Oregon's most unexpected gubernatorial candidate? A pencil with a point

National Oregon's most unexpected gubernatorial candidate? A pencil with a point May 11, 20267:14 AM ET From By  Dirk VanderHart J. Schuberth, who is running for Oregon governor as Pencil, speaks with voters and curious passersby as they walk around downtown Portland, Ore., to campaign on April 23. Schuberth is an advocate for reforming the state's K-12 school system. Eli Imadali/OPB hide caption toggle caption Eli Imadali/OPB PORTLAND, Ore. — The downtown Saturday farmer's market is one of this city's bedrock institutions – a blocks-long parade of vendors and buskers in the shade of soaring elms. And on a recent Saturday, gladhanding through it all, came a six-foot-tall talking pencil. "My name is Pencil," the pencil told an attendee, pressing a flyer into her hand. "I'm running for governor because we need to raise awareness about education." "You're running as a pencil or a person?" the surprised woman asked. "As a pencil." Picture a smiling office supply store mascot: Pointy lead tip just above its bespectacled face. Big yellow barrel of a body. Pink eraser down around the knees. Sponsor Message That's Pencil, Oregon's most unlikely gubernatorial candidate this year. Dead last J. Schuberth, who is running for Oregon governor as Pencil, walks around downtown Portland, Ore., to campaign on April 23, 2026. Eli Imadali/OPB hide caption toggle caption Eli Imadali/OPB Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek is seeking another term in November. A clutch of Republicans is tussling over who gets to take her on. And Pencil is running against them all, asking voters to skip voting for any Republican or Democrat and instead write "Pencil" on their ballots. It's an absurd request – with a very sharp point. Oregon fourth-graders rank dead last in reading, according to one prominent analysis of national testing. It's Pencil's mission to alert as many voters as they can to that alarming stat. "This is an indictment of the people who are running our state," said J. Schuberth, the person beh...