Gov. Tina Kotek speaks to reporters on Nov. 6, 2026 in Portland, Ore. Kotek defeated her opponent, Republican Christine Drazan, in the Nov. 3 election.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
Gov. Tina Kotek said Friday that her comfortable reelection this week was more than simply a rejection of President Donald Trump.
It was, she said, an embrace of her vision for the state.
In her first meeting with reporters since defeating Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan on Tuesday, Kotek argued voters “understand all the nuances and look at all the information” and didn’t simply vote for a Democrat to protest President Donald Trump.
“They made a choice on Election Night based on who they thought was closer to their values and vision,” Kotek said at the press conference in downtown Portland.
Elections, she added, “are not popularity contests. They are decisions made by voters to say who is the best person to lead us forward, even if they might not 100% agree with you.”
With most votes tallied, Kotek had a more than 8-percentage-point lead over Drazan as of Friday morning. While the governor has faced low approval ratings for years, that margin, if it holds, would be the strongest result for an Oregon gubernatorial candidate in decades. Former Gov. Ted Kulongoski won reelection in 2006 — another banner year for Democrats — by just shy of 8 percentage points.
Kotek said she has not heard from Drazan, her longtime political rival who has so far not formally conceded defeat.
With another four years in Mahonia Hall in front of her, Kotek said she will get to work on the priorities she laid out during her nearly yearlong campaign. Those include continuing to focus on producing more affordable housing, working to slow increases in healthcare costs, pushing for better results at the state’s underperforming K-12 schools, and beginning to lay the groundwork for universal free preschool throughout Oregon by the end of her second term.
“I’m back to work,” she said.
And while Kotek said she plans to take some time off this month following a grueling election season, there’s plenty to do.
The governor is required to submit a proposed budget for lawmakers’ consideration by Dec. 1. She hinted that she is looking at changes to agency directors and members of her own staff, though she did not offer specifics. And she’s also working up bills for the legislative session, which begins Jan. 19.
Among proposals Kotek plans to put forward next year are bills to recast Business Oregon, the state’s economic development agency, as a new Department of Commerce; take the troubled Oregon State Hospital out from under the control of the Oregon Health Authority; and to better scrutinize and regulate data centers.
“My call to the Legislature is that they need to do a bill around data center oversight and standards in the first 60 days of session,” said Kotek, who has sought to put a hold on new data center projects while the state considers pros and cons of the unpopular facilities. “We need to be very clear what our Oregon values are.”
Kotek also said she plans to ask lawmakers in December to send $10 million in state emergency funding to Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend. The money would be used to help the school recover from the Oct. 15 mass shooting that killed three students and a teacher.
The governor reiterated a pledge to examine state gun laws in an attempt to prevent school shootings in the future. “A 16-year-old had access to a gun,” she said, referring to the Silver Rail attacker. “That is the discussion we need to have in this state.”
Kotek closed the press conference on a forceful note, suggesting she will more proactively prod lawmakers into action next year if she thinks they are getting off task.
The governor faced criticism last year for not taking a leading role in crafting a massive bill to fund road and bridge maintenance. The proposal ultimately failed after legislative leaders waited until the end of session to introduce a bill.
“When it comes to the legislative session, I am not going to stand back and wait for the Legislature to figure it out,” Kotek said. “I need to see progress in the first month, the second month, the third month… People voted Democrats in because they want stuff to happen, and I need the Legislature to do that.”
