Point #110: I Want to Give Thanks

May 15th, 2018

As of course you are aware, the results of the primary are in – and I came in second place. The unofficial numbers as of this posting:

Knute Buehler 46.5%
Sam Carpenter 29.5%
Greg Wooldridge 19.0%

We gave it our all, but in the end we came up short.

First, I want to give thanks:

I give thanks to God for giving me the strength to fight the good fight, and the wisdom to be gracious in defeat. I also thank God for bringing Diana into my life. She has been a tireless support, by my side every step of the way, a beacon of inspiration and my true love.

I must also thank my campaign team. With our small band of dedicated workers, we achieved something remarkable even in defeat: we came in a strong second place against the establishment favorite for a fraction of the cost. Money may still win politics, but we’ve shown that an efficient team with a positive message can still have an impact on a shoestring budget. I hope the next generation of candidates can pick up where we left off and continue to move the needle away from the establishment and back towards the people.

And it is the people – all of you reading this – I want to thank most of all. I wasn’t in this race just to be governor for myself. I was in this race to Make Oregon Great Again for you, the forgotten men and women of Oregon – and your ongoing support these past few months has been an incredible blessing. This election was one of historic low turnout in Oregon – but you readers have been involved every step of the way. You are the future of Oregon. And so I thank you all for fighting alongside me.

And now I want to congratulate Knute Buehler on winning the nomination to be the Republican candidate to take on Kate Brown. During the campaign I laid out the contrasts between the two of us – and the voters made their choice. It’s a different path than what I’d wanted – and what you readers wanted – but the voters have spoken and they’ve chosen Knute Buehler to be their standard bearer.

So now I ask that we all unite, because the real enemy we face is not our own party, but the radical progressive far-left regime of Kate Brown. She must be defeated! And it’s not just the governor’s race we must win – we must take all of Oregon back. We must win the Oregon Red Trifecta.

So I urge you all to unite as a party and move forward, supporting all our nominees across this state. We must defeat Kate Brown – and we must also elect new leaders, like Teri Grier in Coos Bay and David Molina in Forest Grove, to our legislature. And let us not forget the potential ballot measures coming this year. We must band together to protect the Second Amendment and halt the unconstitutional ban on so-called assault weapons. And we can stop taxpayer funding of abortion and end Oregon’s sanctuary state status. And there are our wonderful forests that have not been managed properly.

There are so many things we can – must – do between now and November. Together, we CAN Make Oregon Great Again!

Now my campaign comes to its close – but the battle for Oregon continues. And again, I thank you all for your support. God bless America. God bless Oregon. And God bless you all.