Campaign Event: Oregon Governor Candidate

Betsy Johnson, an Independent candidate for Oregon Governor, spoke to supporters in a Medford restaurant.

The gathering was in a public place, so I invited myself. There was an available seat behind her, looking into the light.

Betsy Johnson, with her trademark huge glasses

1. I heard about the event from a friend who called me nine minutes before the 4:00 p.m. event. "You might find her interesting," he said. I said I would check it out, and immediately drove to the event. I got there ten minutes after it started. Later, I asked how he knew about her coming to town. He said he must be on a list; he had contributed $100 to her campaign. He is an old-school Republican of the kind that used to be common in Oregon and nationally, electing people like Senators Mark Hatfield in Oregon and still electing Susan Collins in Maine. A Republican disaffected from the Trump-style GOP would be a likely target for her Independent candidacy. Betsy Johnson was a conservative Democrat, representing a rural, forested area of Oregon. 

To get onto the November ballot as an Independent, she needs petition signatures from 23,750 Oregon voters, 1% of Oregon's voters. Campaign people had petitions available to sign. My friend's $100 was a tiny part of Johnson's fundraising total. She will have a formidable campaign. Her donations have eclipsed those of other candidates, with contributions from high-profile Oregonians, including $1.75 million from Nike co-founder Phil Knight.

From: Oregonlive.com

2. The event was held at a local restaurant/brewery. I counted 80 people there to listen to her. The group was heavily skewed to people about my age, 70-ish. 

3. She spoke without a microphone. The restaurant had music playing at nearly the same volume level as her voice. I heard grumbling from others around me about the music. "The restaurant refuses to lower the volume," several people explained. 

4. She presented her case that Oregon needed an Independent candidate. She said that the Oregon legislature was nearly certain to have Democratic majorities. She said that if there is a Democratic governor, the Democrats will go forward with a strongly progressive agenda under Tina Kotek, the Democratic nominee. Kotek's primary-election campaign had emphasized her effectiveness in getting progressive legislation passed. The governor needs to be a check on Democratic excess, Johnson said. Johnson then said if the Republican candidate, Christine Drazan, became governor that Drazan would be steamrolled and opposed at every turn. There would be gridlock. Nothing good would get done. Johnson said she could work with both parties.

Johnson said she might disappoint some people in the room, but she was pro-choice. She has earlier said firmly that Joe Biden--not Donald Trump--won the 2020 election. Those are litmus tests of being a Democrat. She got no questions or objections from this audience on those two points.

She received a question from a person who complained about homeless people. He said they paid little or nothing in taxes and yet received services from the government. They don't work and they are a burden to taxpayers like him, he said. It was a soft pitch opportunity for Johnson to agree and to associate Democrats with soft-hearted giveaways to the undeserving, shiftless poor. Johnson's response leaned in the opposite direction. Most unhoused people have mental health or addiction problems, she said. Some of those people in tents on the sidewalks are families. There are young children there. She praised navigation and wraparound services which steer people into services that they need. 

She said her type of politics is popular. She said she had received both the Democratic and Republican nominations in her last election in her state House district, and that she won overwhelmingly. She credited her constituent services efforts. I go to bat for people, she said. Government is supposed to perform, to get things done. She segued into saying that she wanted agency heads to have a "say yes," customer-first attitude. 

6. I expected a negative "pox on both houses" presentation, emphasizing the problems with Democrats and Republicans. Polls show a strong majority of Oregonians saying state government is on the "wrong track." I did not hear the negativity I expected. No government bashing. No attribution of bad motives. Her presentation discussed problems, but did not cast blame or make accusations. It had a very different tone from campaigns for federal offices.

7. After about 35 minutes she stopped answering questions and began wandering from table to table to greet visitors. I had a 5:00 appointment elsewhere and had to leave early.

8. The area was indoors, but it was breezy inside, with a wide open door-wall on one side. A large gathering of likely-Republicans in this part of the state has the potential to be a super-spreader group of unvaccinated people who consider COVID an over-hyped problem. My county is one of three in Oregon with an unusually high COVID count and state authorities have once again urged people to wear masks indoors. I was wary, but seating was spacious and I was five or six feet from the closest person. I thought the open wall and high ceilings likely made the event quasi-outside, not inside. I wore a mask. I was the only person doing so.

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