Nike co-founder Phil Knight is continuing to spend freely this election cycle, with a $1 million contribution to the Republican Governors Association.

Knight has already given a record-shattering $1.5 million directly to the Republican candidate for governor in Oregon, Knute Buehler, a lawmaker and orthopedic surgeon from Bend.

The association's communications director Jon Thompson said campaign cash "all goes in one pot" and the governor's association doesn't accept contributions with the understanding that they'll spend the money on a particular race.

However, the Republican Governors Association has reported giving a total of $962,000 to Buehler's campaign over the last couple months. The group disclosed Knight's contribution, which he made in August, in its latest quarterly filing with the IRS.

The Oregon governor's race remains tight, and on Tuesday, The Cook Political Report changed its rating for Buehler's matchup with Democratic Gov. Kate Brown from a likely Democratic win to a tossup. That's after a new poll commissioned by OPB this week showed Brown with a narrow lead of 40 percent to Buehler's 35 percent and a large portion of voters still undecided.

On the other side, Nike gave $25,000 to the Democratic Governors Association according to that group's latest filing. Another $25,000 came from the Oregon Health Care Association, which represents long-term care facilities such as nursing homes.

The Democratic Governors Association has given Brown's campaign approximately $670,000 over the last year, according to an analysis of state campaign finance data. Nike has directly given Brown $85,000 this election cycle.

-- Hillary Borrud

503-294-4034; @hborrud