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Christine Drazan, the GOP nominee for governor, is off to a strong fundraising start for the November general election.
Drazan, the former House minority leader from Canby, emerged from a crowded and bruising Republican primary having spent more than $2.5 million, just about all she had raised, to win.
Since the May 17 election day, however, Drazan has quickly begun to refill her coffers, raising nearly $700,000 in that time.
The largest and most significant check—$250,000 from the Republican Governors Association—came in today. That’s a strong indication that the RGA will spend heavily on Drazan, who is in a three-way race with former House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland) and former state Sen. Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose), who is running unaffiliated and has raised more than the two major party candidates combined.
The RGA’s support for Drazan (it also gave her a $40,000 in-kind contribution last month) comes earlier in the cycle than the group’s support for GOP nominees Chris Dudley (2010) and Knute Buehler (2020).
Although Johnson has $5.18 million on hand (Kotek has $115,000, having spent down her war chest in the primary), Drazan’s campaign is feeling optimistic.
“The RGA’s contribution adds to what has been a week of significant positive momentum for Christine’s campaign,” says her campaign manager, Trey Rosser. “She leads in public polling, she recently released a list of endorsements from more than 60 elected and former elected officials, and she continues to attract the level of financial support that will be necessary to run a winning campaign this November.”