This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

……….This will probably be the first of several blogs on the upcoming election for Oregon’s new governor……….

Complicated.

Unusual.

Exciting.  (Well, for this to be true, you would have to be a political junkie.)

I have heard all those words used to describe the race for governor next time around here in Oregon.

The incumbent, Kate Brown, is term-limited and, thus, cannot run again, so many political observers believe the field is wide open.

Recent results underline the prospects:

• Betsy Johnson, a Democrat, entered the race a couple weeks ago, but will run as an Independent.  That means she’ll bypass the May primary and go directly to the November general election ballot if she can submit 23,744 valid signatures supporting her entry into the race.  
• Tobias Read, current Oregon State Treasurer, is a former Democrat representative from Beaverton and has wanted to run for the state’s top political jobs for years.  Term limited as State Treasurer, now is the time.
• Tina Kotek, Democrat and current Oregon House Speaker, has made no secret she has intended to run for higher political office after serving as Speaker since 2013.  The only question was whether she would seek the governor’s office or a seat in Congress.  It’s the governor’s office.
• Nicholas Kristof, a former Oregon resident, has now moved back to Oregon to have a chance to run.  He has not filed yet, but probably will do so, though he risks getting a carpet-bagger label.  He has worked for the New York Times for many years, making a name for himself with two Pulitzer Prizes and many well-written columns.
• Bud Pierce, a Republican, ran and lost against Brown last time around.  He is the only Republican entrant so far who has any name recognition, but what the notiriety he has works better in Salem than anywhere else in the state, so it is very unlikely he will win.

Political junkies are wondering if other candidates will surface, including Multnomah County Commission Chair Deborah Kafoury or Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum.  Both are reported to have taken soundings about the race.  A wild card is current Secretary of State Shemia Fagan who is in the first half of her first term, so some suggest she should not depart the Secretary of State Office so early.

Here is the way my former colleagues in my lobbying and PR firm, CFM Advocates, wrote about the race this week.

“The open 2022 Oregon gubernatorial race took a turn toward unconventional as Democrat Senator Betsy Johnson announced her candidacy as an independent and Nicholas Kristof resigned as a New York Times columnist to run as a Democrat.

“Johnson unconventionally announced her candidacy in an email:  Having to choose between another left-wing liberal promising more of the same or a right-wing Trump apologist is no choice at all. Oregonians deserve better than the excesses and nonsense of the extreme left and radical right.

“That’s why I have decided to run for governor as an independent leader unaffiliated with any party and loyal only to the people of Oregon.”

Johnson’s quote above strikes me as worth noting…if only because I agree with it.

“Having to choose between another left-wing liberal promising more of the same or a right-wing Trump apologist is no choice at all.  Oregonians deserve better than the excesses and nonsense of the extreme left and radical right.”

Ditto for me.

I also applaud the candidacy of Oregon State Treasurer Read whom I have known since I lobbied him when he served in the Oregon House.  He has put together a centrist political point-of-view, perhaps a bit left of center to be sure, but not radically so. 

As a centrist Democrat, he may have the wherewithal to build a tent big enough to encompass many of those who have grown weary of the controversial state of the current political landscape in Oregon.  With so much dissension, there is little chance for solutions to emerge from the middle – and that is where Read could lead.

With Johnson’s entry into the campaign, he’ll face some competition for the middle.

Both Johnson and Read – and probably anyone else who enters the race – will have to contend with a huge outlay of public employee union money, which is involved in any race for governor.  Most of the money will likely go to Kotek.

There is a long time between now and the election next November, though the primary, of course, is only months away.  Huge issues can emerge along the way, and, in any event, it is too early for anyone except political junkies like myself to think about elections.

There has not been a Republican governor in Oregon for more than 35 years.  I had the privilege to work for the last one, Vic Atiyeh.

Given the number of votes in urban Oregon – mostly Democrats — any Republican has a steep hill to climb.

One of the last to try with a modicum of success was Chris Dudley, who played for the Portland Trail Blazers, ran a well-financed, credible campaign in 2010, but then came up short against John Kitzhaber by less than 2 percentage points.

It is noteworthy to report that Dudley won 29 of Oregon’s 36 counties, but could not surpass Kitzhaber’s lead in urban areas, especially Portland, which illustrates the challenge for Republicans – or moderates, for that matter.

And that underlines one of the major issues any new governor will face or should face on the campaign trail, which is how to bridge the divide in what has been called “the two Oregons” – urban and rural.  There may even be a third rail these days – suburban Oregon.

Here’s hoping that the “two or three Oregons” issue will come up during the primary campaign, so those who compete for votes can discuss how to bring Oregonians together for the good of the state, a tall order.

Fat chance, you may say.  But, I prefer to hold out hope until I see either victory or defeat.