Tobias Read’s political career in Oregon almost ended before it began.
In 2006, he and his wife wagered the results of his first legislative race on whether she would move to join him in Oregon, or if he’d leave the state to start fresh in California.
As a relatively young and unknown newcomer to House District 27, Read was a definite underdog in the race against a Ph.D.-holding engineer who had lived in the district upwards of two decades and previously chaired the local Democratic committee.
Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read, April 8, in Beaverton. Read is a Democratic candidate for the 2022 Oregon gubernatorial election.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Yet, by personally knocking on thousands of doors, he lost the election in Washington County — where he lives, and in which most of the district sat — but still won the primary by 86 votes.
And he went on to win the November race with nearly 60% of the vote. At 31, he became one of the state’s youngest lawmakers at the time and put down…
