A recent $3 million donation to back GOP candidates is the largest single contribution by an individual in state history.
Phil Knight, billionaire co-founder of Nike, sits at an event at the Nike campus in Beaverton in 2023. Knight is a prolific donor to Republican candidates in Oregon.
Jonathan Levinson / OPB
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Oregon’s richest man is once again setting political giving records with his checkbook.
Nike co-founder Phil Knight last month sent $3 million to a political committee focused on electing more Republicans to the state Legislature. That committee, Bring Balance to Salem, has been increasingly important to the GOP’s aim of winning back influence in the state over the last two election cycles.
The check marks the largest single donation ever by an individual political donor in Oregon. And it brings Knight’s total giving to Bring Balance to Salem up to $9 million over the last three years.
With the donation, first reported by the Oregon Journalism Project, Knight is signaling once again that he is fed up with Democratic dominance in Oregon. While the billionaire used to donate to members of both parties — including sending $250,000 to Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber’s 2014 reelection bid — his largesse has been squarely focused on the GOP in recent years.
In 2022, Knight spent more than $5 million supporting the two chief candidates running against Democrat Tina Kotek in the governor’s race. In a rare interview that year, Knight told the New York Times he is “an anti-Tina person,” and spoke of being opposed to drug decriminalization and other policies Oregon had enacted.
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Knight’s money didn’t dictate the outcome of the election. Kotek defeated both Republican Christine Drazan and nonaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson that year. Drazan is once again seeking the state’s highest elected office.
Four years before, in 2018, $2.5 million that Knight spent supporting GOP gubernatorial candidate Knute Buehler wasn’t enough to lift him over Democrat Kate Brown either.
Knight has had slightly more success with Bring Balance to Salem, the PAC dedicated to increasing GOP influence in the statehouse. The committee was spearheaded in 2021 by Greg Walden, a former Republican congressman from Hood River who helped run GOP races nationally while in office.
Aided by $2 million from Knight during the 2022 election, Republicans clawed back some seats in the state House and Senate, eliminating Democratic supermajorities. While progress, the result was not as robust as Republican strategists had believed was possible.
The 2024 election was worse for the party. Despite a war chest for Walden’s PAC that included $4 million from Knight, the GOP lost one seat in both the House and Senate, once again falling to superminority status in both chambers.
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Mid-term elections are often unkind to the party that holds power in Washington, D.C., and many prognosticators believe Republicans will face headwinds next year. Knight’s latest check signals he is ready to spend big to counteract that difficulty locally.
History suggests Knight will also intervene in next year’s governor’s race, in which Kotek is widely expected to seek reelection. Despite criticisms on both sides of the aisle, most political observers expect her to prevail.
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — The 100 Oregon National Guard troops who were federalized under Title 10, have begun demobilization activities, according to Governor Kotek’s office and U.S. Northern Command.
CONTINUING COVERAGE | Oregon National Guard troops deployed under Title 10 orders
“All Title 10 troops in Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago are conducting demobilizing activities. They will return to their home units once their demobilization is complete,” U.S. Northern Command stated on their website.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek released a statement reading in part, “The citizen-soldiers of the Oregon National Guard are our neighbors, friends, and family. These courageous Oregonians deserve certainty and respect. While I am relieved that all our troops will finally return home, it does not make up for the personal sacrifices of more than 100 days, including holidays, spent in limbo.”
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The troops will travel to Fort Bliss, Texas to finish their demobilization before returning home to Oregon.
Oregon troops spent a majority of their time training at Camp Rilea on the Oregon Coast.
Read Governor Kotek’s full statement below:
“The citizen-soldiers of the Oregon National Guard are our neighbors, friends, and family. These courageous Oregonians deserve certainty and respect. While I am relieved that all our troops will finally return home, it does not make up for the personal sacrifices of more than 100 days, including holidays, spent in limbo.
“During this crisis, Oregonians stood united against the unwanted, unneeded, unconstitutional military intervention in our state, with thousands peacefully voicing their opposition to the Trump Administration’s abuse of power.
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“President Trump’s disregard for the facts on the ground revealed that he is more focused on provoking a fight in cities and states that don’t share his politics than serving the American people. I remain committed to defending our values and the rule of law.”
The court injunction that prevents guard deployment in Oregon remains in effect and on appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
(UPDATE: added videos and quotes from Todd Mcgee, Owner of Powderhouse)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — With snow already piling onto the mountains, more people are flocking to Central Oregon. With businesses seeing more people now than ever before this season.
Todd Mcgee, owner of Powderhouse told KTVZ News, “It’s a lot more in the fact if you think about it, was Christmas break where we should be slammed? we’re as busy or even busier then on a Monday than we were on christmas, you know, weekend. so it’s a huge, significant amount.”
Ski and snowboard rentals tell you much about how busy of a time it is.
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The busier the rental shops, the busier the mountains are.
“A ton more season leases. and the nice thing about our rentals, when they’re coming back, they’re looking in good shape,” Mcgee told KTVZ News. “We’re not having to stay late and tune them and P-TEX them and get them all back looking nice.”
Powderhouse still has its day and a half turnaround to have equipment ready to go.
Iif you’re still looking to rent equipment, now’s the time to do it.
Gary Danielson just retired from calling college football games for decades, including this season’s Indiana at Oregon matchup on Oct. 11.
The Hoosiers (14-0) handed the then-No. 3 Ducks their only loss, 30-20, on the way to the nation’s No. 1 ranking heading into their Peach Bowl game Friday.
Danielson, who played quarterback at Purdue from 1970-72 before an 11-year NFL career, believes Oregon will be more focused for this game.
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The Ducks came into the matchup off an idle week after a double-overtime win over then-No. 3 Penn State at State College, Pennsylvania. Danielson sensed they were still basking in the glow of that win.
“I think Oregon will be very focused for this football game,” he said Monday on the “Dan Patrick Show.” “When Indiana beat them in Oregon, which is a tough place to play, Oregon was coming off their celebration for beating Penn State. Honestly, when we did our interviews, I was struck that they couldn’t get off the Penn State story. … They seemed to not take IU seriously. They’ll take them seriously for this game.”
Though IU made the College Football Playoff last season, some believed the Hoosiers were a one-year wonder, Danielson said.
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“They were considered a fraud from their 2024 finish,” he said. “They weren’t frauds, but they weren’t ready for the big-time stage yet. I thought they were focused this year,” especially on defense.
The Hoosiers lost at Notre Dame in the first-round of last season’s CFP.
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