Gov. Kate Brown and Nike co-founder Phil Knight are still on speaking terms, despite a bruising campaign in which Brown’s camp frequently questioned Knight’s motives for donating millions of dollars to her Republican opponent.

According to the Democratic governor’s calendar, she spoke with the billionaire a week before Christmas.

So, what did Knight and Brown discuss? The governor’s calendar gives no hint.

Knight’s representatives could not be reached, although a spokesman for Nike said he would pass along a request for comment.

However, the governor’s press secretary Kate Kondayen wrote in an email that the call “was a continuation of periodic conversations about the upcoming track and field championships.”

Earlier in December, The Oregonian/OregonLive had reported that the University of Oregon Foundation backed out from its pledge to cover any financial shortfall for the 2021 Track and Field World Championships in Eugene and that was making state officials uneasy about their commitment to chip in $25 million. Knight is one of the lead funders of the new larger stadium where the event will be held.

Leading up to the November election, Brown and her campaign were highly critical of Knight’s willingness to shower her GOP challenger, Knute Buehler, with campaign cash. The billionaire donated a total of $2.5 million directly to the Bend legislator and sent $1 million to the Republican Governors Association. The association gave Buehler a total of $3.4 million.

“What causes concern is Knute Buehler is trying to pound a ‘for sale’ sign in front of the Oregon Capitol,” Brown’s campaign spokesman Christian Gaston told the Salem Reporter in the fall. “If he wins, is he going to install a red phone that goes straight to Phil Knight?”

Although reporters sought interviews with Knight about the reasons behind his prolific spending, he does not appear to have commented in 2018. Willamette Week noted last year that Knight, who has donated to both Republican and Democratic candidates in Oregon, emphasized two concerns in a 2017 interview for a political consultant’s newsletter: the state’s public pension shortfall, now around $25 billion, and lackluster political leaders.

Nike is highly involved in the governor’s efforts to raise billions of dollars in business taxes to spend on education, with the Coalition for the Common Good organized by Nike's senior director of government and public affairs Julia Brim-Edwards drafting tax proposals. Nike CEO Mark Parker called the governor the Friday after the election, her calendar shows.

"He simply called to congratulate the governor on her victory,” Nike spokesman Greg Rossiter said of Parker’s call to the governor.

Knight’s contributions helped Buehler stay competitive last year. Buehler and Brown’s combined $37 million in political spending on the governor’s race shattered the previous record. They raised similar amounts: Brown’s coffers reached $18.5 million and Buehler brought in $19.3 million.

But whereas Buehler spent nearly all his money on the race, the governor managed to win while holding onto hundreds of thousands of dollars she can now use to push her priorities in the upcoming legislative session.

— Hillary Borrud

hborrud@oregonian.com

503-294-4034

@hborrud

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