Google Trends data showed that at the start of the week, abortion was sitting in the fourth spot among five highly searched political topics. Its rank has varied throughout the week, spiking as high as second between late October 13 and midday on October 14. After dropping back down to fourth place on Wednesday, abortion had risen again to the third position as of 8 a.m. Thursday.

The high interest in abortion in Oregon comes as Democrats face a potential loss in the state’s gubernatorial race. The last time that a Republican was serving as Oregon’s governor was when Victor Atiyeh left office after his second term in January of 1987.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan has generally been leading Tina Kotek in the polls, threatening to break the Democrats’ hold on the office. The current polling average from FiveThirtyEight shows Drazan leading with 37.6 percent of support compared to Kotek’s 35 percent. Betsey Johnson, who is also in the race without affiliation to either party, has 16.4 percent.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, several states have enacted restrictions on abortions or invoked existing laws curbing the procedure. Abortion services remain legal in Oregon, and according to the Guttmacher Institute, the state does not have “any of the major types of abortion restrictions—such as waiting periods, mandated parental involvement or limitations on publicly funded abortions” that can be found in other parts of the U.S.

In an interview with The Bulletin this month, Drazan said that she “didn’t run for governor to change Oregon’s abortion laws” and that “I have a personal value on this thing that’s faith-based, that doesn’t shift or change with politics.

“But I also recognize that politics is the art of the possible and we have Democrat legislatures and it’s very unlikely that they’ll move anything to the governor’s desk. That doesn’t exactly answer your question, but I think it’s important to answer that question within the context of the job that I’m asking to do.”

She added that Oregon’s abortion law is “settled” and “the fight to change Oregon law on that is probably not something that I will pursue in my first term of office.”

But Planned Parenthood PAC of Oregon Executive Director An Do told Newsweek that Drazan is an “anti-abortion politician,” noting that she has been endorsed by the anti-abortion rights group Oregon Right to Life. Drazan was one of a group of political candidates who, according to an Axios report in August, removed “pro-life” mentions from the issues page on her campaign website. Do said that she believes this is meant to “downplay her threats to abortion access in our state.”

“There are many, many ways in which Christine Drazan, if elected to governor, could undermine abortion access in our state,” Do said.

This could include appointing anti-abortion judges and agency heads, signing executive orders and vetoing budget pieces that would expand abortion access. Do said that it would be “foolish” to believe Drazan when she said that she probably won’t pursue changes to Oregon’s abortion laws in her first term if elected.

“I think if you’re gonna hide the ball on what your extremist views on abortion are while simultaneously saying like, ‘I won’t do anything about it,’ I think there’s very little trust cultivated in that statement,” Do said.

Kotek, in comparison, lists defending and advancing abortion rights as one of her priorities on her campaign website, including ensuring “that Oregon is a safe harbor for anyone seeking access to reproductive health care.”

“Oregonians are deeply disturbed that the government and politicians are trying to take away people’s rights,” Katie Wertheimer, communications director for Kotek’s campaign, said in a statement to Newsweek.

“Voters here know that taking away abortion rights is the top GOP priority, and now that voters are tuning in to the Governor’s race, we are confident that most Oregonians will reject anti-abortion Republican Christine Drazan.”

Newsweek reached out to the Democratic Party of Oregon and Drazan’s campaign for comment.

Updated 10/21/22, 10:50 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with a statement from Kotek’s campaign.