PORTLAND — On a warm fall day, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown stood in a public square known as Portland’s living room, surrounded by excited children on their way back from a field trip to a local courthouse.
Brown used the pronoun ‘she’ as she explained what a governor does — until one child reminded her that a boy can be governor too. “Or ‘him,’ yes. Well … right now, it’s a ‘her,’ ” Brown said, moving on quickly to the next question.
It was an unscripted moment in a closely fought gubernatorial campaign, but it was also a telling one.
Brown, an incumbent and one of just two female Democratic governors nationwide, has struggled to create distance between herself and her GOP rival, a state lawmaker who has fashioned himself as a moderate Republican who appeals to independents and centrist Democrats alike with his anti-Trump and pro-choice platform.
The tight contest has drawn national attention to this unabashedly blue state where a Republican governor has not been elected to office in more than 35 years. Democrats have won 29 out of the last 32 statewide races here, but the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan organization that tracks gubernatorial races, just labeled this election a “toss up.”
“I’m shocked that this is even close. This is a race I thought we weren’t going to need to work on — and it turns out this is the one I’m spending the most time on,” said Ali King, co-founder of a Democratic activist group called Nasty Women Get (Expletive) Done. “I didn’t think it was going to be a battle like this.”
Oregon is a vote-by-mail state and Oregonians have had their ballots in hand since last week, making the final push for Brown’s campaign even more critical.
Those who follow Oregon politics closely point out that Brown’s race with Rep. Knute Buehler isn’t much tighter than previous ones and that outside of the biggest cities and college towns, the state has plenty of GOP voters. But in such a partisan moment nationwide, Democratic poll-watchers are feeling a sense of urgency about Oregon.
A recent nonpartisan survey put the number of undecided voters at 17 percent. Many of those voters are independents or moderate Democrats who could be swayed by Buehler’s GOP lite strategy.
Brown said in a recent interview her polling numbers are consistent with other Oregon gubernatorial races and she’s confident a large Democratic turnout will lead her to victory. Former Gov. John Kitzhaber, who resigned in 2015, won re-election by less than 2 percent in 2010.
“I’ve been watching these governor’s races for a couple of decades now,” Brown said, adding that “horrible attack ads” over the summer took a toll.
“There’s a lot of money being spent to try and defeat me. That money is being spent specifically because I have been successful in leading on a progressive policy agenda.”
The eldest of four, Brown trained as a lawyer before being appointed to the Oregon House in 1991 and then staying in state politics for almost 30 years. She was elevated to Oregon’s first female Senate Majority Leader before running successfully for Secretary of State in 2008.
When Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned amid scandal in 2015, she automatically filled the top job under Oregon’s constitution. Brown then easily won a special election in 2016, trouncing the Republican candidate by 8 percentage points.
As governor, Brown tends to work quietly behind the scenes and is fond of saying she’s GSD — “Getting Stuff Done” — rather than engaging in flashy politics. She is skilled at “retail politics” and often accomplishes her goals without burning bridges, said Chris Shortell, an associate professor of political science at Portland State University.
That style resulted in several victories for Brown, first as secretary of state, and then as governor.
In 2015, Brown signed into law Oregon’s so-called “motor voter” law that she helped craft as secretary of state. The law requires the state to register to vote anyone who applies for or renews a driver’s license or ID card and it has boosted the rolls of eligible voters by roughly 15 percent.
