PORTLAND, Ore. — Former Democratic Oregon State Senator Betsy Johnson is running for the open Governor seat in November as a non-affiliated candidate.
Johnson didn't have to compete in Oregon’s May Primary Election; she just needs to collect 24,000 valid signatures between June and mid-August to get on the ballot.
She says she represents blue-collar Oregonians and is pro-jobs, pro-business, pro-law-enforcement and pro-choice.
Johnson said she left the Democratic party because she believes things are too polarized, and voters are not being served. She says it's time for change.
With Democrat Tina Kotek's nomination and Republican Christine Drazan's lead in the primary election, voters could be deciding between the three women for governor in November.
In an interview with KATU on Wednesday, we asked her how her strategy has shifted now that she knows her likely competitors.
“My candidacy is defined by its ability to bring people together. You've got extreme partisans on the left and extreme partisans on the right and the course that we're charting is to try and bring Oregonians together to fix the really significant problems that Oregon is facing right now,” said Johnson.
She believes Oregonians are so fundamentally dissatisfied with the state of our politics that voters are willing to try something new.
This piece appeared on KATU on May 18, 2022 — click to watch on KATU.
Original source can be found here.
