Ultimate fighter Chael Sonnen considering a run for governor
Published 5:40 pm Thursday, December 5, 2024
- In a video message to the Tidings, Chael Sonnen spoke of his intentions of running for governor.
From the ”mean streets of West Linn” to the octagon of the Ultimate Fighting Championship to the governor’s mansion— it’s perhaps an unconventional life path, but the one Chael Sonnen has opted to take.
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The West Linn High School and University of Oregon grad said he always wanted to run for president as a kid. In high school, he started thinking about running for governor. It’s been a part of his plan ever since.
Sonnen, 47, who spent more than two decades fighting UFC and became known as one of the sport’s most notorious trash-talkers, said he wasn’t initially planning to run for governor in 2026, when current Gov. Tina Kotek’s term expires. But after a couple media appearances earlier this year turned into speculation of a run in the next election, Sonnen said a 2026 bid is on the table.
“I am going to run. I wasn’t planning to run in this next election. That appears to be slightly, perhaps changing,” Sonnen said in a video message to the Tidings. “My goal was not to run in the next election. This is a bit of a newer idea. You say it out loud and it becomes a thing.”
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In an appearance on the Fox News show “Gutfeld!” last month, Sonnen said he was going to be governor “sooner than a lot of people in Oregon think.”
In March on a podcast with Patrick Bet-David, Sonnen said he could unseat Kotek but credited the governor for her dedication to the work. He added that his fellow Republicans tend to lose statewide elections in Oregon because they try to appeal to the Democratic stronghold of Portland and Multnomah County.
Since graduating from the University of Oregon, where he wrestled, in 2001, Sonnen has spent the latter half of his life in the world of mixed-martial arts, both as a fighter for more than 20 years and as a commentator starting in 2016. He officially retired from the sport in 2019.
Always outspoken, Sonnen poked fun at his hometown in a 2012 video for UFC saying he had to witness horrors like public littering on the “mean streets of West Linn.”
Sonnen’s background isn’t entirely based in fighting and satirical comedy; however. In 2010, Sonnen was the Republican nominee for Oregon House District 37, the seat which covers West Linn and Tualatin. He withdrew from the race before the general election citing “legal issues.” In 2011, he pleaded guilty to federal mortgage fraud.
Sonnen got into more trouble with the law in 2019 after a brawl in Vegas, for which he faced multiple assault and battery charges.