Drazan Tells Supporters ‘Do Not Lose Hope’ in New Statement, Kotek’s Lead Tops 180,000 Votes

Oregon — Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan urged supporters to stay engaged in a new campaign statement as Gov. Tina Kotek’s lead widened to 180,517 votes in Oregon’s unofficial election returns. Drazan has not formally conceded. Her two-page statement spoke of the campaign in the past tense and made no mention of Kotek.

“To every Oregonian who believed in this campaign and the future we fought for: Do not lose hope. I certainly haven’t,” Drazan wrote.

Drazan pointed to families struggling with the cost of living and parents worried about the quality of their children’s education and whether their children would have to leave Oregon to find opportunity. She also cited homelessness and addiction as problems that would continue to demand attention after the election.
“These problems do not disappear when the campaign signs come down, and neither does our responsibility to confront them,” she wrote.

The statement follows an earlier post-election letter in which Drazan thanked supporters and reached out to voters who backed other candidates while referring to “whatever the final outcome.”
In the updated unofficial count, Kotek, the Democratic and Working Families nominee, had 996,435 votes (53.34%). Drazan, the Republican and Libertarian nominee, had 815,918 votes (43.68%). Pacific Green candidate Brett Smith received 53,290 votes (2.85%), and write-ins accounted for 2,465 votes (0.13%). Oregon Secretary of State election results⁠.

The governor’s race tally reached 1,868,108 votes, up 123,214 from the previous count. Kotek’s lead grew by 40,324 votes, increasing from 8.04 to 9.66 percentage points.