Welcome back. Let's talk politics.
The election is 12 days away,
and so is the day the political ads
will stop playing on your TV screen.
Just saying something to look forward to.
So many races are so tight this year,
and we've looked at the polls for a
glimpse of how candidates are doing.
But tonight,
let's look at something different.
Let's look at the money to see
where the big money is going.
That's often an indicator of where the
pros think the race is really headed.
And right now there are two notable local
races where it appears the big money.
National folks have decided the
risk is not worth the investment up.
First, Marie glues encamp Perez.
She's the Democrat battling Republican
Joe Canton, SW Washington.
The Washington Post reports that
Gusen Camp Perez has not received
any direct money from the Democratic
Congressional Campaign Committee,
also known as the D Triple C
No money to help with ads.
That group only exists to support
Democratic candidates nationwide.
She's also being blanked
by the House Majority PAC.
Which is also supporting House
Democrats around the country.
The lack of that funding for Glezen Camp
Perez seems to show that the national
folks don't believe she can win.
The candidate was at our studio today
for the taping of Straight Talk.
Laurel Porter asked her about that
lack of National Democratic support.
I am proud to be running an independent race,
and I'm proud that my dollars are by
and large coming from Washington state.
I haven't been fundraising in Dallas,
TX or Mar-a-lago or Washington,
DC This race is a grassroots race being
funded by people in Washington state.
And so I'm really proud to continue to be
an independent voice for our district.
And so it's it's frustrating that you know,
the the D triple C is doing their own thing,
But I'm really proud of continuing
to run an independent race.
The other candidate is
Democrat Jamie McLeod Skinner,
battling Republican Lori Chavez Deremer for
Oregon's fifth Congressional District seat.
It looks like national Republicans
are betting on this race,
and national Democrats not so much.
The Oregonian points out that McLeod
Skinner raised and spent twice as much
money over the summer as Chavez Deremer,
but now with the race considered one
of the top ten that are most likely to
decide which party controls the US house.
Yes, in that race,
National Democratic spending on McLeod.
Skinner is far behind Republicans
spending on Chavez Deremer.
The paper reports the
Congressional Leadership Fund,
which is the Republican Party's Super PAC,
has spent $5.3 million
to help Chavez Deremer.
In contrast,
the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee has spent $1.85 million
to help McLeod Skinner and the House
Majority PAC has spent nothing.
Now nearly $2,000,000 is not a small amount,
but those numbers do seem to show that
national Republicans believe their money.
Is being well spent in the campaign,
and perhaps national Democrats do not.
And while the national Democrats
are keeping their wallets mostly
closed in those two races,
the bank account seems to be wide open
for gubernatorial candidate Tina Kotek.
The same goes for Republicans and their
candidate in our race here, Christine Drazen.
Let's take a look at the money in
the Oregon governor's race now.
And we've been talking about
Democrats for the last few minutes,
so let's start by checking in on the
Republican drazens campaign bank account.
She has over $1.6 million available
to spend just two days ago,
by the way, the Republican governors.
Association.
That's the fundraising arm of the GOP.
They dumped in another half,
$1,000,000.
That brings their total contributions
to Drazens campaign to just
over 5.8 million bucks.
And there's another big
contribution worth mentioning.
Nike co-founder Phil Knight donated another
half, $1,000,000 to Drazen on Tuesday.
He's now given her $1.5 million and
it's all been within the month of October.
And don't expect the
Draisen adds to slow down.
By the way,
on Monday her campaign spent nearly one.
Point $3 million with an ad agency.
Now checking in on Democrat Tina Kotek,
her bank account holds
more than $2.2 million.
On Tuesday,
the Democratic Governors Association.
That's the Democratic fundraising arm.
They pitched in another half,
$1,000,000,
bringing their total donations
to over $6.3 million.
That is some serious spending in
their quest to keep Oregon blue.
Cotek also received several donations between
50 and $100,000 in the past week or so.
Most come from political
action committees and Kotek.
Ads are also going to keep running.
Get this in the last week since September,
since October 20th,
Cotex campaign has spent
approximately $2.6 million on
political strategy and ad campaigns.
Now let's check in on non
affiliated candidate Betsy Johnson.
She has $1.2 million on hand.
By the way,
her campaign finance numbers are
being filed later than her opponents.
So we only have data from
October 19th and before.
Now they're not doing anything wrong,
they're following the rules.
I just want you to know that our
numbers could be a bit outdated.
There really aren't any notable
contributions recently in her file.
Most of the money is coming in
from individuals and businesses,
with most under $1000.
She's not spending a whole lot on ads either,
compared to her opponents back on the 17th,
she did spend about $400,000 on
political strategy and marketing firms.
But I got to say,
her record sort of feels to me
like a candidate that's behind in
the polls with time running out.
Don't get me wrong,
she has financial support.
But not in the same way as Kotek and Drasin.
But she has been adamant on the campaign
trail that she is not dropping out and
she's in this thing until the very end.
And who knows?
The polls have been wrong before.
We'll see how it all shakes
out in just under 2 weeks.
Well,
that's what we know about
the money in these races.
What are your thoughts about it?
The governor's race is the most expensive
in Oregon State history and most of
you are telling us you're sick and
tired of the ads that are running.
All right, so let's put this on you.
What's a better way that the
candidates could be spending the money?
To win your vote,
let us know.
Send us an e-mail right now to
the story at kgw.com,
or leave us a voicemail.
Call our phone number,
503-226-5090.