Christine Drazan

There’s a shadow hanging over the Oregon’s governor’s race: a record $10 million check that a California carpenters union wrote to an affiliated Oregon political action committee Sept. 16.

With less than two months until the Nov. 3 general election, a new poll shows the Republican nominee, state Sen. Christine Drazan (R-Canby), with a slender lead over incumbent Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat.

Last month, Oregon agreed to pay $49 million to COVID-afflicted state prison inmates. It’s the state’s biggest payout ever—and underscores an underlying liability that is far larger.

House Minority Leader Christine Drazan (R-Canby) disclosed a $55,000 expenditure to the Virginia polling firm Public Opinion Strategies on Aug. 10. That’s the clearest sign yet that Drazan is considering a rematch against Gov. Tina Kotek next year.