Oregon Governor 2026: the ads, and who's paying for them
Tina Kotek (Democrat), Christine Drazan (Republican) and Brett Smith (Green) are the candidates for governor of Oregon in the November 3, 2026 general election. Tina Kotek is the incumbent. Semblen has analyzed 52 ads in this race; 29 used at least one manipulation technique, most often loaded language and appeal to prejudice.
Tina Kotek (DEM, incumbent), Christine Drazan (REP), Brett Smith (GRE).
On the ballot as listed by Ballotpedia. 52 ads analyzed, 29 with at least one technique in the copy.
Newest first. The paid-for-by line is the advertiser's own filing. Updated 2026-10-08. 1 ad from other advertisers shown separately below.
29 of 51 (57%) flagged · Loaded Language (18), Appeal to Prejudice (16), Glittering Generalities (12)
YouTube
0 of 1 flagged
Reported Meta spend
$421,600–529,396 on all ads, $238,400–295,049 on flagged ads · Meta reports ranges; these are the sums of their ends
Example
“mobilized troops against our community” — Loaded Language, paid for by FRIENDS OF TINA KOTEK, PAC ID 4792
· the flagged ad with the highest reported spend that shows the most common technique
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Leaving out the softer ones (loaded language, glittering generalities, slogans, exaggeration, repetition): 50% of ads.
The words doing the work
The words that show up most in phrases our model flagged as loaded language or name calling in this race's ads, by number of ads.
abortionin 3 ads· e.g. “celebrate abortion by establishing Abortion Providers Appreciation Day”, “celebrate abortion”
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Money in this race
Candidates for governor report their fundraising to Oregon's state campaign-finance office, not the FEC. This page doesn't cover those reports yet, so it shows no money figures.
The ads
52 ads, newest first. Video transcripts are shown as the model read them, without caption cues like [music].
Showing the 1 ad paid for by The Kodel Group LLC. Show all 52 ads
Paid for by The Kodel Group LLCfrom 2026-09-11 to 2026-09-202 variantsspend $0–1981,100–2,998 impressions
Dean Christian ★ I started out as an Independent. Voted for the person/policies. John Anderson (I-IL) for President (1980). I liked his ideology. (Prior to that, he served in Congress as a Redcoat.)
★ I changed party affiliation to Redcoats myself, in 80s working as the Chief of Administration, USAF HONOR GUARD (with White House Duties) during the Reagan Administration.
★ "What you’re not changing, you're choosing."
★ Prior to that, I worked 3 years at the Pentagon with the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS)
★ Prior to that, I worked directly for the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific (CINCPAC) at a marine camp (H.M.Smith, Hawaii). I was in the USAF. I thought they would beat me up on the regular. 😄 😁 🤣 😂
It was a fantastic joint service tour of duty with the Army, Navy & Marines.
Note: We (USAF) 8-man flag football team won the Camp Championships. Love those bragging rights. 😉
★ To get on the Oregon ballot, I changed my designation to Bluecoats. My ideologies didn't change. Just played the game. Now, registered as an Independent.
★ I'm in agreement with you. Policies matter most. I even had a letter printed in the paper ushering Biden into retirement.
★ I run as an underfunded Dark Horse candidate. #Unbridled #Unbroken #Unbroken ~ I don't have to win to effect change.
★ I wrote to Governor Tina Kotek in February '25 with my solution for the #Homelessness crisis. She flat ignored me. As did her point person Pam Marsh (D-Ashland) so I wrote again. Ignored, again. That's when I decided to run against her.
★ Her mindset on homelessness is flawed. She earmarked yet another $2B+ to kick the can down the proverbial road. (That's our hard-working Middle-Class MAJORITY salaries, wages, savings.)
★ Her exact flawed mindset is #ASSIMILATION & I invite you to read my 90-day solution to END HOMELESDNESS at KodelEmpire.com ~
★ I WILL RECLAIM OUR PARKS, NEIGHBORHOODS, AND OUR DOWNTOWNS OF OUR HOMETOWNS (!!)
★ I also want to end #Property taxes for ALL OREGONIANS starting with Seniors 55+ based on a fascinating paradigm shift that favors taxpayers.
★ Putting real money in the wallets & purses of my fellow Oregonians. ($400+ monthly disposable income.) A Middle-Class MAJORITY WIN!
★ I have also created a new fundings source for our communities. (SEE #RESERVOIRS ~ DYNAMIC SOLUTION WITHOUT RAISING TAXES.) Improving the Quality of Life for every Oregonian & programs from our costal waterways, shores, lighthouses to streams, creeks, veterans, teachers, libraries, first responders ...
▪︎▪︎ My White House Fellowship policy paper in the 80s is behind it.
★ I'm trying to win 🏆 the governorship to set this state right. BETTER STEWARDSHIP ★ KODELEMPIRE.COM
Like-minds Win the Day!
Like-minds Win Elections!
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
#SHARE IF YOU BELIEVE:
WHAT WE'RE NOT CHANGING,
WE'RE CHOOSING."
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
#Independent
#UnaffilIiates
#Redcoats
#Bluecoats
#Disenfranchised
#Disgruntled
#Disenchanted
#Dismissed voters ...
Loaded Language: The phrase 'kick the can down the proverbial road' is an emotionally charged idiom implying deliberate avoidance and irresponsibility rather than neutral policy description — for example: 'kick the can down the proverbial road'
Appeal to Prejudice: The phrase 'our hard-working Middle-Class MAJORITY' invokes in-group identity to frame the spending as a theft from virtuous, deserving 'real' people, exploiting class and identity solidarity — for example: 'our hard-working Middle-Class MAJORITY'
Bandwagon Appeal: The phrase implies that a unified group of like-minded people are winning, pressuring the reader to align with the group — for example: Like-minds Win the Day! and Like-minds Win Elections!.
Repetition: The phrase 'Like-minds Win' is repeated across both sentences to reinforce the message through familiarity — for example: Like-minds Win the Day! and Like-minds Win Elections!.
Loaded Language
Appeal to Prejudice
Bandwagon Appeal
Repetition
Looks up the ad's factual claims in fact-checkers, primary sources and wire reporting. Takes up to a minute.
An email when new ads come in from either side or the outside groups: the techniques, the words doing the work, and who paid. And each debate's analysis the morning after. One-click unsubscribe.
Paid posts that ran in OR and name a candidate, from advertisers that aren't part of this race: news-style pages, campaigns for other offices, and others. They're shown here for completeness and not counted with the ads above. We show the same technique analysis; their claims are not checked.
Yunker For State Rep: campaign for another office
Paid for by Yunker For State Repfrom 2026-09-23 to 2026-09-25spend $0–991,000–1,999 impressions
Who is Susan Fischer-Maki?
Susan Fischer-Maki has spent decades advancing progressive causes in Oregon politics.
She has aligned herself with groups that have a seat at the table with Governor Tina Kotek.
She supports the state’s decision to allow biological males to compete in girls’ sports.
See below where she stands on other progressive issues affecting Oregonians, along with Democrats’ record on so many issues that are holding Oregon back.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that most of her life hasn’t been political.
Josephine County voters deserve to know the truth about where she stands on the issues.
An ad is on this page because its own "Paid for by" line is a campaign in this race; or it ran mostly in OR and names a nominee for governor — unless its sponsor is a campaign for some other office (a U.S. Senate or House campaign included), or it also names OR's Senate nominees, in which case it is on the Senate race's page. Ads from outside groups appear alongside the campaigns' own.
The candidates are the ones certified for the November ballot, from the source linked at the top. Governors are state offices, so there are no FEC filings behind this page: no money figures, and outside groups are placed on a side only when they are a campaign or a party committee.
Campaigns run one text as many separate ads. Identical text from the same sponsor is one card here, marked with its number of variants.
A technique is a specific manipulative move in the wording, found by our model and explained in one line. It is not a claim that the ad is false.
Claims are checked when a reader asks: press "Check this ad's claims" on a card. The check runs once and its result is shown to everyone afterwards. The ten ads with the most money behind them in each race are checked ahead of time.
Claim verdicts say what the cited sources say. A verdict that an ad is wrong or misleading is shown only when it cites an established fact-checker or an institutional record — Congress, a federal agency, a court — and its confidence is not low; a weaker one is not shown at all. Each verdict shows what it rests on and how confident it is. If we got one wrong, press Disagree: a verdict that readers dispute and no one defends comes down.
Video ads come from the campaigns' own YouTube channels; the transcript is analyzed. Meta ads are analyzed on their text; their video and images are not, yet.
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