Nike co-founder Phil Knight donates $1 million to rising GOP Oregon gov. candidate

Nike co-founder and billionaire Phil Knight donated $1 million to Christine Drazan, the GOP candidate in the Oregon governor’s race, after recent polls showed her surging past her Democratic and independent rivals.

A former minority leader of the Oregon state House, Drazan drew national attention after recent polling put her 1 point up in the FiveThirtyEight polling average in the historically blue state over her main opponent, Democrat Tina Kotek, a former state House speaker.

On Wednesday, an independent poll by Emerson College found that 36% of respondents supported Drazen while 34% backed Kotek. The 2-point gap is remarkable in a state that has not elected a Republican to the governor’s mansion since 1982.

Knight had given $3.75 to the unaffiliated independent candidate Betsy Johnson, including $2 million in September, but polls have shown her consistently behind Drazan and Kotek. Johnson only managed 19% support in this week’s Emerson poll.

Jon Ward, Chief National Correspondent at Yahoo! News, attributed Drazan’s growing success to deteriorating quality of life in Portland, which in recent years became “the epicenter of left-wing activism in support of causes like defunding the police and drug criminalization.”

Drazan’s campaign has leaned heavily on homelessness and public safety, which a recent poll by the Oregonian found are top issues for voters in the state.

Another drag on Democrats’ reputation in Oregon is its unpopular current governor, Democrat Kate Brown, which the Morning Consult reported had the highest disapproval rating of all U.S. governors back in April.

FiveThirtyEight warned that despite the state’s left-leaning reputation, Oregon is “far from being a deep-blue state.”

“For instance, George W. Bush nearly won the state in the 2000 presidential race, and in 2016, Oregon elected Republican Dennis Richardson as secretary of state, making him the first GOP candidate to win a statewide race since 2002,” wrote Geoffrey Skelley, a senior elections analyst at FiveThirtyEight.

Skelley added that although Oregon has consistently elected Democratic governors, their margin of victory has only once exceeded 10 points.