This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project , a nonprofit newsroom covering the state.

Christine Drazan signaled Monday morning that she hopes to run a different kind of campaign for governor in 2026 than she ran in 2022.

In that contest, Democrat Tina Kotek won 47% of the vote, Drazan took 43.5%, and former state Sen. Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose), who ran unaffiliated with any party, got 8.6%.

This time, Drazan, the former Republican House minority leader from Canby who was sworn in to a vacant state Senate seat on Oct. 26, entered the race nearly a month earlier than she did in 2022. Then, what would become an unusually crowded field already included at least four candidates. (So far the only other announced GOP candidate is Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethe

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