I’ll confess that I had my doubts originally, but it’s looking more and more as if the campaign to be Oregon’s next governor is not only competitive but within reach of the GOP. (Something which would be truly remarkable considering that Oregonians haven’t sent a Republican to the Governor’s Mansion since Victor Atiyeh in 1979.) We saw the first signs of trouble for the Democrats in August when Governor Kate Brown’s lead shrank from 17 points in January to basically zero. When the numbers failed to swing back her way, the Cook Political Report moved the race to toss-up status earlier this month.

Now, with less than a week to go and no signs of the polls moving outside the margin of error, Democrats are truly starting to worry. The Huffington Post sent out the alarm yesterday, despairing that “the most progressive governor in the country” might be on her way out the door. But how can they explain this phenomenon in the very blue state of Oregon?

With so many other states leaning blue, why is Oregon heading in the opposite direction?

“A lot of interests want to stop our progress,” Brown said in an interview. “One has spent $3.5 million to make sure we are not moving forward. And I’m not willing to let that happen.” …

There’s a host of other reasons Brown may be struggling. Sexism. A sense that Democrats have grown complacent and that it may be time for a divided government. Frustration with the state’s frayed social safety net. The editorial board at The Oregonian, for one, endorsed Buehler, hitting Brown for falling short on education and arguing that voters shouldn’t factor national politics into this race.

That’s an intriguing laundry list of excuses. And of course, they put “sexism” at the top. But wait… Oregon’s voter breakdown shows that Democrats make up more than 36% of the population and independents (most of whom have been voting blue for many cycles now) take up another 31%. Republicans only account for barely 25% of the vote. Are you saying that you have a bunch of sexist Democrats running around?

You can blame it on the state’s “frayed social safety net” if you wish, but who was in charge of allocating all the money and why all the financial pressure? If I’m not mistaken, the GOP hasn’t had a say in any of those matters for decades.

You don’t suppose that the voters might just be tired of all the socialism, the massive homeless problems in the larger cities and general lawlessness, do you? (Antifa gets to control the traffic in downtown Portland now, you know.) Do you think that just maybe Brown’s liberal mismanagement (combined with the corruption which drove her Democratic predecessor out of office) might have something to do with it?

Naw… you’re right. It’s probably just the sexism.