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WW reported yesterday that a mystery group calling itself Voters for Truth has been pushing negative ads aimed at Democratic State Treasurer Tobias Read, who’s running for governor.
It turns out there are more clues to the group’s intentions—but also more mystery.
The Voters for Truth website feeds readers information about each of the three leading Democratic candidates for governor and employs the gimmick of asking them to respond to “poll” questions about the information (a way some websites harvest data that can be used to devise campaign strategy). Although it initially appeared the site was aimed at bashing all three leading Democratic contenders, the website in fact conveys a positive message about one of them.
For Read, the question regards one of Oregon’s publicly owned crown jewels:
“Did you support Tobias Read’s 2017 effort to sell the Elliott State Forest to a timber company?”
For House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland), there are two questions:
“Did you support Tina Kotek cutting pension benefits for teachers, firefighters and other public employees in 2019?”
“Did you support Tina Kotek’s vote to give $4,000,000 to pro-life advocates in 2021?”
All three questions appear to be designed to give Democratic primary voters—who tend to favor state ownership of the Elliott, sympathize with public employees, and favor abortion rights—negative impressions of both Read and Kotek.
However, the question about Kristof, a former New York Times journalist making his first run for public office, strikes a different tone:
“Did you support Nick Kristof’s assertion that family planning should be a part of all health care plans?”
The question links to a piece Kristof wrote on Substack, which presents a ringing endorsement of abortion rights at a time when they are under threat across the nation.
It would be hard to find many Democratic primary voters who disagree. So while the “poll” questions might sour voters on the two elected officials, the question about Kristof appears designed to have the opposite effect.
So who’s behind the website? Voters for Truth LLC was registered in New Mexico on Oct. 29, 2021—two days after Kristof announced he was entering the race.
Representatives of Read’s and Kotek’s campaigns say they are baffled by the site. Carol Butler, a political consultant advising Kristof, says she and her colleagues are equally in the dark.
“I honestly have no idea who’s doing this,” Butler says. “At first blush, it looks like they are trying to help us, but it’s impossible to know what their agenda actually is. We don’t have anything to do with it.”
Jacob Fenton contributed reporting to this story. He is editor of The Portland Record, a civic data site that launched a campaign finance tracker this week.