Tina Kotek came to Seaside amid a week of campaigning in the governor’s race. Kotek faces Republican Christine Drazan and Betsy Johnson, who is unaffiliated.

Kotek called her visit a “small business tour,” starting at Cleanline Surf with stops at Beach Books and Hop and Vine, where she met with members of the group Indivisible North Coast Oregon.

“I’m looking forward to being a governor for the entire state,” she said in an interview at Cleanline. “I want to support our coastal communities.”

She listed housing as Seaside’s most important issue. “I think people have a hard time working in our coastal communities and actually being able to live there. It is an issue up and down the Coast — and Seaside’s no different.”

The state has to be a better partner, she said, providing technical assistance, planning and financing.

“The state can have a much different role than it’s currently taking. And that’s something I really want to focus on as governor, because we’ve been sitting back and our communities are having a hard time making sure they have the housing they need.”

Tourism is the lifeblood of the economy, she said. “We do have to figure out how to find more ongoing resources for our coastal communities for housing or services.”

At the Indivisible event, Kotek was met by a welcoming crowd, and was asked about climate change, housing, forestry and natural resources.

“For me, it’s always been about ‘will this help people?’ That’s a hard conversation,” Kotek said. “Is it going to help? Is it going to make things better? And you know, I sleep well knowing that I’ve tried. Even if it is sometimes kind of messy, it’s always about making things better for people.”

While things are tough, she said, “that doesn’t mean we can’t solve our problems together.”

Accompanied by her wife, Aimee Wilson, Kotek said she was a frequent visitor to Seaside, where she likes antique shopping, trips to the beach and just to “hang out.”

Kotek, who grew up in Pennsylvania, said Seaside reminded her of her summers at Seaside Heights on the New Jersey shore.

She followed her Seaside visit with trips to Eugene, Salem and Gresham.