Jeff Eager | Source | Republican political consultant in Oregon at Independent Consultant

National Review, October 15, 2021: https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/10/can-nick-kristofs-native-outsider-gambit-play-in-oregon/

Furthermore, unlike many of the other Democratic contenders, Kristof is not a creature of the Salem political machine. The other well-known Democrats who have announced are “reliable allies to the groups and organizations that fund and organize statewide races on the Democrat side — public-sector unions, environmental groups, etc.,” says Jeff Eager, the former Republican mayor of Bend and the author of a weekly newsletter on Oregon politics. “For quite some time, the pattern for Democrats getting elected has been: You get those organizations behind you, and they spend a bunch of money, and obviously drive up your name ID in that process. And you know, the people who do that are often really the ones who win.”

“If you look at what Kristof is saying thus far about why he is interested in running, he wants to run as an outsider,” Eager tells National Review. “He’s running on the idea that the current party system is producing bad results for the state, which a lot of Oregonians — including a lot of Democrats — would agree with.”