Tobias Read is a Democrat from Beaverton who served as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives for a decade. In 2016, Read was elected to Oregon State Treasurer. Read was re-elected to that position last year. But now, Read has his sights set on a higher office.
Read recently announced that he will run for governor in next year’s election.
Read believes that he has the leadership skills that Oregon needs in a governor, and that he is the most qualified candidate to succeed Kate Brown. Governor Brown can’t run again because of term limits.
“I believe it’s going to take steady leadership to help us move beyond this pandemic,” Read said in a Facebook post announcing his candidacy. “My approach is simple: I’ll measure Oregon’s progress by how well our kids are doing.”
Tobias Read joins an expected field of 5 other candidates so far, two of whom are also Democrats.
Democrat and House Speaker Tina Kotek, from Portland, announced her candidacy earlier this month. Nicholas Kristoff, a Democrat and Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist from Yamhill also threw his name in the hat.
It’s been about 25 years since a Republican has been Governor in Oregon. The last Republican Governor was Vic Atiyeh, whose term ended in 1987.
Bud Pierce, the Republican who lost against Kate Brown in 2016 is expected to announce his candidacy. Other Republicans expected to join the race include Mayors Stan Pulliam of Sandy, and Kerry McQuisten of Baker City.
Photo: Tobias Read (Facebook)
