"After cruising through the Democratic primary for governor this week, Gov. Tina Kotek has dropped a new campaign ad seeking to paint her Republican opponent, Sen. Christine Drazan, as a loyalist to President Donald Trump."
Hi! I’m Carlos Fuentes, lead state politics and government reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive, and I’m here to answer your questions about Oregon politics, this year’s governor’s race, transportation policy and whatever else is happening at the state capitol.
I’m a lifelong Oregonian, originally from the Rogue Valley, and I’ve lived in Portland for the last eight years.
I started working at The Oregonian in 2023 and have extensively covered Gov. Tina Kotek, the Legislature, campaigns and state transportation policy. I spend much of my work days looking through public records and chatting with legislators, lobbyists, advocates, strategists and other Oregonians across the political spectrum. Recently, my reporting has mostly focused on the Republican primary race for Oregon governor.
Here are a few stories I’ve published while covering this year’s primary race:
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2026/05/koteks-popularity-craters-in-portland-poll-shows-what-that-could-mean-for-republican-candidates.html
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2026/04/republican-candidates-for-oregon-governor-made-a-lot-of-claims-in-2nd-debate-not-all-of-them-were-true.html
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2026/04/democrats-fought-hard-for-oregons-road-tax-hikes-why-theyre-now-effectively-silent-as-voters-decide.html
Ask me anything you’d like related to state politics or government. I’m also happy to answer questions about our reporting process, campaign coverage decisions, polling or what it’s actually like covering politics in Salem. The AMA will be live on Monday at noon. Feel free to start asking questions now, and I hope to answer as many of them as I can!
Proof: https://imgur.com/a/8xSt6p9
>Thanks for all your questions! This was a fun way to start my week.