by Shaanth Nanguneri, Oregon Capital Chronicle
April 24, 2026
The top four Oregon Republicans running for governor spent their first debate attacking incumbent Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek’s leadership, while shying away from the GOP’s ties to President Donald Trump.
But for at least one candidate who political observers say faces an uphill battle to ever receive the nomination, that relationship is far from avoidable. He’s just one of 10 candidates vying for the GOP nomination who lack the name recognition and political clout of their leading opponents: Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethell, state Sen. Christine Drazan, R-Canby, state Rep. Ed Diehl, R-Scio, and former NBA player Chris Dudley.
David Medina, a resident of the Portland area, made headlines in 2024 after facing felony and misdemeanor charges from the federal government for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Medina faced felony and misdemeanor charges for his participation in the event, but Trump pardoned him in January 2025.
Medina has often gone viral on social media platforms such as X, railing against what he sees as left-wing excesses in Oregon, indoctrination in public schools and protests at Portland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. His campaign website includes priorities such as “DOGE-style” audits, firing members of Kotek’s administration, embracing parents rights in schools and ending illegal immigration.
“You have multiple elected officials that have status in their own right, which is Sen. Drazan, Representative Ed Diehl, (Commissioner) Danielle Bethell,” said Dan Mason, national committeeman for the Oregon Republican Party. “That brings a uniqueness that you probably haven’t had in the past, along with David Medina and Chris Dudley as outsider perspectives.”
Although Medina has claimed he was a “non-violent” protester during Jan. 6, federal prosecutors drew upon open-source images and video footage showing what appeared to be him slamming and attempting to break a wooden sign above then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s office. He could be seen waving an American flag inside the U.S. Capitol’s rotunda, according to prosecutors, who also reviewed his text messages prior to the incident in which he considered dying for his beliefs.
Through a campaign spokesperson, Medina declined to be interviewed for this article.
“I’m just saying, the only people that care about J6 are the people that are out of touch: the media, who use it against us to keep us silenced and keep us (from) supporting a candidate like David Medina,” he said in a March interview with the conservative media platform PDX Real.
The right-wing influencer is not entirely without support from GOP voters, however.
A recent poll from Salem-based Nelson Research found Drazan with a significant lead in the race at more than 30%, but it also found that Medina enjoyed support from more than 6%.
However, he failed to meet the financial requirements of having at least 250 individual donors and $100,000 contributions to make the debate stage in Hillsboro last week, a qualification that Bethell, who received 1.6% in the poll, met. After urging his supporters to tune into the debate, he later said on social media that he didn’t care “if I don’t make debate stages that nobody’s gonna watch anyways.”
John Horvick, senior vice president with the Portland-based polling firm DHM Research, said candidates like Medina and Diehl are more likely to challenge Drazan’s share of conservative voters in comparison to a candidate like Dudley, who could be vying for more moderate GOP voters. At the same time, he was doubtful of Medina’s chance to ever clinch the nomination.
“He’s obviously not going to win or coming ever close to winning,” Horvick told the Capital Chronicle. “But again, that sucks up that right-wing vote that Dudley’s not trying to get.”
Here’s a list of the other Republican gubernatorial candidates with less name recognition and fundraising who are running for the nomination:
- Hope Dalrymple, a digital creator and photographer from Salem. Dalrymple did not have a political action committee with fundraising information available on the state’s campaign finance database.
- Kyle Duyck, a genomics researcher based in Cornelius. Duyck has raised more than $3,600 in campaign contributions.
- Robert Neuman, a former candidate for Oregon attorney general from White City. Neuman has not reported raising any money for his campaign.
- Brad Peters, a self-employed engineer and homesteader. Peters did not have a political action committee with fundraising information available on the state’s campaign finance database.
- Paul Romero Jr., a Roseburg-based marketing director and CEO of Youwalk Today, Inc., a medical device company. Romero Jr. did not have a political action committee with fundraising information available on the state’s campaign finance database.
- DeAngelo Leroy Turner, a reverend from Portland who served more than three decades in prison for a murder he denies committing. Turner has not reported raising any campaign contributions.
- Wen Waddell, a Portland-based paralegal. Waddell has not reported raising any campaign contributions.
- Martin Ward, a former candidate for the 2024 Portland mayoral race. Ward has not reported raising any campaign contributions, and his records show a campaign balance deficit of more than $2,600.
- Tim Youker, a nonprofit director from Portland. Youker did not have a political action committee with fundraising information available on the state’s campaign finance database.
Oregonians must register to vote or change their party affiliation by April 28. Officials will begin mailing ballots for the May 19 primary election the next day.
Democratic long-shots seek to prevent Kotek nomination
Kotek is widely expected to secure the Democratic nomination as the incumbent governor. But nine other people are seeking the nomination, and some of them hope to push Kotek to the left as she tries to shore up her relationships with Oregon’s business community. The governor currently has raised more than $1 million in campaign contributions with more than $2.8 million in cash in the bank, state records show.
Here’s a list of Kotek’s challengers:
- Forest (Fora) Alexander, a rabbi and political director from Portland. Alexander has raised more than $2,500 in campaign contributions.
- James Atkinson IV, a Portland-based inventor and former Portland 2024 mayoral candidate. Atkinson did not have a political action committee with fundraising information available on the state’s campaign finance database.
- Donnie Beckwith, who works in sports coaching and construction and is from Portland. Beckwith did not have a political action committee with fundraising information available on the state’s campaign finance database.
- David Beem, a Salem-based salesperson who works with doors. Beem did not have a political action committee with fundraising information available on the state’s campaign finance database.
- Brittany Jones, founder and president of The Ravens Party, a Eugene-based nonprofit supporting Indigenous communities. Jones has reported raising more than $500 for her campaign.
- Cal Kishawi, a self-employed moving and logistics company worker who is from Grants Pass. Kishawi has not reported raising any campaign contributions.
- Steve William Laible, a publisher from Grants Pass. Laible did not have a political action committee with fundraising information available on the state’s campaign finance database.
- Tristan Sheppard, a self-employed consultant and volunteer firefighter from The Dalles. Sheppard has not reported raising any campaign contributions.
- Miranda Weigler, a policy and strategy consultant who previously served as a strategic communications director. Weigler has not reported raising any campaign contributions.
Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions: [email protected].