If you ever wonder how Democratic cities and states end up in a death spiral of poor governance, the Oregonian’s “dispirited” endorsement of Gov. Tina Kotek (D-OR) offers a perfect window into the failing liberal world view that creates those conditions.
The newspaper’s editorial board endorsed Kotek over her GOP challenger, state Sen. Christine Drazan, though at times it is hard to see why.
The outlet details how Kotek has been in charge while “Oregon’s economy has continued to weaken, with higher unemployment and anemic growth; homelessness is rising, contrary to the nationwide decline; and K-12 student performance continues to rank among the worst in the country … And even on Kotek’s signature issue of housing, the state has shown only middling progress.” Meanwhile, Drazan “offers solid policy ideas for Oregon’s crises.”
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The piece criticizes Kotek at length, noting that the editorial board didn’t care for her in her 2022 contest against Drazan, but ultimately determines that Oregon voters must back her.
Why? Because of Donald Trump, of course. The editorial board doesn’t think Drazan will fight the president hard enough, so it is resigned to living under four more years of Kotek’s mismanagement and asks voters to make it happen.
In the article they rip apart Kotek for being ineffective on her own campaign goals, policy decisions being all over the place, and having ethics’s concerns leading to staffers resigning. They give her a “dispirited endorsement” simply because she apparently stood up to Trump.… https://t.co/yBf0pdB7VT
— NW Beav
(@nORthwestBEAV) October 14, 2026
This is the mindset that keeps Democratic areas like Oregon in constant decay. The chief thing the editorial board holds against Drazan is that she didn’t condemn Trump for sending the National Guard to Portland, where Kotek allowed rioters to destroy whatever buildings they wished, including federal buildings.
More importantly, Trump will be out of office two years from now, or halfway through the next governor’s term. The only argument in Kotek’s favor is her resistance to Trump, which will become irrelevant in 2029, leaving Kotek as an anchor on the state for another two years with no redeeming qualities, according to the very journalists who are endorsing her.
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The editorial board laughably concludes its endorsement by wishing that “this election be a wake-up to the establishment to take nothing for granted anymore,” but why would it be? Oregon Democrats know they can fail year after year and still be endorsed by outlets like the Oregonian, because those outlets will come up with some excuse for why voters must always choose a Democrat over a Republican.
This ideological capture is not a threat to “the establishment” in any way, and this mindset is why Oregon continues to fail despite left-wing journalists bemoaning the state of their states.