Oregon Environmental Group Putting Record Resources into Governor’s Race

OLCV's bringing in national money in opposition to state Rep. Knute Buehler's challenge to incumbent Gov. Kate Brown.

Gov. Kate Brown tours the Portland Harbor Superfund site. (Office of the governor)
By Nigel Jaquiss

The contributions Nike co-founder Phil Knight has made to GOP candidate for governor Knute Buehler—$2.5 million and counting—are the big money news in the race between Buehler and incumbent Gov. Kate Brown.

But environmentalists are setting records of their own.

This week, the Oregon League of Conservation Voters recorded a $250,000 contribution from its national affiliate, by far the largest check the organization's political action committee has ever received.

OLCV executive director Doug Moore says his group will spend the money on a digital campaign highlighting shortcomings his group sees in Buehler's record. (On OCLV's legislative scorecards for his two terms in the House, Buehler got failing grades, although he was among the highest scoring Republican House members.)

"OLCV has never done this before in a governor's race," Moore says. "We're doing because instead of attacking her on her, he's pretending to be her on the environment."

Since Brown became governor in 2015, she's helped pass a coal-to-clean energy bill, which will accelerate Oregon's conversion to renewable energy and pushed through a new approach to regulating industrial emissions called Cleaner Air Oregon.

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