EXCLUSIVE— Republican Oregon gubernatorial hopeful Christine Drazan has a plan to take her state in a "new direction," and away from the "extreme" policies she says have led to high crime rates, failing schools and a major homelessness crisis.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Drazan, outlined her "Roadmap for Oregon's Future," a plan she said would appeal to Oregonians across all political spectrums, and would lead the state, a progressive-haven long run by Democrats, to new heights with real, "tangible" change.
"You know, this race this year is really about leadership. It's a pretty simple conversation that we're having with Oregonians. Are you better off today than you were ten years ago before Democrats took control of everything?" Drazan, a former minority leader in the Oregon House of Representatives, said when asked why she felt her campaign would win in a state that hasn't elected a Republican governor in decades.
"Things are more expensive here; taxes are higher; our schools are among the worst in the nation. We have among the highest numbers for homelessness and addiction with the lowest level of access to recovery services. And our crime numbers have gone through the roof," she added.
Drazan argued that Oregonians had felt the negative changes taking place across the state, and could see the "direct connection" between them and Democrat Gov. Kate Brown, who has served as governor since 2015 and is term-limited.
She described her opponent, Democrat nominee and former Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives Tina Kotek, as a continuation of the left-wing policies that lead Oregon down its current path, and said that Oregonians didn't believe single-party control had served them very well.
"They want balance, and they want somebody, frankly, that's going to fix the problems that are hurting them," Drazan said. "And it's not about this global agenda. They don't want somebody to be focused entirely on federal issues and global issues and just talk climate with them all the time."
"They want somebody that's going to say, ‘We need better schools and politics out of the classroom. We need lower taxes. We need to be able to afford to fill up our car at the gas pump,’" she added. "Those are the basic kitchen table issues that Oregonians want their next leader to focus on, and I am the only candidate in this race that's focusing on those issues in a way that is a new direction for our state."
As part of her "roadmap," Drazan plans to tackle issues plaguing Oregon, such as homelessness, drug use, mental health challenges, rising crime and lagging school performance. She also plans to lower taxes and take action to reduce the cost of living in the state.
When asked how she would use the roadmap to make headway into a state that historically heavily favors Democrats, Drazan said Oregonians could see the failures of those running the state, but she would show them they were solvable issues.
"The issues that are outlined in the road map are the core issues that Oregonians have seen Democrats fail on for far too long in my home state," she said. "The failures that our state is facing right now are not inevitable, they are failed leadership. And that's the connection."
"This roadmap to Oregon's future is to have this conversation with Oregonians and be really clear, this absolutely is solvable. This spot that we're in right now, where there's homeless on every corner and under every overpass, it doesn't have to be this way, and we can fix this," she said.
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"It's very important for me to really get out there and talk to Oregonians about this, about the change that they want to see, and how we're going to accomplish it in a very tangible way. And that's what the road map allows us to do," she added.
Drazan committed to working with a Democrat-controlled state legislature to reach "reasonable" approaches to issues, but said that she would veto any bill that didn't support law enforcement or that expanded upon abortion protections already codified into state law.
She also vowed to stop the exposure of Oregonians to single-party control of the state, and to restore the focus of education on meeting graduation requirements, rather than turning children into "Democrat change-makers."
She added, however, that working with Democrats would benefit the state and would lead to "more durable solutions" without political extremism.
When it came to former President Donald Trump, who is expected to be a major player in this year's midterms, Drazan predicted he would have little interest in Oregon, and stood firm that national politics didn't play a heavy role in statewide elections.
"We're a long ways from Washington, D.C.," she said. "We're not a regular swing drop-in state for anybody to really come here. And Oregonians right now are really so focused on the challenges that we have that are here at home. That has been and where I will continue to keep my focus in this race."
Drazan didn't shy away from the reality of the daunting challenge ahead of her in winning over enough Oregon voters to become the state's next governor, but vowed to take her message all across the state all the way to election day.
"This is an opportunity for change in Oregon," she said. "I believe we've got a long ways to go. I'm going to have to work really hard between now and Nov. 8, and I'm committed to doing whatever it takes to get this across the finish line and really help support my fellow Oregonians."
