Thoughts on Oregon's three 2022 candidates for Governor

 This is a fascinating election. The only thing we know for sure is that Oregon's next governor will be a woman:

1. Tina Kotek (Democrat): Speaker of the House. Has lengthy OR govt leadership experience. The frontrunner. Enjoys an electorate which, much to the dismay of the Republican 75% of the state (by area), has elected a Democrat governor for decades now. She would get my vote were I still an Oregon resident. Oregon used to be a great state, or at least looked like one. But now, it's beset (OK, mostly Portland is beset) by rampant homelessness and violence which spiraled out of control on Tina's watch. But she did push through statewide rent control (which I think I disagree with due to its interference with the rights of property owners), but at least it was designed to try to help renters who couldn't pay their rent), and her Republican opponent Drazan organized a Republican walkout from the legislature, which killed Kotek's attempt to increase homeless shelter capacity. So Tina may be on the right side of solving the state's major problems.

2. Christine Drazan (Republican): Was House Minority Leader. Led walkouts, which I found disgusting. There are some reports that she isn't much liked by other Republicans. And her positions are too extremely Right even for many Oregon Republicans. But she might win, if enough Democrat voters side with Betsey (see below). 

3. Betsey Johnson (Independent): Was a Democrat in the state legislature, but is now a critic of both parties. She doesn't list a real platform on her website (she only lists problems and says she is a leader), but in the past she was pretty much Democrat in her views, with two major exceptions: (a) She is 100% pro-NRA and opposed all gun regulation until recently softening a bit on that topic; and (b) She opposes measures to combat climate change, which I view as fundamentally reprehensible. She also mishandled a traffic accident that was her fault but instead of owning up to it and apologizing and making sure the victim was treated correctly, she tried to pawn the liability off onto the state, arguing that since she was on her way to Salem, the state should pay (and the other driver suffered bad injuries, which makes Betsey's callousness worse). In the end, the state denied responsibility and I think Betsey's insurance company paid a settlement. A real leader, a person of integrity, would have owned that accident and "led" the right way through it, to make sure the victim was treated properly (medically, financially, adn emotionally). So please forgive me if I view the brassy, self-confident, self-described "honest" person as a possible sham.

I think the only way Christine can win is if Betsey siphons away a lot of voters who would otherwise support Tina. But given Betsey's weird positions (it's hard to imagine many voters aligning with her), I don't see that happening. It may be that the order of finish will be Tina, Christine, and Betsey, making Betsey not even a spoiler. Time will tell.