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A4 THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2022 Johnson Continued from A1 On Friday, she added Dem- ocratic former Gov. Ted Ku- longoski and former U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Oregon. She’s backed by former Rep. Knute Buehler, R-Bend, who was the GOP nominee for governor in 2018, losing to Gov. Kate Brown in her last election. Johnson, 71, has straddled the political divide for much of her life. Born in Bend and raised in Redmond, her father, Sam Johnson, was a promi- nent timber industry business owner. He served seven terms in the state House, as a Repub- lican. He was mayor of Red- mond at the time of his death in 1984. After earning a law degree and commercial pilot’s li- censes for both fixed-wing air- craft and helicopters, Johnson ran an aviation company that included firefighting aircraft. Like her father, she ran for the House, winning election in 2000. Unlike her father, she was a Democrat. She moved to the Senate in 2005 and served until resign- ing to run for governor. With the primary on Tues- day, she now knows who her opponents will be if she quali- fies for the ballot. Former House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, won the Democratic nomination. For- mer House Minority Leader Christine Drazan won the Re- publican nomination. Johnson was often at odds with Kotek, most recently on Hydro Flask Continued from A1 Hydro Flask hired Makris in 2017 as director of market- ing. He’d previously worked as a marketing supervisor for Icebreaker, Columbia and Sa- lomon. Delperdang said Makris routinely bullied her in public, around the office and in meet- ings, according to the lawsuit. She states she received several years worth of positive per- formance reviews and was on track to receive a promotion until Makris, and Operational Director Lucas Alberg, sub- jected her to negative perfor- mance reviews in retaliation for her filing a complaint against Makris with human resources. The suit alleges several fe- male employees resigned from the company due to Makris’ alleged conduct. “(W)orking conditions due to the discrimination and re- taliation were so intolerable that a reasonable person in her circumstances would have re- signed,” the lawsuit states. The lawsuit states that in 2018 and 2020, three male Hy- dro Flask employees filed com- plaints with human resources officials stating they witnessed Makris harass Delperdang and other female employees. The first instance described in the lawsuit occurred in De- cember 2017 on a work trip to Hawaii. She states Makris interrupted a conversation among employees to make a lewd comment regarding her necklace. “This comment made (Delperdang) feel very uncomfortable and power- less,” the lawsuit states. She states that after Makris acted hostile toward her during a meeting, she filed a complaint with human re- sources, according to the law- suit. She was told by the rep- resentative that her complaint carbon cap legislation that led to Republican walkouts in 2019 and 2020. Passage of the bill was a priority for Kotek. While its fate was uncertain in the Senate, Johnson was seen as a likely opponent. Over the years, Kotek and leaders of the progressive wing of the Legislature’s Democrats have seen Johnson as a road- block to legislation on gun control, the environment and the expansion of collective bargaining rights further up the ranks of fire, police and other public employees. Johnson already has a sound-bite-ready line when asked about Kotek, playing off polls that show Gov. Kate Brown with low popularity ratings. “Tina Kotek is more Kate Brown than Kate Brown,” she said. On the Republican side, Drazan won a fragmented primary with 22% of the vote among 19 candidates. Fervent followers of former President Donald Trump were unable to rally around a single stan- dard-bearer, instead splitting their votes into substantial chunks spread among several candidates. That helped Dra- zan win on election night. Johnson said it will be im- possible for Drazan to appeal to moderate swing voters who are the key to winning the governorship while not alien- ating the conservative GOP base. “I don’t think she’s going to be able to speak her mind,” Johnson said. Kotek had been the front-runner for the nom- would be investigated. She al- leges it was never followed up. About one month after she filed her complaint, Makris “accosted and yelled” at her in the middle of the marketing department. The yelling went on for several minutes and when she attempted to speak, Makris “interrupted her, raised his voice, and continued to yell at her,” the lawsuit states. “This incident occurred in front of other employees in the Marketing Department. When Mr. Makris left, several employees approached (Delp- erdang) and asked if she was okay. (She) was shocked and felt humiliated and unsafe,” the lawsuit states. In May 2020, Hydro Flask employee Mitch Loge filed a complaint with human re- sources officials alleging he was retaliated against. In his report, Loge stated he wit- nessed Makris and Alberg treat Delperdang unfairly. “Mr. Loge informed HR that it was well known within the Marketing Department that Mr. Makris consistently harassed and treated Plaintiff unfairly,” the lawsuit states. Delperdang states she was subject to unfair scrutiny and receiving “needs improve- ment” in her performance re- views despite hitting “every” performance metric. In 2020, she was placed on a performance improvement plan twice. She told the hu- man resources director she was being asked to do the jobs of three employees and was being set up to fail. She was terminated Nov. 3, 2020. Founded around 2008 by Travis Rosbach and Cindy Morse , Hydro Flask’s sales skyrocketed around 2016, the same year it was sold to global consumer goods company Helen of Troy. █ Reporter: 541-383-0325, gandrews@bendbulletin.com T riniTy E piscopal c hurch 469 nW W all s T ., B End Rooted ... Open ... Growing ... SUNDAY SERVICES: 8 AM WORSHIP @ TRINITY 10 AM WORSHIP @ ST. HELENS & ONLINE MORE INFO @ TRINITYBEND.ORG MEALS SCHEDULE @ FAMILYKITCHEN.ORG “Let Betsy be Betsy. Let me get out and connect with regular people who are sick and tired of the status quo.” — Betsy Johnson, running for governor of Oregon Submitted photo ination since announcing her candidacy in September. Democrats have been plan- ning a counterattack on John- son since well before Kotek’s primary victory on Tuesday. ‘Let Betsy be Betsy’ Oregonians for Ethics, a po- litical action committee that registered with the Secretary of State’s Office in early Feb- ruary, has raised $195,000 to highlight Johnson’s votes against Democratic initiatives. The largest contributor has been the Democratic Gover- nor’s Conference, with a total of $65,000. Drazan has chafed at sug- gestions that if Johnson makes the ballot, the Republican can- didate could be nothing better than a spoiler for a Johnson victory over Kotek. In April, Drazan told Wil- lamette Week that Johnson’s break with the Democratic Party was an opportunistic move to take advantage of the first election in which a gover- nor or ex-governor wasn’t on the ballot since 2002. “She could have been help- ing recruit and elect moderate Democrats all these years,” Drazan said. Johnson says she won’t re- vise her politics to try to si- phon more votes away from Kotek or Drazan. “Let Betsy be Betsy,” John- son said. “Let me get out and connect with regular people who are sick and tired of the status quo.” Drazan will be the only can- didate who is against abortion rights running for governor. That could cap Johnson’s ap- peal to a large percentage of Republicans. The abortion issue could loom even larger due to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could strike down the land- mark Roe v. Wade ruling. Johnson said her position is “not negotiable.” “I am unapologetically pro- choice,” she said. “I disagree with everything that Tina Kotek stands for except when it comes to a woman’s right to choose.” Johnson said that the much discussed urban-rural di- vide is a problem for Demo- crats, whose center of political power is Portland. Johnson is critical of Port- land Mayor Ted Wheeler and what she sees as local officials allowing sometimes violent demonstrations and sprawl- ing populations of homeless to chase away businesses and visitors. But she sees the popular Re- publican route of campaigning against Portland as misguided. As the state’s largest city and business hub, the city au- tomatically has a huge — at times overwhelming — im- pact on state politics. “You can’t have Oregon without Portland,” Johnson said. “It’s our metropolitan area.” While Democrats dominate in Portland and much of the Willamette Valley, Republi- can political leaders have of- ten been drawn from Eastern, Central and southwestern Or- egon. Drazan, from Canby in Clackamas County, close to Portland, was an exception. Johnson noted she grew up in Central Oregon and has represented districts first in the southern coast around Bandon, then one on the far northwest of the state. Her avi- ation business took her to all corners of Oregon, with fre- quent stops in Portland. Johnson said that makes her a unique candidate — not bound by one spot on the state map for political support. She hopes her campaign appeals to voters in between the polit- ical norms in Salem — which she sees as political extremes. “Rural or anyone who feels disrespected and ignored,” Johnson said. “My loyalty will only be to the people of Ore- gon.” █ gwarner@eomediagroup.com
