EUGENE, Oregon (November 2, 2026) — Monique DeSpain, the Republican nominee for Oregon’s 4th Congressional District, is demanding that KEZI 9 News retract its Saturday night lead story, issue an on-air apology, and give her the opportunity to respond on air before polls close Tuesday.
KEZI News Director Matt Templeman, anchoring Saturday’s newscast, opened the lead story by telling viewers, “The picture for some races is beginning to clear, especially the governor’s race.” Reporter Israel La Rue followed: “Some of Oregon’s races are already being called by forecasters.”
No Oregon race has been called. No race can be called until the votes are counted. Yet with three days left to return ballots, KEZI told hundreds of thousands of viewers across Western Oregon that the outcome was already settled.
The only voice KEZI offered to support that claim was Rachel Bitecofer, introduced to viewers as a national political analyst. KEZI did not disclose that Bitecofer is cofounder and chief strategist of Strike PAC, a super PAC created to help Democrats win elections. She predicted defeats for DeSpain and gubernatorial nominee Christine Drazan and attacked the Republican Party’s image. KEZI did not include a single Republican candidate, campaign, or independent pollster.
The facts KEZI left out tell a different story. Independent polling has shown the governor’s race within the margin of error. A poll commissioned by Oregon Public Broadcasting had Drazan ahead 47 to 46 among likely voters. Bitecofer cited no polling at all. KEZI’s online version of the story also misstated Oregon’s 2022 midterm turnout as 70 percent; the Secretary of State certified 66.9 percent.
The DeSpain campaign contacted Templeman less than 24 hours after the story aired. He declined to discuss it and told the campaign to email the newsroom so he could address it in the morning.
“KEZI’s news director sat in the anchor chair and told voters the race was over before they had a chance to vote. That’s gross journalistic malpractice. It’s a Democratic campaign message read on the evening news,” DeSpain said. “They handed the microphone to a Democratic super PAC strategist, hid who she was, and told Oregonians their votes were already counted. Every voter who hears that the race is decided and leaves a ballot on the kitchen table is a voter KEZI talked out of asserting their voice. I spent 30 years in the Air Force defending the right of Americans to have that voice. I’m not going to sit quietly while a local TV station tries to call an election before the people have finished voting. KEZI owes every viewer a retraction and an apology, and it owes Oregon voters the truth: nothing is decided until YOU decide it.”
“Matt Templeman has been adversarial from the word go, even once telling me he didn’t need to be lectured on how to do his job. Apparently he does need that lecture, because he has actively suppressed coverage of this race all cycle,” said Ryan Saylor, communications director for the DeSpain campaign and a retired reporter and newsroom manager. “His station refused to entertain hosting a debate. It ignored newsworthy events, including the day self-proclaimed anarchists ran Monique out of a local park while she was helping homeless people living under a bridge in downtown Eugene, simply because they “didn’t agree with her politics.” They called her the vilest slurs you can call a woman. If anyone had done that to a Democratic lawmaker, I guarantee Matt Templeman would have covered it as breaking news. A journalist’s job is to cover both sides fairly and report the facts, not to put his or his personal beliefs on the air. I spent my career in newsrooms as a reporter and a newsroom manager. At any outlet I worked for, I would have been fired for letting something like Saturday’s story appear in print or on air. At KEZI, the news director anchored it.”
The DeSpain campaign is urging Oregonians to call the KEZI newsroom at [(541) 485-5611](tel:(541) 485-5611) and demand three things: a retraction of the story, an on-air apology, and the opportunity for Monique DeSpain to respond on air before Election Day.
Ballots must be returned to an official drop box by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3. This race is not over, despite what KEZI may say. Fill out your ballot for Monique DeSpain and find a drop box where you can return the ballot at http://oregonvotes.gov/dropbox.
About Monique DeSpain
Monique DeSpain is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, attorney, and mother running for Congress in Oregon’s 4th District. After 30 years of military service, she has dedicated herself to public service in Oregon, focusing on restoring a prosperous economy, addressing the state’s affordability crisis, and reducing the regulatory and tax burden on small businesses and working families. Learn more at moniqueforcongress.com.