Former Oregon Secretary of State: “Drazan has proven that she does not have what it takes to protect us from these very real, extremist threats”
[Portland, OR] – Today the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack voted to subpoena former President Donald Trump, issuing what the Associated Press called a “stark warning” in its final public hearing: The future of the nation’s democracy is at stake.
The threats to democracy are real – and they are here in Oregon. Republican nominee for governor Christine Drazan continues to welcome support from election deniers, MAGA Republicans, and violent extremists.
This week, former Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury passionately weighed in on how Christine Drazan’s ties to extremists are dangerous and disqualifying at this juncture in history.
WATCH his remarks here. Full transcript below.
“This is not a drill. The threats to our democracy are real and Oregonians need to stand up to extremism and vote for leaders like Tina Kotek who will protect our democracy,” said Katie Wertheimer, communications director. “MAGA Republicans are going to keep pushing leaders in their party to join the Pro-Trump cover-up, and Christine Drazan cannot be trusted to stand up for Oregonians.”
Transcript of Secretary Bradbury’s remarks:
As a former Secretary of State, I feel a responsibility to speak up about what I see as present threats to our democracy – including here in Oregon.
Donald Trump’s lies about the results of the 2020 election have had a truly dangerous effect. About two-thirds of Republican voters believe Trump’s false claims that Joe Biden did not win the 2020 election legitimately.
Among Republican candidates running for statewide office this year, 47 percent have refused to accept the 2020 result – including the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate here in Oregon.
But I want to focus today on a specific subset of politicians who are active threats to our Democracy. Just briefly, here’s how they are described in a recent New York Times analysis:
“A political scientist coined the term ‘semi-loyal actors’, to describe political officials who typically do not initiate attacks on Democratic rules or institutions, but who also do not attempt to stop these attacks. Through their complicity, these semi-loyal actors can cause a party, and a country, to slide towards authoritarianism. Often, even Republicans who cast themselves as different from Mr. Trump include winking references to his conspiracy theories in their campaigns, saying that they too believe “election integrity” is a major problem.”
Now, that brings me to our Republican Gubernatorial candidate in Oregon, Christine Drazan.
The Willamette Week recently reported that after the Republican primary, Drazan erased from her website mentions of her pro-life position, supporting the second amendment and securing our elections.
Drazan recently accepted $70,000 from David Gore … as the Huffington Post recently reported, the Oregon liberatarian has been a major funder of the far-right Tea Party Patriots, which helped organize the January 6, 2021 rally in support of former President Trump Donald Trump that led to the deadly insurrection at our nation’s capitol.
This is no longer a Democrat or a Republican issue. This is about our democracy … Christine Drazan has proven that she does not have what it takes to protect us from these very real, extremist threats.