FILE - Oregon state House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, R- Canby, during the House organizational session, Jan. 13, 2025, at the Oregon state Capitol in Salem, Ore.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Christine Drazan hasn’t revealed her political plans for 2026, but a major Republican fundraising platform may have offered a hint.
As of Wednesday, the website WinRed listed Drazan as running for Oregon governor next year, a development that could tee up a rematch with Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek.
But by Thursday morning, the listing had disappeared.
Drazan’s campaign team had the fundraising profile removed after questions from OPB. A political aide, Trey Rosser, suggested that WinRed had automatically listed Drazan as a gubernatorial candidate because she was the party’s nominee in 2022.
“This was not an intentional change or indication of any future plans,” Rosser said.
WinRed did not immediately respond to an inquiry on Thursday. According to archived versions of the site kept by the nonprofit Internet Archive, Drazan was first listed as a candidate for governor on June 18.
Whether errant or not, the blip only adds intrigue to the question of Drazan’s political future.
One of the state’s most prominent Republicans, Drazan came within 3.5% of Kotek in the last gubernatorial election. That race included the well-heeled campaign of nonaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson, who scooped up more than 8% of the vote — a factor Drazan’s camp believes proved critical to her defeat.
Drazan is currently the Republican’s leader in the Oregon House, but has a number of viable options next year. They include seeking reelection to her current seat; pursuing an open Senate seat being vacated by Senate Minority Leader Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, who is ineligible to run again because of a 2023 legislative walkout; or opting to face off once more against Kotek.
The WinRed listing — first noted on Crosstabs, a podcast hosted by two GOP political aides — isn’t the only recent signal a gubernatorial run could be in the cards.
Related: House Minority Leader Christine Drazan on Republican priorities in last 2 weeks of 2025 session
The Oregon Journalism Project noted earlier this month that Drazan’s candidate committee reported spending $55,000 on polling in July, a sign she has her finger in the wind.
History suggests next year could be tough for Republican candidates. Midterm elections are often difficult for the party in power in Washington, D.C. The Trump administration’s policies and actions are likely to feature heavily in races up and down the ballot.
Candidates have until March 10 to formally file their candidacies in next year’s election, but typically make their intentions clear far earlier. In 2021, Drazan launched her gubernatorial bid in November, well after other GOP candidates had begun their campaigns.
