Ex-Blazer Chris Dudley Talks about Oregon, the 2026 Governor’s Race, and NBA Gambling

How would you assess Gov. Kotek’s performance?

I think the results speak for themselves. What are we, 49th in educational results? Portland is ranked 80 out of 81 in cities across the country in terms of attractiveness to investors. We’re at the bottom economically as a place to do business. For access to treatment for drug addiction, we’re 50th. I’m not sure there’s any stats where we are in the top half of the country.

Why is that?

Maybe you lose track of what the ultimate goal is. And I believe you need to work with both sides. When I talk to people about the transportation bill [that passed in the September special session], for example, I hear there was no contact with the other side of the table until the last minute. That’s not good. You need to have a dialogue. Maybe sometimes you’re too beholden to the people who put you in office.

Can you be more specific?

When I ran against Kitzhaber, I was making calls every day to different donors and groups, and he’s just got to make three phone calls [the state’s three large public employee unions, SEIU, OEA and AFSCME]. That’s a huge amount of what he raised. I’m not anti-union. I was treasurer of the players association in the NBA. But I do think we’ve got some issues when the union basically elects who they’re going to be negotiating with.

If you do decide to run, what’s one thing you would do differently?

Probably spend even more time in Multnomah County and going to where the voter is and having dialogue. I was at a memorial recently, and a speaker said, “Society is teaching us who, what and why to hate.” We need to know who, what and why to love. Right now, we’re shouting at each other, and we need to be able to talk to each other. Mother Teresa could run for governor on the Republican side, and they would put a MAGA hat on her. If we spend the next election just talking about Donald Trump, that’s a disservice to Oregon. Let’s focus, for the sake of the state, on the issues we are all facing.

If Oregon is so broken, why did you move back from California?

I love Oregon and I love Portland. There are things we’ve got to fix, but there are just great people here. I love the mountains. I love the beaches. And we have family here. My nieces and nephews are seventh-generation Oregonians. We have strong roots in Oregon, and I’m a believer that can get better.

You’ve identified education as a top priority. What’s a second issue you’d highlight?

A couple of weeks ago, I was walking on the South Park Blocks about 9 in the morning, and there was a guy yelling at nothing, swinging, hitting bushes, just crazy. That’s not right on so many different levels. This person needs help, and I think, too often right now, we’re coming up with solutions that push people off to the side. Housing is definitely a part of it. But if you build a new apartment and you put someone who is drug addicted or mentally ill in that apartment, I don’t think things go well. We’re spending all this money—what are we getting for it? That’s where accountability comes in.

What about Oregon’s economy?

I think we’re at the precipice of a potential doom loop. You know, business is not a four-letter word. When your product’s not doing well, you don’t raise the price, you lower it. And now we have the highest tax rates in the country, other than New York City.

You were part of Rip City Forever, a group that raised public awareness that the Trail Blazers could leave Portland. There’s now a new owner, Tom Dundon. Does the risk still exist?

Portland has to realize it could be in a competition with other cities across the country. We’ve tried to say, don’t view this as a crisis, view it as an opportunity to inject some life into Portland. But there’s still a risk until there’s a deal that makes sense for the city, makes sense for the state, and works for the Blazers economically.