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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Business
Andrew Lawrence

Why is Nike founder Phil Knight so desperate to prevent a Democratic win in Oregon?

knight at table in front of wall full of nike shoes
Phil Knight speaks to the media in 2012. In the past, he has been content doing business with Democratic governors. Photograph: Nathaniel S Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

If Republicans win the race for Oregon governor, it will be down to one man: Phil Knight.

Knight, of course, is the 84-year-old co-founder and chair emeritus of Nike, the house that Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods built. And in this race to govern Oregon, a bastion of west coast liberalism, Knight has thrown full support behind the Republican Christine Drazan, an anti-abortion, tough-on-crime former lobbyist pushing “election integrity”. In a rare interview with the New York Times, Knight made his motive clear: Oregon’s next governor can be anyone but the Democratic nominee, Tina Kotek.

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