The two major candidates for governor, incumbent Gov. Tina Kotek(D) and State Sen. Christine Drazan, debated for the first time Thursday night, October 1, on the University of Oregon Campus.
Sen. Christine Drazan responds to questions, while Gov. Tina Kotek can be seen listening, reflected in the TV screen.
I was the pool photographer for the gubernatorial debate. Pool coverage has been in the news lately on the national level, but a pool is when news organizations share the content of one or a small group of journalists. In this case, space was limited, and the agreement was that there would only be one still photographer present. So I was the only still photographer permitted to photograph the debate.
It is difficult, at least for me, to photograph an event and also write a well-reported story. So I’m providing links to stories written by other news organizations from around the state. The debate was co-sponsored by KVAL who provided the video coverage. You can also watch the full debate on KVAL’s YouTube channel.
The complete debate
Coverage from around the state
LookOut Eugene-Springfield Kotek, Drazan clash over affordability, data centers and Trump in gubernatorial debate
Sen. Christine Drazan, left, and Gov. Tina Kotek shake hands at the end of the gubernatorial debate on the University of Oregon campus on Thursday, October 1, 2026KVAL’s Kendall Bartley, left, goes over the logistics for the debate with the three journalists who served on the panel asking the candidates questions. The journalists are Ben Botkin, second from left, from LookOut Eugene-Springfield, Nigel Jaquiss, from the Oregon Journalism Project, and University of Oregon journalism student Bayla Orton.Sen. Drazan does a camera check before the start of the debate.Gov. Kotek finishes a camera check and leaves the podium before the start of the debate.SOJC journalism student Justin Santos grabs some food before the debate. Santos helped with the teleprompter at the debate.University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication Dean Regina Lawrence, left, prepares to make opening remarks, and Kendall Bartley of KVAL prepares to moderate the debate.Journalists to the left asked questions of both candidates, sandwiched between opening and closing remarks by Drazan and Kotek.An early moment in the debate. For the most part, the candidates avoided looking at each other except for a few heated moments later in the debate.Gov. Tina KotekSen. Christine DrazanEarly in the debate, both candidates laughed when journalist Nigel Jaquiss of the Oregon Journalism Project joked that it was rare to see them both in the same room.The debate became more heated as the candidates accused each other of misrepresenting the facts.University of Oregon journalism student Gretchen Wackler watches the timer indicating how much time a candidate had left to speak. Wackler used yellow and red cards to signal the candidates as the time counted down. “My palms were sweaty the whole time,” she said, but also said it was an awesome experience.The panel of journalists, Ben Botkin of LookOut Eugene-Springfield, left, Bayla Orton, a journalism student at the University of Oregon, and Nigel Jaquiss of the Oregon Journalism Project, prepare to ask questions in the second half of the debate.Gov. Tina Kotek listens to a question from the panel of journalists.The teleprompter was for the debate’s moderator, Kendall Bartley of KVAL.Sen. Christine DrazanGov. Tina Kotek Sen. Christine Drazan responds to questions, while Gov. Tina Kotek can be seen listening, reflected in the TV screen.Sen. Drazan eyes Gov. Kotek during the debate. After each response, the other candidate was given the option of responding. These responses were often accusations that their opponent had misrepresented the facts.
