Platform published 2026-10-31
Governor Kotek says she is fighting to make life more affordable, create economic opportunity, help all students succeed, and defend what makes Oregon special. On affordability, she would expand infant and toddler child care with a pathway to universal preschool, expand housing options for renters and first-time buyers through faster permitting, starter homes, and down payment assistance, strengthen mental health and addiction care, fight insurance rate hikes, defend the Oregon Health Plan from federal Medicaid cuts, ban personalized pricing based on personal data and hidden fees, and oppose federal tariffs, SNAP cuts, and other policies she says raise costs. She cites record housing starts, more shelter beds, reduced unsheltered homelessness, new treatment beds, limits on private equity in health care, and laws making data centers pay their share of energy costs. On the economy, she would focus recruitment on renewable energy, life sciences, tech manufacturing, agriculture, and sustainable timber, create a Department of Commerce, set enforceable statewide permitting timelines, support startups and small businesses, increase development-ready land while protecting farmland, and expand career and technical education, citing semiconductor and life sciences investments and fast-track permitting. On schools, she would increase classroom time toward a full school year, reduce absenteeism, sustain literacy efforts including tutoring and science-based curriculum, use real-time assessments, strengthen graduation requirements, and limit social media on school devices, citing her school-day cell phone ban and a record graduation rate. To defend Oregon, she would halt new data center development until statewide standards are in place, safeguard vote-by-mail against federal overreach, protect access to abortion, birth control, and gender-affirming care, and oppose aggressive federal immigration enforcement and new ICE detention facilities.
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