A familiar national voice joins Oregon’s governor rematch as voters prepare their ballots.
Barack Obama has a message for Oregon voters, and it comes with a recommendation for the governor’s office. In a campaign video released October 20, the former president endorsed Gov. Tina Kotek for a second term, giving her a familiar national voice as ballots go out across the state. For once, the person asking Oregonians to vote won’t be one of the names they’re choosing between.
The endorsement released by Kotek’s campaign arrives two weeks before the November 3 election. Kotek is facing Republican Christine Drazan in a rematch of their 2022 contest, with Pacific Green Party candidate Brett Smith also on the ballot. Obama’s pitch is aimed squarely at getting voters to return theirs.
A presidential pitch with a ballot box finish
Obama’s message runs about 48 seconds, the Statesman Journal reported. He opens by framing health care, reproductive rights and voting by mail as issues at stake in the election, then presents Kotek as someone who will fight for working families. “I know Tina,” he says, before crediting her work on wages, abortion access, food assistance and Medicaid.
Those are the former president’s arguments for supporting the Democratic governor. The video offers a compact endorsement rather than a detailed explanation of individual laws, funding decisions or the candidates’ competing proposals. It closes with a particularly Oregon instruction: “Put your ballot in the nearest drop box.” Even a presidential endorsement eventually comes down to an envelope and a signature.
Kotek welcomed the support in a statement accompanying the video, thanking Obama and pointing to his work on health care, climate policy and human rights. Her campaign also noted that he backed her first run for governor in 2022.
The names are familiar and the decision is still Oregon’s
The rematch gives the endorsement a different setting from four years ago. Kotek first won the office in 2022; this time, voters can weigh her time as governor alongside what Drazan and Smith are proposing. An endorsement adds another opinion to that decision, but it doesn’t establish how many voters will be persuaded or what the final result will be.
In its coverage of Obama’s announcement, the Statesman Journal described affordability as a priority shared by all three candidates, with different approaches to addressing it. Kotek has emphasized her record and opposition to the Trump administration. Drazan has argued that Oregon needs a change in leadership and has criticized Kotek’s handling of the state. Those competing cases will still be there after the endorsement video ends.
The national attention also comes during an expensive campaign. Our look at Kotek and Drazan’s campaign fundraising explains the more than $33 million in cash contributions recorded for their campaigns through October 20, along with what that total includes. Between the money and the endorsements, Oregon’s governor race has plenty of people trying to get voters’ attention. The ballot, mercifully, doesn’t require a review of every campaign ad.
The dates that matter for your ballot
For voters of every political persuasion, the deadline is the same. The Oregon Secretary of State’s election guidance lists Tuesday, November 3, 2026, as Election Day, with ballots due at official drop boxes or county elections offices by 8 p.m. Ballot mailing began October 14, and voters can check their ballot’s status through the state’s My Vote service.
The state recommends returning ballots by mail by October 27. Mailed ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by the county elections office within seven days afterward. Voters should sign the return envelope and use the state’s official drop box locator if they plan to deliver it themselves. Obama has made his preference clear; Oregonians get to mark their own.
