By Shaanth Nanguneri, Oregon Capital Chronicle

SALEM, Ore. -- Like many labor unions, trade associations and business groups, the Oregon-based chapter of the Associated General Contractors threw their support behind their candidate of choice for Oregon governor in the form of a six-figure check. 

The association’s political action committee has become one of the most generous donors this campaign season to Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan, R-Canby, who is once again challenging incumbent Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek in the Nov. 3 midterm election.

The $700,000 check the contractors’ group cut to Drazan’s campaign in late August is the single largest donation they have made to a political candidate since their first political donations were recorded in 2006, according to data from the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office. It’s also the last time they’ll be able to do it under a new campaign finance law that goes into effect next year.

That “created a sense of urgency that happened to align with a candidate that we really, really love,” said Josh Tompkins, chief executive officer of the contractors’ association Oregon-Columbia chapter.

Oregon was for a long time one of the last few states without any limits on political campaign contributions.

But in 2024, the state Legislature passed a law backed by campaign finance reform advocates that sets a $3,300 limit on the amount of money individuals can give per candidate per election cycle. Membership organizations, such as trade groups, nonprofits and labor unions, will be able to give up to $26,400 per two-year election cycle to statewide candidates and less to legislative candidates.

The regulations followed a 2022 gubernatorial race between Kotek, Drazan and a nonaffiliated third candidate, Betsy Johnson, which became the most expensive in Oregon history. More than $70 million in donations poured into the candidates’ campaigns, including massive contributions from Nike cofounder and Republican megadonor Phil Knight, who sent nearly $4 million to Johnson and $1.5 million to Drazan.

This time around, Kotek and Drazan have collectively raised more than $40 million in donations. Kotek has enjoyed significant support from unions representing public employees, and has taken in about $1.7 million more than Drazan as of Monday.

Officials with the Service Employees International Union 503 political committee, among Kotek’s largest donors who have provided about $1.5 million to her campaign, have said her support for contracts with high wages, accessible health insurance and the “power of workers” makes her the right candidate for the job.

Kotek has long asserted that she is not beholden to unions, but critics have assailed her support for policies such as a 2024 executive order struck down by a Marion County judge earlier this year that mandated union labor on many state construction projects. The Oregon chapter of the general contractors association was behind that legal challenge.

Federico Araujo, a spokesperson for the Kotek’s campaign, said in an email that the governor’s fundraising advantage is representative of the “broad coalition of support from Oregonians who trust her to continue making progress for Oregon and stand up against Trump’s attacks.”

Drazan’s campaign declined to comment directly on her campaign fundraising. She has received $4 million in contributions over the past month from the Republican Governor’s Association, though the figure is lower than the more than $7 million the national group gave her 2022 campaign. Also absent from her donor list this year is Knight, who gave $1 million to her opponent in the Republican primary, the former Portland Blazer Chris Dudley.

“We fully intend on meeting our budget and defeating Tina Kotek,” Ashley Quinton, a Drazan campaign spokesperson, wrote in an email.

Kotek is also missing some familiar faces from her donation list this time around. The Oregon Education Association, which declined to endorse her earlier this year, had in 2022 sent $389,000 to her campaign.

Drazan draws from industry groups, Kotek gains from public unions

Both candidates have during their campaigns attempted to court favor with businesses, business groups and trade associations.

Drazan leveraged findings from Kotek’s prosperity council this summer that call for lower taxes and fewer regulations on private businesses to frame Kotek as the architect of persistent unemployment and economic growth that’s lagged national averages following the COVID-19 pandemic. State economists in August noted, however, that the latter no longer appears to be the case due to an increase in state revenue from personal income taxes.

Drazan’s pro-business messaging is resonating with some of her top contributors, among whom are Don H. Jones Jr., president of an Ashland-based auto dealership company, the Eugene-based wood manufacturer Murphy Plywood, the Salem-based construction contracting company K & E Excavating and the Republican-aligned Bring Balance to Salem PAC, whose largest contributors include Knight and Sierra Pacific Industries, among the largest timber companies in the country.

The Portland-based timber company Hampton Lumber has also donated more than $170,000 to Drazan’s campaign. Kristin Rasmussen, a spokesperson for the company, told the Capital Chronicle in an email that decisions made in Salem “have a direct impact on our employees, our business and the communities where we operate,” and that Drazan “will take effective action to restore a healthy business climate, promote responsible natural resource management, and strengthen the long-term competitiveness of Oregon manufacturers.”

Along with labor unions, Kotek’s other major donors include the Democratic Governors Association, a political action committee representing Oregon’s nurses, and the Democratic Governors Victory Fund, an Indianapolis-based committee supporting the party’s candidates.

Pati Urias, a spokesperson for SEIU 503, said that the union’s massive political funding comes from small contributions from members who include janitors, home care workers, hospital and clinic workers, security officers, nursing home workers, laundry workers and public employees across Oregon.

“When working people pool their resources like this, it’s not influence-buying, it’s solidarity,” she said in an email.