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Longtime Democrat 'embarrassed' by Oregon politics shakes up race for governor, runs as independent
Oregon's gubernatorial race is a three-way competition, with independent candidate Betsy Johnson hoping to appeal to moderate voters fed up with the status quo.
Politics
PORTLAND, Ore. – Betsy Johnson is not running for Miss Congeniality. The longtime Democrat now running for governor of Oregon as an unaffiliated candidate is more likely to drop a swear word than a political platitude. When voters asked if she would repeal Oregon's drug decriminalization law, she responded, "Hell yes." On education, she declared, "Let's not worry about pronouns. Let's worry about mathematics."
Johnson's bid for governor has turned the race into a three-way competition against Democrat Tina Kotek, who previously served as speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, and Republican Christine Drazan, the former Oregon House minority leader. Johnson sees herself as the moderate among two extremes.
"I am not beholden to any political agenda or ideology, and I'm certainly not running to do something other than fix a place I love," Johnson told Fox News. "I may seem like an unlikely agent of big, bold change. That's exactly what I am and who I am."