Tina Kotek Wins Oregon Re-election, CBS News Projects

In a state that hasn’t elected a Republican governor since 1982, CBS News projected that Gov. Tina Kotek won a second term in a closer-than-expected race. NBC News also projected the Democratic incumbent’s victory over Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan, making the 2026 contest a rematch of the 2022 race that Kotek won by roughly 4 points.

The result lands in a reliably blue state where President Donald Trump lost by more than 14 points in 2024, yet it exposed just how vulnerable Kotek had become. A DHM Research poll in September found 58% of Oregonians disapproved of her job performance, and 59% believed the state was headed in the wrong direction.

Democrat Tina Kotek has won reelection for governor of Oregon, CBS News projects. https://t.co/T5iaja9HmX pic.twitter.com/kzXiZpUxPc

— https://x.com/CBSNews/status/2117841835540521379

A Rematch Four Years in the Making

In 2022, Kotek narrowly defeated Drazan to win her first term, becoming one of the first openly lesbian governors in the country alongside Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey. Prior to that, she had made history in 2013 as the first openly lesbian speaker of a state House in the United States.

What changed between 2022 and 2026 was the political weight Kotek carried into Election Day. The race became one of the biggest nail-biters for a Democratic incumbent in the country.

The Approval Gap and What Drove It

Voters’ frustrations centered on concrete, daily pressures: affordability, rising homelessness, and the cost of living. Drazan hammered Kotek throughout the campaign, arguing at an October debate that Kotek “solves every single challenge that she sees, every single problem in the state of Oregon, with a new tax,” according to NBC News. The Republican also criticized the governor’s policies on taxes and data centers, noting that Oregon ranks among the top 10 states for planned data centers according to a Pew Research Center study earlier this year.

Kotek responded by attempting to nationalize the race, repeatedly tying Drazan to President Trump in a state where the president remains deeply unpopular. During their first debate, she warned that voting for Drazan “would be a risk that I don’t think we should take as a state,” citing Drazan’s positions on abortion, the Oregon Health Plan, vote-by-mail, and the National Guard. Drazan tried to distance herself from Trump and keep the focus on state-level economic issues.

WATCH: Election 2026: The Oregon Governor's Debate between Gov. Tina Kotek & Sen. Christine Drazan

Govmoratorium Sparks Economic Blame Amid Shooting

One specific policy fight highlighted the state’s economic tensions. In September, Kotek announced she would back a statewide moratorium on new data centers. The move came as Oregon was among the top 10 states with the most planned data centers, but it also gave Drazan ammunition to blame the governor for the state’s economic problems.

The campaign also unfolded in the shadow of tragedy. In October, a 16-year-old gunman shot and killed three students and a teacher at a school in Bend before an armed bystander shot and killed him. Both candidates spent time in Bend after the shooting, and Kotek declared an emergency to bring aid to the area.