Chris Dudley, the 6-foot-11 former Portland Trail Blazers center who built a 16-year NBA career as a rebounder and defensive specialist while managing Type 1 diabetes, is again trying to convert his Oregon name recognition into political power.
A new Hoffman Research poll shows Dudley leading Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek 48% to 44% in a hypothetical general election matchup, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The survey, which included 603 likely voters, also pointed to broader trouble for the incumbent: Kotek’s approval rating stands at just 33%.
Dudley, 61, has made his basketball career a central part of his campaign message. His latest ad points to his more than 5,400 NBA rebounds and uses that record as a metaphor for a state he argues needs to recover from failures in education, housing affordability, and public safety.
“Our state needs a rebound,” the ad declares.
🚨 JUST IN: Republican and former NBA player Chris Dudley LEADS Oregon governor's race against Gov. Tina Kotek (D), per a new poll
🔴 Chris Dudley: 48% (+4)
🔵 Gov. Tina Kotek: 44%He wants no more men in women's sports
Flip red, Oregon!
Hoffman Research (R)
Democrats… pic.twitter.com/IqX7zrtUti
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 15, 2026
The line captures the core of Dudley’s pitch: that a former professional athlete, business executive, and political outsider can offer Oregon a practical alternative to one-party Democratic control.
Dudley played 886 NBA games between 1987 and 2003, averaging 3.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He spent six seasons with the Trail Blazers and also played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, and Phoenix Suns. He was part of the Knicks team that reached the 1999 NBA Finals.
His career was also notable because he became the first NBA player with Type 1 diabetes to sustain a long professional career. After leaving basketball, Dudley founded the Chris Dudley Foundation to support children with diabetes and built a post-playing career in finance and medical technology. A Yale graduate in economics and political science, he co-founded Filigree Wealth Advisors, served as CEO of Diabetomics, and previously worked as treasurer of the NBA Players Association.
This is not Dudley’s first attempt at statewide office. In 2010, he came within about 2 percentage points of defeating Democrat John Kitzhaber, the closest a Republican has come to winning the Oregon governor’s race in decades.
Now Dudley is trying again, entering a crowded Republican primary against state Sen. Christine Drazan and other candidates ahead of the May 19 vote. Drazan has been viewed as the frontrunner in the GOP field, but Dudley is arguing that he is the Republican best positioned to defeat Kotek in November.
His campaign has emphasized crime, schools, housing costs, and the broader cost of living. Dudley has also pledged not to accept money from political action committees, including corporate and special-interest PACs, as he tries to present himself as independent of the usual political machinery.
For Republicans, the race presents both an opening and a familiar challenge. Kotek’s weak approval numbers and voter frustration with the state’s direction give the party a possible path in a state that has not elected a Republican governor since the 1980s. But Oregon’s Democratic tilt, combined with a competitive GOP primary, means Dudley must first prove that his name recognition and outsider message can overcome better-established political opponents.
His campaign is betting that voters remember the basketball player who made a career out of rebounds — and are willing to give him a chance to attempt one more in Oregon politics.
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