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Dispatches from public radio's correspondent at the Oregon Legislature. This is a venue for political and policy coverage of the state government in Salem and its impact on the people of Oregon.

Money Flowing In To Oregon Political Campaigns

Matt Howry
/
Flickr

Ballots go out in the mail to Oregon voters in less than three weeks. And that means right now is prime fundraising season for candidates and ballot measure campaigns.

You can expect to see plenty of campaign ads on TV over the coming month. The two leading candidates for governor have raised about $4.3 million this year -- $3 million for incumbent Democrat John Kitzhaber and $1.3 million for Republican challenger Dennis Richardson.

By coincidence, Richardson has raised almost exactly the same amount of money so far as the group that's trying to pass a measure to legalize recreational marijuana.

The pro-pot effort isn't the only ballot measure campaign that's topped the million dollar mark so far. Both sides of an initiative that would require food manufacturers and retailers to label genetically engineered foods have surpassed that total.