We could make a compelling argument for each of the three leading gubernatorial candidates to be Oregon’s next governor. In fact, we did, as we debated who among Democrat Tina Kotek, Republican Christine Drazan or nonaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson was our top choice. While each would lead differently, all three are sharp, experienced and undeniably qualified for the state’s highest office. Regardless of who wins, Oregon will be in better hands than it is now.
But in weighing the massive challenges before Oregon and the sheer drive needed to move us forward, we are endorsing former House Speaker Kotek, 56, as the candidate we believe will best lead Oregon. Her talent for developing specific policy solutions is unrivaled, with her plan to address Oregon’s housing shortage and homelessness as a case study. Her nine years as House speaker demonstrate her tenacity in tackling daunting challenges and success in assembling support to follow through. And her exacting standards bode well for oversight of state agencies that have failed repeatedly and inexcusably under Gov. Kate Brown.
Our endorsement, however, comes with deep reservations about Kotek’s ability to overcome partisan gamesmanship, show independence from her longtime donors and lead with a true commitment to all Oregonians. Her opponents accurately and convincingly laid out why so many – even in Kotek’s own party – are wary of her taking the reins, from broken promises to legislation she pushed that favors Democratic donors and allies. The abuses of one-party rule and Kotek’s own manipulations make this our most conflicted endorsement in recent years.
But ultimately, we are endorsing Kotek based on the singular strengths she possesses, her record of accomplishment and our expectation that she will make the transition from party champion to state leader out of her genuine devotion to Oregonians.
Kotek’s career has been one of public service, starting from her earliest days at the Oregon Food Bank. Many of the bills she’s pushed as House speaker reflect her concern for working families – increasing the minimum wage, mandating paid sick time and expanding health care access. She also secured the votes necessary to pass laws that raised $1 billion a year in new revenue for public education and modestly trimmed public employee retirement benefits that have been seizing more and more of schools’ budgets. Those changes marked one of the rare times Kotek has pushed a bill that public employee unions opposed.
She’s demonstrated her mettle and ability to clear hurdles in trying to solve Oregon’s toughest challenges. She helped launch and allocate funding for Project Turnkey, which converts motels into temporary housing. She also sponsored and pushed through a controversial but innovative bill that prohibits larger communities from zoning areas for only single-family homes. With a deficit of some 110,000 housing units to meet current demand, the state must encourage greater density and spur additional development.
The housing and homelessness plan on her campaign website shows her strategic approach to two of Oregon’s most urgent problems. She lists specific goals with timelines and includes the levers she would pull to achieve them. She breaks down the homeless population into the segments she would first seek to get sheltered and, in the interview, drilled down into such details as the faulty prioritization process used by Multnomah County to house people. She outlines her ambitions to make up the housing shortfall through development of a 10-year plan that includes strategies for meeting local housing targets. She would create advisory groups or partnerships to target specific problems, from how to keep tenants housed to planning out employment and transportation strategies with large employers.
And importantly, she skillfully explains how she would bring accountability to bear in state government. In an endorsement interview last week, she said accountability begins with hiring strategically to ensure that staff aren’t passive messengers between the governor’s office and state agency heads, but rather are representing the governor’s intentions and expectations. She noted the need to identify effective leaders within agencies and empower them to take risks and be innovative with a customer-service focus. She leveled criticism at how the state conducts its contracting and hiring, promising a “top to bottom review of how we’re doing state government.” She panned how Brown – who has endorsed her – has managed government, faulting the current governor for being absent during crises and dithering when situations called for decisiveness. While both her opponents make similar observations regarding restoring accountability, Kotek’s analysis broke down the problems and identified the concrete steps needed to solve them.
She does not bring the same rigor or interest to improving education, however. She leans toward supporting a state education department recommendation to permanently remove a requirement that high school students prove proficiency in math, reading and language arts – opening the door for students to earn diplomas with no more than Ds on their report cards. While she said she would focus on ensuring districts use education tax dollars to improve outcomes, she has not provided much detail on how she would do so, contrary to her extensive plan on housing. Such inattention – as well as her consistent support for teacher’s union priorities that have diminished accountability – is one of the biggest marks against her candidacy.
And broken promises, such as her abrupt cancellation of a power-sharing deal with Republicans over congressional redistricting, mean she has challenges ahead in rebuilding trust. While Kotek has sought to put the blame on Republicans, the map Kotek pushed was so blatantly unfair that not a single independent redistricting organization characterized it as accurately representative of Oregon’s voters.
Such negatives help explain why Drazan, 50, and Johnson, 71, both former state legislators, are appealing to so many voters. Contrary to how opponents are painting them, the two are not extremists. While we disagree with them on some fundamental positions, they are as committed to the success of this state as Kotek and possess the leadership skills that few gubernatorial candidates of the past two decades have shown. Both would help elevate the concerns of rural Oregonians, take a much stronger stance on improving public education and provide some balance to the Democratically-controlled Legislature.
We also do not agree with alarmist concerns that abortion rights is on the ballot, particularly with Drazan, who is pro-life. Under Kotek’s leadership, Oregon legislators passed the Reproductive Health Equity Act which put the right to abortion into Oregon law. Oregon voters have also solidly, consistently and emphatically supported abortion access. This state has made clear its position on abortion, and Drazan has said she will follow the law.
But while both Drazan and Johnson lay out broad principles for how they would address various issues, neither outlines the comprehensive plan for action that Kotek so capably does. Their plans lack the detail on execution that help explain how principles translate into on-the-ground change.
Throughout the campaign, Kotek has been criticized and painted as a sequel to Kate Brown, whom we did not endorse for re-election in 2018. While Kotek is not Brown – she is far more decisive and effective – she shares the same allies, alliances and donors who have shaped Oregon’s politics for decades. Oregonians’ concerns that a Kotek administration will maintain the status quo are not groundless, Kotek, if elected, must show her independence from the powerful public employee unions that often drove Brown’s policies.
Despite numerous chances, Brown never evolved into something more than her past record would predict. We have faith that Kotek can and will. Voters should give her the chance to prove it.
-The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board
For all of The Oregonian/OregonLive’s editorial endorsements, click here or go to oregonlive.com/opinion. To view videos of endorsement interviews, visit the editorial board playlist on the Oregonian’s YouTube channel.