Context:

A six-foot-tall pencil named Pencil, created by J. Schuberth, campaigns across Portland to spotlight Oregon’s lagging literacy and education policy. The gimmick serves as a write-in bid to pressure Tina Kotek and other leaders to address the state’s reading crisis, even as a literal anthropomorphized candidate cannot win. Schuberth argues current Democratic governance has failed students, while Kotek concedes problems and points to new reading investments and district-intervention changes. The effort seeks attention and dialogue during the primary, with hopes of influencing the November race and broader policy debate, though organizers acknowledge the path to victory is virtually nonexistent.

Dive Deeper:

• J. Schuberth conceived a campaign around a six-foot-tall pencil mascot to draw attention to Oregon’s poor student literacy outcomes, arguing education policy has been steered by a Democratic majority for years. The campaign has produced swag like postcards, flyers, and magnets to spread the message that Oregon’s education system needs ‘fixing.’

• Schuberth has spent approximately $30,000 of personal money on the Pencil effort and plans to monitor ballot images to tally write-ins, since official tallies only count write-ins if they exceed the front-runner’s votes. The tallying method faces uncertainties about what is written on ballots.

• Voters at a Portland farmers’ market and nearby residents expressed mixed reactions: some would consider a Pencil write-in to protest the status quo, even if they still prefer Kotek, while others criticized the state of schools and expressed willingness to support private schooling due to perceived underperformance.

• Kotek has framed education as a priority of her term, citing investments in reading programs and a new law expanding state intervention in underperforming districts, and she said she agrees with Pencil that literacy remains a problem—though observers say the policy effects have yet to show a turning point.

• Schuberth argues that the governor’s approach is insufficient and points to Mississippi as a model of targeted literacy success, suggesting Oregon needs more aggressive and focused reforms beyond existing measures, a stance central to Pencil’s critique during public interactions.