Red Wave Rising: GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Surges Into Lead in State That Hasn’t Had a Republican Governor in 35 Years

A new poll shows that 🌲Oregon voters could make political history next month in the race for governor.

The Emerson College poll released Tuesday found Republican Christine Drazan leading Democrat Tina Kotek 36 percent to 34 percent, with independent candidate Betsy Johnson at 19 percent.

The website FiveThirtyEight noted that the poll is part of a pattern.

Drazan, a former minority leader of the 🌲Oregon House of Representatives, has come out on top in seven 📊Polls since August. Her margins over Kotek, who is speaker of the state House, have varied between 1 percentage point and 8 percentage points.

Last month, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report moved the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Kate Brown