When Dustin Buehler was hired as Gov. Kate Brown‘s deputy general counsel in December 2017, he might have had one strike against him: He shares a last name with Brown’s opponent in the close governor’s race with Oregon Rep. Knute Buehler, R-Bend.

It’s unclear how often Dustin is asked his relationship to the state legislator. The governor’s press secretary didn’t give Oregon Capital Insider those kinds of details, nor was Dustin allowed to communicate directly with us. He referred our questions to the governor’s communications staff.

“Dustin doesn’t know if he’s related to Rep. Buehler, and he has never met him,” wrote Kate Kondayen, a governor press secretary, in an email to Capital Insider.

In the press release about Dustin’s hiring, the governor’s communications staff noted that he is a seventh-generation Oregonian.

Knute Buehler said his family immigrated to the United States in the 1920s and eventually settled in Drain, Ore. His maternal grandparents are from Oklahoma.

Dustin’s interest in politics is another common thread with the state representative. Before becoming a lawyer, Dustin worked as a legislative assistant in the Oregon Legislature, but he worked for the opposing side. He was eventually worked as outreach coordinator for the Oregon House Democratic Caucus Office.