PORTLAND, Ore. — Distinctions emerged between Oregon’s leading gubernatorial candidates in their final debate as the two clashed over public pensions, immigration, the state’s housing crisis and several other hot-button issues.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reported that Rep. Knute Buehler on Tuesday sought to make the case a Republican can lead a distinctly Democratic state, declaring flatly he would approve no new restrictions on reproductive rights as governor. He accused Democratic Gov. Kate Brown of being ineffectual during her long stint in state government, noting that Oregon school districts are cutting teaching positions despite record revenue.
“The most important question facing all of us right now is our underperforming K-12 education system,” Buehler said, arguing that Oregon’s public pension obligations are siphoning money away from school spending. “Those dollars aren’t getting into the classroom,” Buehler said.
For her part, Brown sought to undercut Buehler’s credibility — attacking his positions on the environment, school spending and for courting the vote of abortion opponents before he became the Republican gubernatorial nominee.
“Rep. Buehler tells some voters one thing and other voters another,” Brown said. “Unfortunately, that game won’t work tonight because the whole state is watching.”
Beyond the rhetoric, the candidates took substantive, divergent positions on key topics. The candidates returned repeatedly to the state’s public pension crisis, the state’s biggest fiscal issue. Buehler said he wants to transition state employees to a private-sector style, 401(k) retirement plan and accused the governor of “pandering” to public employee unions by raising pay before instituting broad pension reform.
While Brown said public employees “need to have some skin in the game,” and pay some of their own pension costs, she didn’t answer a direct question of how much they should pay. The governor resisted the notion of wholesale cuts, attacking Buehler directly: “I think it’s easy for a millionaire to say he’s going to cut the retirements of hard-working Oregonians. I’m not willing to do that.”
The candidates were in broad agreement that political discourse must improve, and both faulted President Donald Trump for his words and actions. They also endorsed the scientific consensus around climate change, though Brown backed stricter rules governing carbon emissions while Buehler said he wants more flexibility.
