Nike Co-Founder Phil Knight Tosses $500,000 Into Oregon Governor's Race

By Chris Lehman

Published August 16, 2017 at 5:17 PM PDT

State Rep. Knute Buehler, a Republican from Bend, is running for Oregon governor.

Nike co-founder Phil Knight made his largest ever donation to an Oregon political race this week. The recipient is Republican candidate for governor Knute Buehler.

Knight has a history of making six-figure political contributions. But his $500,000 gift to Buehler is his largest to date. Buehler is a Republican state representative from Bend who's seeking the GOP nomination for governor.

The cash more than triples the amount of money Buehler has raised so far this year.

But he still trails incumbent Kate Brown. The Democrat hasn't officially announced her intentions for next year's election, but she's been actively raising money and has well over $1 million in the bank.

Chris Lehman

Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR鈥揳ffiliate WNIJ鈥揊M. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.

老夫子传媒

Nike Co-Founder Phil Knight Tosses $500,000 Into Oregon Governor's Race