By Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle

PORTLAND, Ore. — Following her reelection Tuesday, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek’s priorities for the next four years include installing a universal statewide preschool program, passing new regulations on data centers and increasing the amount of time Oregon students spend in school.

Kotek shared her goals at a Friday news conference in Portland following her victory this week over state Sen. Christine Drazan, a Republican from Canby. Drazan late Friday afternoon officially conceded the race and said in a news release she wished Kotek well.

“I sincerely hope she recognizes that the challenges facing our state demand a different approach than what we’ve seen over the last four years,” she said in a statement.

Going into the election, Kotek was polling as one of the least popular governors in the nation, but her campaign benefitted from nationwide dissatisfaction with Republican President Donald Trump and Republicans in Washington, D.C.

Kotek said she’d be engaging with people from across the state differently in her second term to reach voters who were on the fence about her, and she indicated she’d use social media more to communicate her decisions and to have conversations. Kotek during her campaign availed herself to supportive online influencers, inviting them to several events where she eschewed invites to news outlets.

She visited every county during her first year in office, though carefully choreographed tour stops meant she met primarily with select elected leaders, nonprofit service agencies and business owners.

On Friday, Kotek said she’d also be doing more to assert her power over the Oregon Legislature when the six-month 2027 session begins at the end of January. After presiding over the House for nine years as speaker, she spent her first term as governor largely deferring to lawmakers instead of participating in negotiations, most notably on a large-scale transportation funding package lawmakers failed to pass in 2025.

“I am not going to stand back and wait for the Legislature to figure it out. I need to see progress in the first month, the second month, the third month,” she said. “People voted Democrats in because they want stuff to happen, and I need the Legislature to do that. I’m going to be in the building. I’m going to be on top of them every day, saying we got to get stuff done.”

Her legislative advocacy for the next session will start with her Dec. 1 recommended budget, which she said will include no additional funding for the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Debates over funding for the beleaguered agency with a nine-figure budget deficit consumed the bulk of the last two legislative sessions and culminated in voters resoundingly rejecting a 6-cent gas tax increase and other proposed fee increases in May.

“That’s trade-offs, because that means taking money away from highway projects and other things to pay for basic ops and maintenance. But that’s what you’ll see in my budget,” she said. “If legislators want to do something different, we’re going to have to come to the table and talk about it.”