OR-Gov: Candidate filing closed in Oregon on Tuesday for the May 15 primary, and the state has a list of candidates here.
The biggest race to watch this year, and perhaps the only major race to watch this year, will be the contest for governor. Democrat Kate Brown became Oregon's chief executive in 2015 after John Kitzhaber resigned due to a scandal. Brown won a 2016 special for the final two years of Kitzhaber's term 51-43, not a close showing, but enough to give the GOP hope that they can win their first gubernatorial election here since Vic Atiyeh was re-elected in 1982.
Brown's main GOP rival is state Rep. Knute Buehler, whom she beat 51-43 in her 2012 re-election campaign for secretary of state. As of last week, Brown held a $3.1 million to $1.8 million cash-on-hand lead over Buehler. However, Buehler has already received $500,000 from Nike co-founder Phil Knight, and with no contribution limits in state-level contests, this could get expensive. A February poll from pollster DHM Research gave Brown a 46-29 lead, though much of the gap is due to Buehler's low name recognition.
Several anti-abortion Republicans dislike the self-proclaimed "pro-choice" Buehler, and they spent months trying to find a primary foe for him. Nine other Republicans filed to run, but the only one who seems to have any connections is retired Navy pilot Greg Wooldridge, who drew some attention earlier this month when he beat Buehler at a straw poll at a prominent social conservative GOP conference. But Wooldridge has just $50,000 on-hand, and about half of that came from a lumber company owner and his group. But as we said earlier, there are no contribution limits, so if wealthy anti-abortion Republicans took a liking to Wooldridge, this could get interesting.
All five or Oregon's House members (four Democrats and Republican Greg Walden) are seeking re-election, and it looks like they'll have little to worry about in the primary or general. While Clinton carried the 4th District by only 554 votes (the closest presidential result in the nation) and took the 5th just 48-44, state and national Republicans haven't made a serious effort to unseat Reps. Peter DeFazio or Kurt Schrader in years, and they don't seem to be trying any harder this cycle.