Surprise! Oregon Is in Trouble

What an incredible experience and what an honor it was to run for the Republican nomination to serve as governor of Oregon – truly an experience of a lifetime. When the race was over, there were a million questions. Are you exhausted? Sorry you did it? Glad you did it? What’s next?

But the most thoughtful and important question, and maybe most pertinent to the race still ahead, now that our nominees have been chosen, is this: Over the nearly yearlong campaign crisscrossing the state, what did you learn that surprised you the most? Frankly, the answer was not difficult.

It’s a multi-part answer, but it’s really only one idea. Oregon is in trouble. Real trouble.

I ran for governor because of four key problems the state very obviously faces: crime, substance abuse, homelessness, and utterly failing public schools. The idea was to focus hard and bring 40 years of experience to bear on those four key problems and get the state turned in the right direction for “the people.” After all, the elites don’t pay the price for failure on these problems; average Oregonians do.

Sure enough, those four problems are tearing the state apart. But as I traveled from one end of the state and across and back again, it became clear. There are many, many more serious unaddressed problems plaguing one region after another. All kinds of problems. Tough problems, life-threatening problems, problems that eat at Oregonians’ financial security, at their hope, problems that suffocate their dreams. Unaddressed problems – often completely ignored by state government officials in Salem.

The campaign gave me the chance to see something up close and personal that most people in their daily lives are too busy to fully take in. Ask yourself, do you have any idea what’s going on in North Bend, Lakeview, Prineville? Statewide media that might spotlight these deep fissures is almost nonexistent. But it’s true, and it’s big. Oregon is in trouble.

Water shortages, wildfire threats, fuel prices, pharmacy closures, lack of doctors and medical facilities, inadequate law enforcement protection, drug cartels, housing shortages, labor shortages that are crippling and closing businesses. This is a short list.

And here’s how you can tell that the problems are real and extremely severe. Oregonians, lots and lots of them, are very angry, and very frightened. That’s what happens when problems this deep and this numerous are ignored or unaddressed for decades.

Get outside of the Metro area and meet people where they are, talk to them, and you’ll hear it: anger and fear. They want to know what happened to their state. Their schools. Their communities. Their culture.

They know they’re helpless to do anything to help themselves. Rural Oregon, in particular, has no voice and they know it, feel it viscerally deep down inside. Just like their anger.

Here’s the other way you can tell how serious the problems are: Literally hundreds and hundreds of average Oregonians told me point blank about their plans to leave the state and make a new start if things don’t turn dramatically better after the November election. Chamber of commerce members, business owners, and talented young people all shared their plans to exit Oregon if change isn’t imminent. So many of the best and brightest are already gone. More are skeptically hoping for change, but their plan B is already in place.

What do they mean by that? Well, you might think they mean that things turn Republican. But they’re smarter than that. This election, like the last two, is moving in a new direction. Oregonians intuitively know that neither political party has their back. They see it at the national level and here at home. No one cares about the people and their day-to-day problems. Establishment politicians on both sides of the aisle answer only to their political masters, not the people.

One supporter of mine put it best. She said, “I’ve never felt more conservative in my life, and less Republican.” Many disillusioned Democrats feel the same way.

For this election, the people – Oregonians – will be looking for leaders who will tackle their problems. Get it done. And they really don't care what letter is next to their name. But power and money always rear their ugly heads. This election will be no different. So, like everywhere else in the country, the real struggle is between the establishment – in both parties – and the people.

I’ll never regret a single day of the campaign, and I’ll cherish the memories. I hope Oregonians make careful choices and elect people who will work hard for them, and for no one else. I hope they can find such a candidate. I hope Oregonians find hope. What I learned? Oregon is an amazing state filled with amazing people, but it’s surprisingly scary out there.