ICYMI: Buehler “Has Not Performed Up to External Expectations” in Oregon

Political Analyst: “Should be really troubling for that campaign”

This weekend, the Statesman Journal highlighted how self-appointed Republican front runner Knute Buehler has failed to live up to his own hype. They reported, “With ballots going out to voters within the week, long-presumed gubernatorial front-runner Rep. Knute Buehler has, at best, yet to create any meaningful distance between himself and other top candidates in the Republican gubernatorial primary.”
See below for excerpts from the story, or read it online HERE
Crowded Republican primary for Oregon governor tighter than expected
By Connor Radnovitch
With ballots going out to voters within the week, long-presumed gubernatorial front-runner Rep. Knute Buehler has, at best, yet to create any meaningful distance between himself and other top candidates in the Republican gubernatorial primary.
The Bend Republican has not performed up to external expectations in early straw polls, winning the April 14 Washington County Republican Party’s poll by just one vote over Greg Wooldridge.
He lost the February Dorchester Conference’s poll to the aforementioned retired Navy captain by 11 percentage points.
Buehler has been absent from the score of candidate forums and debates since the legislative session ended the first weekend in March. The only one he’s confirmed to have attended was in Washington County for the straw poll.
“That should be really troubling for that campaign because this shouldn’t even be a contest,” said Oregon political analyst Jim Moore….
The campaigns for Wooldridge and Carpenter have each made the case in recent weeks as to why they are the favorite to make it to the general election ballot in November.
Buehler, who started the year as the run-away favorite, has allowed his actions to speak for him.
But he hasn’t escaped the primary season unscathed.
Buehler is a frequent punching bag for his fellow Republicans during campaign events….
Despite repeated requests for comment to his campaign manager, Buehler did not make himself available for this story.