Democratic Oregon gubernatorial candidate Tina Kotek held off Republican Christine Drazan in a surprisingly close race in a deep blue state.
The race gained national attention in recent months with polling consistently showing Drazan and Kotek neck-and-neck as they battled over gender and sexuality topics being taught in schools, campaign financing, crime and Oregon’s economy.
The Fox News Power Rankings listed the race as a toss-up.
The results were heavily influence by independent candidate and former Democrat Betsy Johnson, who grabbed more than 8% of the vote and appeared to take a sizable chunk of support from Kotek.
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Drazan received support from a number of prominent Republicans across the country, including Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who pulled off a surprising victory in his trending-blue state last year, and took a trip to Oregon to campaign on behalf of Drazan.
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Nike co-founder Phil Knight also waded into the race, donating $1 million to Drazan’s campaign in October after initially supporting Johnson by donating millions to her campaign.