulling ahead of her Democratic opponent, Tina Kotek.

Given how unusually tight this year’s contest is, it’s not surprising that fundraising numbers are through the roof. National Democratic and Republican groups are spending heavily on their candidates in Oregon, and President Biden flew out to Portland to campaign for Kotek over the weekend, marking the first time in recent memory that a Democratic president has had to travel to the Beaver State to boost his party’s efforts. But the largest individual donor to both Drazan and Betsy Johnson — the Democrat-turned-independent who’s also in the race — is Nike co-founder Phil Knight. (Nike was founded at the University of Oregon, and its world headquarters sit just outside of Portland, making it one of the largest employers in the state.)

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Nate Hochman

Nate Hochman was a staff writer at National Review.

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Oregonians have backed the Democrat in the last nine presidential elections, and by double digits in the last four. They’ve elected exclusively Democratic governors since 1982, giving the Beaver State the second-longest unbroken run of blue governor’s mansions in the country. Democrats currently control every statewide office in Oregon, with supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature. But this year, voters may have had enough. For months, polls have shown the Oregon governor’s race in a dead heat — and the last four consecutive polls show the Republican, Christine Drazan, pulling ahead of her Democratic opponent, Tina Kotek.

Given how unusually tight this year’s contest is, it’s not surprising that fundraising numbers are through the roof. National Democratic and Republican groups are spending heavily on their candidates in Oregon, and President Biden flew out to Portland to campaign for Kotek over the weekend, marking the first time in recent memory that a Democratic president has had to travel to the Beaver State to boost his party’s efforts. But the largest individual donor to both Drazan and Betsy Johnson — the Democrat-turned-independent who’s also in the race — is Nike co-founder Phil Knight. (Nike was founded at the University of Oregon, and its world headquarters sit just outside of Portland, making it one of the largest employers in the state.)