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.

In case you have not been following politics in Oregon, let me apprise you of one certain fact heading toward next year.

The next governor here will be a woman.

That’s because three women will face off in an unprecedented race that will be decided in November.

According to colleagues in my old lobbying/public relations firm, now called CFM Advocates:  “The contest may boil down to which candidate can make the biggest dent in the hardening disaffection of voters, which was reflected in low turnout Tuesday.”

Here is a thumbnail sketch of the three candidates:

• Powered by public employees, Tina Kotek easily won the Democrat gubernatorial nomination after serving for several years as Speaker of the Oregon House.
• On the Republican side, former Oregon House Minority Leader Christine Drazan won over 18 others from all wings of the Republican party.
• Lurking in the background, if not the foreground, is former Oregon Senator Betsy Johnson who is running as an Independent.  [She is expected to collect the required signatures to qualify for the general election ballot.]

Johnson launched her fall campaign immediately after the close of the primary, exploiting her huge campaign war chest.  Major contributions came from such Oregon business leaders as Phil Knight from Nike and Tim Boyle from Columbia Sportswear.

There is little question but that the two, along with others, will continue to fund Johnson’s campaign.

Though Johnson was not running in the primary, she outspent Kotek and Drazan.  She still has about $5 million to spend.  Drazan and Kotek raised similar $2.5 million amounts for the primary and spent almost all of it before last Tuesday, so they face the task of quickly replenishing their campaign bank accounts to compete with Johnson. 

As for voter turnout, totals seriously lagged until the final weekend when 150,000 ballots were received.  Preliminary data indicates final voter turnout only reached 31 per cent.  Turnout in the 2018 midterm election was 34 per cent.

Here, early on, here are some things to watch in the race to replace Democrat Governor Kate Brown, who is term-limited:

• Johnson appears to have a chance to win in November, which would be very different from typical third-party candidates.  In the past, such candidates have played spoiler roles.
• One of the most interesting facts will be whether Johnson takes more votes from Democrats or from Republicans.  I have heard experts argue both sides.
• At the Capitol, Johnson was a Democrat representing parts of Columbia and Clatsop Counties.  But she didn’t always support Democrat issues, preferring to go over to the Republican side, which gives her an interesting “both ways” background.
• If the answer to the question vote-taking is more Democrat than Republican, some analysts believe there will be a chance for Drazan to win, which would mean the first Republican in the Governor’s Office in more than 35 years.
• It will be interesting to see how Kotek and Drazan choose to spar in the race.  Neither appears to like the other much.  One reason is that Drazan believes Kotek went back on her word in the Oregon House over how the redistricting process would go forward last year.  For her part, Kotek disagrees.

Another reality is that most Oregon voters, if they pay attention at all, will not do so until next fall.  Summer intervenes with all it has to offer for state residents – and the “all it has to offer” point doesn’t mean election politics.

Footnote:

In the spirit of full disclosure, I know Kotek, Drazan and Johnson well after having met each during my tenure as a state lobbyist.  In the case of Kotek and Johnson, I lobbied both of them over the years.  In Drazan’s case, she was a lobbyist before she was elected to the Oregon House, so I knew her in that role.