October 26, 2022
Oregon voters will elect a new governor on Nov. 8. Over the last several weeks, Monique Claiborne, president & CEO of Greater Portland Inc, the regional economic development organization, sat down with each of the three candidates in a series of interviews.
The conversations cover key economic issues, including business recruitment and retention, restoring livability in Portland, top economic priorities, taxes and incentives, agency alignment and land-use policy.
In our last video of the series, Greater Portland Inc President & CEO Monique Claiborne sits down with Ryan Kuenzi and Rob O’Neill of professional services firm Moss Adams to discuss the candidates' answers to key economic questions. This video is a recap of our interviews with the three Oregon gubernatorial candidates, Christine Drazan, Betsy Johnson and Tina Kotek.
Watch the full conversation here.
Interview highlights:
- On homelessness, crime and trash:
Ryan: “I was encouraged to hear all three of these candidates speak to these issues. … It’s refreshing to see the desire on the part of all three candidates to really take action and get it right.”
- On business retention and recruitment:
Rob: “I appreciated how direct and honest [Johnson] was about the importance of the governor’s role and relationship with business and specifically corporations, which sometimes is a bad word in Oregon.”
Ryan: “I like that Drazan wanted to play a more active role and go on offense with business recruitment, rather than playing defense, as we’ve seen as of late with Intel specifically.”
Monique: “I thought [Kotek] actually shined here. The examples she gave were based on her experience. To me it shows that she’s an experienced candidate in this area. She traveled, I believe to China, to recruit businesses.”
- On taxes and incentives:
Ryan: “It was clear from our perspective that [Drazan] read and supported the [semiconductor task force report recommendations]. … To me, she didn’t come off quite as strong on her ability to develop the relationships necessary to pass major tax legislation, but it was clear that it was a strong priority of hers.”
Rob: “[Kotek] believes that she does have the political capital to pass significant legislation, and I’ll likely agree she does. … What she wasn’t clear to me on is whether she believes economic incentives are needed to attract and retain business in Oregon.”
Rob: “Johnson came off really confident that she has the political capital to move significant tax legislation. It was also clear that she read the semiconductor task force report and supports its recommendations.”
Watch the candidate interviews:
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