Republican narrowly leads Oregon governor’s race: poll

Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan has a narrow 2-point lead over her Democratic rival in Oregon’s race, according to a new Emerson College Polling survey released Tuesday. 

The poll found that 36 percent of respondents backed Drazan, who was the former minority leader of the state’s House of Representatives, while 34 percent supported Democrat Tina Kotek, the former state House Speaker. 

Complicating the race is the presence of Independent candidate Betsy Johnson, a former Democrat, who garnered 19 percent support, according to the poll.

An additional 9 percent of respondents remained undecided about their choice of candidate. 

The survey found that 42 percent of respondents had a favorable opinion of Drazan, while 41 percent held an unfavorable opinion of her.

Meanwhile, 50 percent of respondents said they had an unfavorable opinion of Kotek, while 38 percent viewed her favorably. 

When asked about the economy, 52 percent of respondents said they planned to vote for Drazan on the issue, while 21 percent of those surveyed said they would cast their vote for Kotek on the issue. 

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they would cast their vote for Kotek on the issue of threats to democracy in the U.S., the poll said. 

The poll comes after a Cook Political Report last month shifted the state’s gubernatorial race toward Republicans, moving it from the “lean Democrat” rating to a “toss-up.” 

All three candidates are vying to replace the current state Gov. Kate Brown (D), who is term-limited, in November’s midterm elections. 

The new Emerson College Polling survey was conducted from September 30 to Oct. 1 with a total of 796 respondents participating in the survey. The poll’s margin of error was 3.4 percentage points.