Editorial: COVID-19 takes from Oregon candidates for governor – OregonLive

Nothing has shaped Gov. Kate Browns reputation and legacy more than her administrations response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under Brown, Oregon schools and businesses faced prolonged restrictions; teachers received vaccine priority over seniors; and Oregon was among the last states in the country to lift an indoor mask mandate. Yet the state also recorded a significantly lower death rate than other states. Through it all, Browns administrations decisions, strategy and execution have been lauded, decried and second-guessed.

For the upcoming primary, The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board sent endorsement questionnaires to Democratic and Republican candidates seeking to succeed Brown. (Former State Sen. Betsy Johnson, who is running as an unaffiliated candidate and wont compete in a primary, was not sent a questionnaire). We asked them to share in 200 words or less what stood out in Oregons COVID response and how they would govern as the pandemic continues its uncertain path. Below are responses from eight of the candidates, listed alphabetically.

What principles will guide you in navigating Oregon through whatever comes next in the COVID-19 pandemic? What has Oregon gotten right or wrong (e.g. closing schools, mask mandates, vaccine priority) in addressing COVID?

Julian Bell, Democrat: Kate Brown and the state of Oregon both did an excellent job of navigating the challenges of COVID-19, and I am grateful to the state agencies and their staff for their work in very difficult circumstances. I took care of a lot of COVID-19 patients in the hospital. It was a bizarre time. Without question, the vaccines, the use of masks and state recommendations saved peoples lives. While the governor is responsible for the health of the people of the state, they are also responsible for the economy. Even so, you might be able to limp an economy along and then rebuild it, but you cant bring back the dead. The principles that would guide me in the future, should we see another resurgence of the virus, would be the best epidemiology available.

Christine Drazan, Republican: I will lead with facts, not fear. I will respect Oregonians and their right to determine the best approach for themselves and their family when it comes to responding to the virus and in making personal medical decisions. I will engage in a transparent and open dialogue with Oregonians about where we are at, why their state government is responding in a certain way and reject heavy-handed mandates.

Gov. Brown made the wrong call when she went all in for vaccine mandates, for mask mandates, and in her fear-based rhetoric, which did more to erode public trust in the states response than it helped. Her administration was also too rigid, inconsistent in responding to the latest science, and sloppy and overly bureaucratic in the rollout of testing and vaccines.

I will give Gov. Brown credit for resisting the urge to establish an essential business/non-essential business list early in the pandemic, a move many other states made, that would have shut down many vital industries and been disastrous for Oregon. At the time, I urged Gov. Brown to reject this approach and believe she ultimately made the correct decision.

Jessica Gomez, Republican: They say that hindsight is 20/20. I dont believe that statement is true anymore, as each person looks back at the COVID pandemic through their own partisan lens. In the early stages of the pandemic, we lacked reliable information on transmission pathways, disease severity and fatalities. Oregon responded cautiously and appropriately. As time went on, it was apparent that our leaders and state agencies were struggling. Oregons rollout of the vaccine was not adequately planned and resourced, and vulnerable communities were not prioritized. Some feel they were misled about the efficacy of the vaccine, as it is more of a pre-emptive therapeutic rather than a traditional vaccine. The vaccine has been shown to reduce the severity of infection but often fails to prevent future infection or transmission.

As governor, whether it be for COVID, or other challenges, I will always be mindful of individual freedom, government transparency and accountability. I would not have extended business or school closures beyond what was absolutely necessary. For our state to have a unified front against the next challenge, it will be imperative that we avoid politicization and work hard to build trust between the governors office, state agencies, and the people of Oregon.

Tina Kotek, Democrat: There are a lot of Oregonians walking around today, alive and well, because Oregonians followed the science, wore a mask and got vaccinated. There was no playbook for how to respond to this crisis, no one had perfect information, and while a lot of the public health measures werent easy, we should be proud that Oregon fared better than most of the country.

But our state agencies certainly fell short in some areas - the failure to handle unemployment payments at a time when so many Oregonians lost their jobs was unacceptable.

We are going to need to manage life with this virus for some time to come. So, we need to make a plan to keep our communities safe and prevent our hospitals from being overextended. As governor, I will consult with experts, read the data, be consistent and be clear, especially if we are faced with new variants and potential surges, and weigh the physical health, emotional well-being, and economic impacts of every decision thoughtfully.

Bud Pierce, Republican: Current Oregon leadership spent money on endless ineffective advertising with scare tactics and guilt-inducing messaging. Businesses were threatened and fined if they tried to stay open. Vaccine priority should have been to those at greatest risk; the aged and chronically ill. While we did not know everything at the beginning of the pandemic, I believe we will soon determine that closing schools caused greater harm to children and their families than keeping them open. Children were at very low risk for severe illness from the virus. As a result of school and business closures, depression, suicide, learning setbacks and financial pressure on families increased. The administrations obsession with wearing masks long after they were needed (punishing businesses and threatening individuals) only caused unnecessary push-back that only widened the rift between government and its citizens.

Stan Pulliam, Republican: The core problem with the COVID response was that our elected officials made stopping the spread of the disease (which we were no better at than other states) the one and only priority. (Editors note: Oregons case rate is the second-lowest in the country, according to figures kept by The New York Times.)

In a society with so many moving parts, its inconceivable that we allowed our economy, our mental health, our small businesses, and our childrens education and socialization to not just be ignored, but to be voluntarily destroyed in the name of trying to stop the inevitable spread of a virus. This was a self-inflicted wound, and history will show how much more damaging the response was to society than the virus itself.

Tobias Read, Democrat: I will be guided by science in any decision we make in the future around the pandemic. I think following the science, especially at the beginning of the pandemic helped make Oregon one of the least impacted states in the country. However, I do think we made a mistake in having bars and restaurants open before kids were back in school. As a parent of two public school students, I saw firsthand the impact that had. Many childrens mental health suffered and test scores and literacy rates dropped significantly. Were going to need to spend years helping children make up for learning loss and supporting our teachers with the resources they need to dig out of this hole. Its clear that there should have been a much greater priority placed on keeping schools open, with proper masking, testing and ventilation to keep everyone safe while continuing our kids education and social and emotional development.

In addition, the state and Legislature could have done a much better job ensuring that agencies like the employment department and the states housing agency were equipped to handle the predictable surge in applications for assistance. We need to restore trust that our government can handle important programs that Oregonians in need rely on.

Bob Tiernan, Republican: My decision-making process balancing harm v. benefit, ability to put together knowledgeable teams, using fact-based approaches, listening to different ideas, considering and exploring unintended consequences of each major decision and making necessary adjustments as the facts or circumstances change.

Oregon should not have closed schools. The harm it caused our children far outweighed the benefits. Government mandates, such as vaccine mandates, should only come in extreme situations, especially when it denies Oregonians some of their most basic rights.

-The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board

Oregonian editorials

Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. Members of the editorial board are Therese Bottomly, Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung and John Maher.

Members of the board meet regularly to determine our institutional stance on issues of the day. We publish editorials when we believe our unique perspective can lend clarity and influence an upcoming decision of great public interest. Editorials are opinion pieces and therefore different from news articles.

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Editorial: COVID-19 takes from Oregon candidates for governor - OregonLive