Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan, left, and Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek shake hands at the end of the gubernatorial debate in Eugene, Ore. at the University of Oregon, on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.
Will Yurman/Pool LookOut Eugene-Springfield
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and state Sen. Christine Drazan spent much of their first debate Thursday night in Eugene trying to discredit one another.
The two candidates, who also faced each other in the 2022 race for governor, fielded questions from a panel of journalists on a wide range of topics from affordability, data centers and education funding to the economy and wildfire mitigation.
Throughout it all, they stuck to largely familiar themes. The governor repeatedly tried to tie Drazan to the Trump administration and unpopular federal policies. And Drazan continued to paint Kotek as a candidate who is afraid to run on her own record and whose main solution to the state’s myriad crises is to raise taxes.
When asked about wildfires roaring through the state, Kotek said she had fought for a permanent funding source to fight fires.
“We are in drought, we are in climate change and I believe that we have to deal with it and be resilient,” she said. “Unlike my opponent who does not believe in climate change.”
A tense moment as the candidates accuse one another of misrepresenting the facts.
Will Yurman/Pool LookOut Eugene-Springfield
To which Drazan rebutted, “The comments from the governor tonight are approaching absurd. I absolutely believe that man-made climate change has an impact on us and it is absurd for her to assert otherwise. It doesn’t mean that I want to raise taxes to address it.”
At one point, Drazan said she wondered if Kotek was “advancing a drinking game tonight” by so frequently redirecting attention to the Trump administration and that she was a little “bit tired of (the governor) pushing everything off on the federal administration.”
The governor shot back that she was tired of Drazan “distorting the truth.”
The hourlong debate aired on KVAL-TV in Eugene. It was hosted by the network, Lookout Eugene-Springfield and the Oregon Journalism Project. A University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication student also participated in the panel and asked questions.
Listen to OPB reporters dive into the Oregon governor’s race in this “OPB Politics Now” episode:
(Left to right) Journalist Ben Botkin of Lookout Eugene-Springfield, University of Oregon journalism student Bayla Orton and Nigel Jaquiss of the Oregon Journalism Project, during the second half of the gubernatorial debate.
Will Yurman/Pool LookOut Eugene-Springfield
The reporters asked Drazan who won the 2020 election, a nod to the fraudulent claim by President Trump that it was stolen. She simply answered, “Biden.”
She said she has always been a “strong supporter of vote-by-mail.” And when it came to abortion access, Drazan said she was pro-life, but that she believes it’s a personal issue.
“I think that when it comes to this incredibly complex issue, I think people should know that I do not, I do not support banning abortion,” Drazan said.
On education, the governor was asked why despite the Oregon Legislature continually increasing funding for the state’s public schools, Oregon has still struggled to improve reading scores for elementary-aged students.
“I’ve passed an accountability bill that says we should have statewide performance standards so those dollars are spent in a way that our students actually approve or improve,” Kotek said.
“Christine Drazan voted against that bill. I think we need to reduce our chronic absenteeism in the state. We have to track it better. We have to help our districts help get our students back in the classroom. Christine Drazan, she voted against the bill to actually track and have real-time reporting on absenteeism in our state.”
When Kotek was done speaking, Nigel Jaquiss, a reporter with the Oregon Journalism Project, followed up: “Governor, I don’t believe you’ve answered the question. More money, worse results. Why?”
In her follow-up response, the governor said she was also “not satisfied” with the state’s educational outcomes.
“We are seeing improvements,” Kotek said. “We have more work to do and we want to stay the course on the things that are working.”
On one of the signature issues of the national and local moment — affordability of everything from grocery prices to gas to utilities — the two candidates took turns blaming each other.
Sen. Christine Drazan responds to questions at the event.
Will Yurman/Pool LookOut Eugene-Springfield
“The best thing that can be done for Oregonians to address affordability is to ensure that Tina Kotek does not get a second term as she solves every single challenge that she sees, every single problem in the state of Oregon with a new tax,” Drazan said. “The pressure that you’re feeling in your home, the cost of utilities, that is all tied to Tina Kotek’s climate agenda, which is in particular attacking the price of heating, gas prices.”
Kotek pointed out that Drazan voted against the POWER Act, a bill passed by the Legislature last year that required data centers and other large-scale energy users to pay a more proportional share of their usage.
“When Christine Drazan talks about taxes, she voted against a bill that passed that lowered taxes for Oregonians. She voted against that,” Kotek said. “And if she were honest about why she did that, it’s because she was OK with continuing to give large tax breaks to companies who don’t need it.”
The candidates’ closing remarks followed the theme.
Kotek said too many Oregonians were struggling and that President Trump was making life worse by creating disruption and uncertainty.
“So Christine Drazan has said, ‘Take a risk, vote for me.’ But if we look at her voting record and we look at who she listens to, that would be a risk that I don’t think we should take as a state,” Kotek said. “That risk would entail banning abortion, cutting the Oregon Health Plan, eliminating vote by mail, and when it comes to protecting our cities, when Oregon National Guard troops are deployed, no one would stand up for them.”
Drazan said the state cannot afford four more years of Kotek.
Sen. Christine Drazan, left, and Gov. Tina Kotek, laugh as journalist Nigel Jaquiss of the Oregon Journalism Project jokes about the rarity of seeing them in the same room.
Will Yurman/Pool LookOut Eugene-Springfield
“The governor has spent this evening changing the facts, running from her own record, and asking Oregonians to ignore the parts of her record that they actually do remember,” Drazan said. “She is the sitting governor of our state, and the decline that we’ve experienced as a state has gotten worse and worse under her leadership.”
An OPB poll released this week shows the race is incredibly tight.
The next debate is scheduled for next week in Medford at KOBI-TV.
The two candidates shook hands at the end of the debate.
