This week in the Oregon Capital Insider

As the Election Night hangover subsides, you can impress your friends with this bit of cocktail trivia, courtesy of reporter Peter Wong: Oregon, with three experienced women vying for governor this fall, will make history and steal bragging rights from Nebraska, which was the first state (in 1986) to have two female candidates face off for a governor’s race. Republican Christine Drazan and Democrat Tina Kotek had margins of victory that were big enough to surmount the morning-after uncertainty caused by the ballot confusion in Clackamas County. They will be joined by independent candidate Betsy Johnson in the race to move into Mahonia Hall. And whichever woman wins will be taking office following a record budgetary windfall, which is likely to pour another $900 million into the state school fund and $3 billion (yes, that’s a “b”) back to taxpayers in the form of the Oregon “kicker.” On the flip side, whoever is governor will almost certainly be talking about wildfires, as Oregon braces for another “megadrought.”

John Schrag is executive editor of the Pamplin Media Group. He never made history, but he minored in it at Southern Illinois University, making him one of nine people in Oregon who know what a Saluki is.