Gabriella Ferlita
The founder of Nike has donated millions in a bid to prevent a left-wing candidate from winning an election.
Phil Knight has been reported to hand over $1 million to Republican candidate Christine Drazan this month, as well as $3.75 million to Independent candidate Betsy Johnson ahead of the gubernatorial election in Oregon.
As the candidates rally up their supporters, the election will take place on 8 November to elect the governor of the US state.
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The decision to throw his funds at the right-wing politicians comes as he has stated that he's had enough of the left-leaning policies in the state.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, the billionaire aired his thoughts on the liberal drug laws in the state, which decriminalise the possession of all drugs for personal use in small amounts, including cocaine, heroin and LSD, as well as his personal distaste towards the 2019 climate crisis ban on plastic straws.
Knight said to the publication: “One of the political cartoons after our legislative session had a person snorting cocaine out of a mountain of white.
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“It said, ‘Which of these is illegal in Oregon?’ And the answer was the plastic straw.”
His donations make up the largest financial contribution for both Johnson and Drazan in their run up to the election, and are a bid to ensure that their Democratic counterpart Tina Kotek does not win in three weeks' time and hold the power they have maintained since 1987 in the state.
He said to the outlet of his political views: “[I’m an] anti-Tina person," seeming to refer to a number of the politician's priorities including upping the background checks of people who wish to purchase a firearm, increasing the age of purchase for semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21 'because these are weapons of war that should not be sold to teenagers' and encouraging the construction of a 'meth stabilization center', which she voiced the need for in a debate.
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Meanwhile, the 84-year-old trainer aficionado pledged his allegiance to Drazan due to Johnson's place in recent polls, he said to the newspaper.
It's been reported that Knight's donations have even helped put the candidates on an even playing field, where Kotek started off as the frontrunner for the race in a few weeks time.
Meanwhile, Drazan has now been reported to have moved to the same spot, or even further ahead in some polls.
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