Oregon's gubernatorial hopefuls tackle homelessness, crime, mental health in 3-way debate

Three candidates seeking the Oregon governor's mansion vied for public support in Wednesday's debate.

Republican Christine Drazan, the former state House minority leader, contended with former Democratic state Speaker of the House Tina Kotek, and independent candidate Betsy Johnson, herself a former Democratic state senator.

The debate began with a question on how to address the homeless problem, which has particularly affected the city of Portland. The moderators pointed to a plan from Portland Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler to alleviate the crisis. Kotek responded first, asserting that the plan was contingent upon Wheeler's follow through and promised to hold him accountable to it. Drazan credited Wheeler for implementing a plan and vowed to implement a "homelessness state of emergency on day one."

"We have got to recognize that people living on the streets have extended needs beyond housing," she said. Drazan moreover, said accountability was necessary to address people embracing a homeless lifestyle due to substance abuses issues. Johnson, meanwhile, emphasized a multifaceted approach that would provide resources to homeless camps. She further noted a bill that Kotek pushed that she asserted enabled sidewalk camping.

Kotek rebutted that Johnson mischaracterized her bill before reminding Drazan that she had previously called for a homelessness state of emergency but that the governor had not acted. Drazan in turn said that Kotek could not pin the homeless crisis on Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, adding that the situation was the "greatest indictment of Tina Kotek's leadership."

The subsequent issue addressed access to health care and the state's mental health crisis. Drazan responded that the state needed to be more open to accepting licenses from out of state professionals. Johnson, in turn, pointed to the lack of affordable housing as a barrier to recruiting health care professionals, particularly for rural areas in the state. Kotek proposed ensuring stronger pay and lighter caseloads for mental health professionals.

Moderators followed up with a question about mandatory drug treatment. Johnson affirmed that she would support mandatory drug treatment and said the legislature needed to revisit legislation that effectively legalized hard drugs. "People are not going to seek treatment" under the existing law, she said. Kotek called for "creative solutions" in the state and advocated for tightening Salem's relationships with law enforcement.

"People are dying in the streets now," Drazan said. "We must repeal the portions of Ballot Measure 110 that decriminalize hard drugs." She further highlighted a 40% increase in overdoses since the passage of the measure. "We must resolve this crisis." No candidate endorsed mandatory drug treatment when asked to explicitly state their position.

The candidates then fielded questions about supporting law enforcement. Kotek called for additional support for law enforcement, prompting Drazan to admonish her for her past efforts to "defund the police." "She's the original 'defund the police' candidate," Drazan insisted. Johnson, too, expressed skepticism of Kotek's position, referencing her appearance with rioters during the 2020 riots. Johnson insisted that the state needed to support its police.

"That doesn't mean walking with the rioters or excoriating the police," she said, before pointing to state laws that limited the polices' ability to respond. "The legislature tied the polices' hand," she said. She further referenced a letter Kotek wrote to Wheeler "siding with the rioters over police." Kotek retorted that the letter was an admonishment of law enforcement's use of tear gas in an inappropriate venue.

Moderators then pointed to the state's pubic defender system, which relies heavily on contractors. Drazan said Kotek had underfunded the system while Johnson advocated for a decentralized set of changes based on regional needs. Kotek explicitly advocated for a centralized approach that would alleviate caseloads on existing public defenders.

Candidates then fielded questions on the state's COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and the impact it had on students' education. Johnson went first, asserting that the lockdowns damaged student education and took the opportunity to criticize Kotek for working with teachers' unions to change academic standards when schools underperformed. Kotek insisted that moving forward, schools needed better funding and to emphasize tangible goals such as literacy by third grade. Drazan promised that she would not close schools down and vowed to fund schools at the budget level they requested.

Abortion was featured later in the race. Drazan vowed that abortion would remain legal in the state under her leadership, but asserted that she opposed using taxpayer dollars to pay for abortion in general, in-state or otherwise. Johnson espoused pro-choice positions but added that Oregon taxpayer dollars should fund healthcare for Oregonians and not fund out of state procedures. She pointed to increased financial support from Planned Parenthood as an alternative for non-Oregonians.

Kotek, however, contended that she would use taxpayer dollars to support people coming to the state for an abortion. She also contended that Drazan sought to ban abortion, which Drazan denied. "This issue is not on the ballot" Drazan said. 

A rare, three-way race in which an independent candidate holds significant sway, the contest presents an opportunity for Republicans to reclaim the state's top office for the first time since 1987. The state has not had a Republican governor since Victor Atiyeh, who left office in 1987.

Drazan currently maintains a narrow lead in most polls, with the RealClearPolitics polling average putting her three points ahead of Kotek, with 37.3% support to the Democrat's 34.3%. Johnson trails at 16.0%.

Drazan's candidacy has drawn some unusual support, with Nike cofounder Phil Knight throwing $1 million behind her campaign. Knight previously backed Johnson but flipped to Drazan due to the former's sagging poll numbers.