PORTLAND, Ore. — On a recent Saturday at the downtown farmer’s market, amid produce stalls and street performers, a six‑foot‑tall pencil shook hands and handed out flyers.
“My name is Pencil,” the costume announced to passersby. “I’m running for governor because we need to raise awareness about education.”
The person inside the yellow barrel, pointy lead above a bespectacled face and a pink eraser near the knees, is J. Schuberth. Running as “Pencil,” Schuberth says the campaign is intended to draw attention to a grim fact: an analysis of national testing shows Oregon’s fourth‑graders rank last in reading among U.S. states.
It’s an attention‑grabbing stunt, deliberately absurd on the surface. Schuberth, a former college professor and longtime literacy advocate, built the costume earlier this year after growing frustrated with what they describe as ineffective education policy. Their message: if voters are willing to write an inanimate object’s name on the ballot, state leaders should see how deep public concern runs.
Pencil’s pitch asks voters to skip major‑party choices and write “Pencil” on their ballots as a protest and a prompt for action. The campaign distributes postcards, flyers and magnets that pair a friendly mascot with a blunt headline: “Oregon’s education system is failing our kids, but together we can FIX it!” Schuberth has already spent nearly $30,000 of their own money to promote the effort.
Schuberth blames long‑standing Democratic control of the Legislature and state government for the results. “This is an indictment of the people who are running our state,” they said, arguing that recent reforms don’t go far enough.
Gov. Tina Kotek, who is seeking another term, has acknowledged literacy is a problem and has made reading a priority. Kotek’s administration has pushed major investments in early literacy programs and backed a new law intended to give the state more ability to intervene in underperforming districts. “I agree with Pencil,” Kotek said in a recent interview. “We have a problem when it comes to literacy and reading and writing in our state. That’s why it’s been a priority for me since my first year as governor.”
But Schuberth remains unconvinced the current approach will move the needle quickly enough. They point to other states, such as Mississippi, where concentrated literacy efforts have produced measurable gains, and say Oregon needs stronger, faster action.
Will Pencil win? Legally and practically, no. Oregon’s constitution does not allow a mascot to assume the office of governor. And under state election rules, write‑in ballots are not individually tabulated unless the total number of write‑ins surpasses the leading candidate’s vote — so it may be hard to know exactly how many people cast ballots for “Pencil.” Schuberth has explored ways to tally the campaign’s own count by requesting images of cast ballots, should that prove possible.
Still, the stunt has resonated with some voters at the market. A number of Democrats told Pencil they might write in the name as a protest despite intending to support Kotek overall. “Ultimately, I want Tina Kotek to win,” one Portland resident said, but added they would consider a write‑in “to get the point across.” Others said frustration with student outcomes has already pushed families to private schools and made them consider symbolic votes.
Republican candidates challenging Kotek have also made education a central issue this year, sharpening their criticisms of state policy. Pencil’s campaign exists alongside those debates as a performative way to force the conversation into public view.
Schuberth says the goal is simple: make the crisis visible and get policymakers to act. After the May 19 primary, Pencil plans to continue the effort into the November general election. Whether the costume translates into measurable political pressure or a recorded tally on the ballot, Schuberth hopes the stunt will serve as a wake‑up call about the state’s reading crisis and the urgency of meaningful reform.