Democratic Gov. Kate Brown faced voters in 2016 for the right to serve the remainder of John Kitzhaber’s term. Kitzhaber resigned in 2015 in the wake of several controversies. Brown didn’t do as well as a Democrat might be expected to do in a presidential year, taking just over 50 percent. She is now running for a full four-year term in November and this race may be more difficult than her 2016 race.
State Rep. Knute Buehler won the Republican nomination on May 15 with 47 percent of the vote in a 10-way field. Buehler, an orthopedic surgeon, won a seat in the state legislature in 2014 after losing a bid for Secretary of State in 2012. His opponent was Kate Brown, who won the contest, 51 percent to 43 percent. Buehler is a moderate, especially on social issues. Immigration is the only issue on which he has swerved to the right.
Republican strategists argue that Brown has a host of vulnerabilities that either didn’t exist or didn’t get much of a hearing in 2016. They contend that she has
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