OREGON
A8 — THE OBSERVER
SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022
Trump, Oregon GOP relationship is complicated
In blue Oregon, Trump’s ties to party
confuse things for GOP gubernatorial
contenders in primary election
By LAUREN DAKE
Oregon Public Broadcasting
PORTLAND — Stan Pul-
liam’s recent rally at Port-
land’s Chapman Square
didn’t last long and the
turnout wasn’t great.
But in many ways, the
event couldn’t have gone any
better for the Republican
gubernatorial candidate for
Oregon governor.
Thanks to
a small group
of black-clad
counter pro-
testers who
showed up to
heckle and
Pulliam
throw paint
bombs at Pul-
liam and his 20 or so sup-
porters, the candidate landed
a spot on one of cable news’
most watched morning
shows, Fox & Friends.
“It’s unbelievable,” Pul-
liam, the current mayor of
Sandy, told the television host
in an outraged tone, “You
know, the city of Portland,
from roses to riots.”
The news chyron read,
“Antifa mob disrupts GOP
rally.”
“A statewide candidate
for governor. We should be
able to go to the largest met-
ropolitan community of our
state and have a peaceful
campaign rally,” Pulliam
continued. “Of course, less
than 15 minutes in, we’re
greeted by antifa showing
up with fi recrackers that
they are throwing at us, ink
paint, feces all over … That
is the city of Portland circa
2022.”
Of all the candidates run-
ning for governor this year,
Pulliam has mostly closely
emulated former President
Donald Trump’s aggressive
style. Pulliam is on what he’s
dubbed a “war on woke”
and frequently talks about
how he’s a fi ghter and plans
to throw “thugs” in jail. He
consistently questions the
veracity of the 2020 election,
repeating the falsehood that
Joe Biden didn’t not win the
presidency.
Across the nation, this
has become a common polit-
ical play for Republicans
hoping to attract the former
president’s endorsement and
the support of his fans. It’s
already shown to work: In
Ohio, U.S. Senate candidate
J.D. Vance captured a late
April nod from the president,
and last week won the Repub-
lican primary. The former
president and his supporters
hope other GOP primaries
this month and next cement
his status as kingmaker,
which could set Trump up for
another run at the presidency.
But in blue Oregon,
Trump remains a more com-
plicated fi gure for most GOP
gubernatorial contenders.
Look no further than the
case of the former GOP con-
tender, Knute Buehler. In
his run up to the 2018 gov-
ernor’s race, which he lost to
Kate Brown, Buehler tried
to distance himself from
Trump, at one point calling
him an “angry self-absorbed”
person who had no place as
the leader of the Republican
party. While running for a
Congressional seat in 2020,
Buehler’s tone softened on
Trump and he went out of
his way to say he opposed
impeachment in a campaign
video. After the Jan. 6 insur-
rection at the state Capitol
and after Buehler lost the
Congressional race, he ended
up leaving the Republican
party.
In a recent debate put on
by the Central Oregon Daily
News and The Bulletin, some
of the GOP frontrunners —
Pulliam, Salem
oncologist Bud
Pierce, busi-
nessman Bob
Tiernan and
former House
Republican
Drazan
Leader Chris-
tine Drazan
— were asked directly who
they thought won the 2020
election.
Pierce quickly piv-
oted to a less objectionable
topic, emphasizing election
integrity.
“We had an election, the
electors for the president
came together and declared
Joe Biden the winner. Joe
Biden is the president of the
United States,” Pierce said.
“I think what we’re fi nding is
that people don’t have trust in
our election system, integrity
in the system. Oregon, for
instance, has vote-by-mail,
that’s a system you have to
The Associated Press, File
Former President Donald Trump remains a complicated fi gure for
most of Oregon’s GOP gubernatorial contenders.
regulate more. You have to
oversee more.”
Drazan followed a sim-
ilar tact, dancing around the
actual question that had been
asked:
“When it comes to this
issue, Joe Biden is our pres-
ident today, and in Oregon
he absolutely won Oregon by
15 points,” Drazan said. “I
have confi dence in Oregon,
we have got to continue to
improve vote-by-mail … We
must do more to protect our
elections.”
When it was Pulliam’s
turn to answer the question,
he was direct.
“I’m the only conservative
candidate, especially on this
stage, that is willing to say the
truth,” he said loudly. “The
2020 election was fraudulent,
completely fraudulent.”
Later, he gestured to the
other candidates on the stage:
“Biden, Biden, Biden, all of
them said Biden won.”
Running right to boost
the base
Pulliam started the 2022
campaign strong. He was
the candidate who seem-
ingly best encapsulated the
mood of many Republican
primary voters; angry at the
status quo and still inspired
by Trump. His campaign
took a hit, however, when
Willamette Week reported
he and his wife had been
part of a Portland swing-
er’s group, which he did not
deny. He lost a powerful
endorsement in a GOP pri-
mary from the anti-abortion
group Right to Life.
Now, as the rest of the
GOP frontrunner fi eld does
their best to avoid talking
about the former presi-
dent, Pulliam is trying
another strategy: embrace
the President, inspire the
base and win the primary.
In November, he’s banking
on former state Sen. Betsy
Johnson, who is running as
an unaffi liated candidate,
splitting the votes with the
Democratic candidate. With
the Johnson factor and a red
wave, Pulliam is betting he
doesn’t need to moderate his
conservative stances for a
general audience.
The other strategy — in
which GOP candidates try
to stake out a more mod-
erate position in order to be
more appealing to a general
election audience — hasn’t
worked recently. Oregon
hasn’t elected a Republican
governor since Gov. Victor
Atiyeh won a second term
in 1982.
So, Pulliam is going
all out. He’s been arguing
against the governor’s
COVID-10 restrictions,
including school closures
throughout the pandemic.
And he’s managed to cram
in pretty much every other
cultural wedge issue of the
moment into his campaign.
He’s issued plans to “lock
up antifa,” said he would
end “abortion tourism,”
called for fi ring a teacher
he described as a “woke
pervert” and criticized the
Salem-Keizer school district
for supporting transgender
students.
Pulliam’s rally in Port-
land was part of his “war
on woke” and focused on
increasing funding for police.
When the counter pro-
testers showed up, someone
called the police. In a moment
made for campaign mes-
saging, it took 20 minutes
for 911 to pick up the phone
call, according to the Pul-
liam campaign. Police never
showed. The Portland Police
Bureau told OPB that offi cials
are looking into the matter.
The rally almost landed
Pulliam on the Sean Han-
nity show, one of the big-
gest platforms a Republican
could land. He ended up
being bumped due to Roe. v.
Wade draft opinion leak.
Pulliam isn’t the only
candidate leaning hard to
the right as a way to appeal
to the voters most likely to
return their ballots. Writer
and consultant Bridget
Barton, who credits Trump
with “draining the swamp,”
isn’t shying away.
Jessica Gomez, of Med-
ford, the founder and CEO
of Rogue Valley Microde-
vices, is an example of a
candidate who is taking the
more moderate approach.
She was direct in a recent
Portland City Club debate
that she believes Biden
fairly won the election and
she’s pro-choice.
“These candidates here
have all stated they are in
favor of medical freedom
when it comes to masks,
vaccines and it’s really
inconsistent,” Gomez
said. “This is about bodily
autonomy and I’m sup-
portive of medical freedom
and that includes abortion,
vaccines and any other pro-
cedures that are legally
available.”
ENDORSED BY
Congressman Cliff Bentz
Congressman Greg Walden
(retired)
Senator Bill Hansell
Representative Bobby Levy
Representative Greg Barreto
(retired)
District Attorney Kelsie McDaniel
Sheriff Cody Bowen
Sheriff Steve Oliver (Retired)
Kelly Anderes
Wayla Lincoln
Alan & Michelle Duffy
Austin & Julie Hatley
Austin Arnoldus
Bill & Donna Tsiatsos
Blake Bars
Brett Baxter
Brett Rudd
Brett Wheeler
Brianna Moulton
Brock Eckstein
Bruce & Karen Kevan
Buck & Melissa Fullerton
Caden Hicks
Carson Greenwell
Cassie & John Miller-Petersen
Chad Mueller
Cheryl Martin
Chris & Linda Panike
Cody Vela
Colby Johnson
Cory & Kim Miller
Craig Beverage
Curtis Martin
Dale & Lisa Eisminger
Dale & Virginia Mamen
Dane & Cammee Jensen
Darci & Brad Sweet
Darcy Carreiro
Derek Cooper
Doug & Patty Hislop
Emma Combe
Frank Humber
Fred Hawkins
Gust & Karin Tsiatsos
Guy & Peggy Weishaar
Irwin Smutz
Isaac Insko
Jace Eisminger
Jake & Katie Hanson
Jake Seavert
Jamie Jo & Tony Haddock
Janet Rudd
Jaquin & Jade Grant
Jason & Bene Kehr
JD & Audra Cant
Jennifer Isley
Jennifer Schemm Williams
Jenny Bartell
Jess & Sheryln Roberts
Joe Neer
Joe Prummer
John & Deb Howard
Jon & Julie Hickerson
John Cuthberth
John Lamoreau
John Selman
John Wilson
Josh Diacetis
Josh Ridley
Justin Armstrong
Kat Naughton
Kelsey Fregulia
Ken & Aimee
Patterson
Kyle McDaniel
Lara & Jon Paustian
Lindsay Warness
Logan McRea
Mardi Ford
Margarette Craig
Mark Simmons
Mat Miles
Matt Insko
Mauri deLint
Maurizio Valerio
Mike & Tamarah Rysavy
Mike & Tracy Partney
Mike Billman
Molly King
Monte Reed
Morgan Olson
Nathan Weishaar
Neil Roberson
OCA President Todd Nash
Paid for by the Committee to Re-elect Paul Anderes
Odin Miller
Patrick Flynn
Patty Bingaman
Paul Swigert
Pete & Katie Trick
Rob Beck
Rob Lane
Robert Minarich
Ronald Bruce
Ryan Rodighiero
Sam & Reva Hartenstein
Sondra & Bill Rosholt
Scott Bisenius & Melinda
Becker-Bisenius
Scott Newman
Scott Wilkinson
Shawn Bingaman
Sherry Haeger
Susan Bunch
Suzannah Moore-Hemann
Teresa Stratton
Tony & Jamie Haddock
Triangle W Farms
Tyler Brooks
Vince & Robin Naughton
Warner Wasley
Wilson Zehr
Zach Wilson