Oregon Election Results and Credit Unions

Posted by Pam Leavitt on November 6, 2024

Oregonians vote by mail and have been doing so for over 20 years.  While mail-in voting has become a very hot topic nationwide, here in Oregon it’s “old news.”  In addition, Oregon’s vote tally at 8 p.m. was more complete than many states because Oregon is one of the 43 states allowed to begin processing mailed ballots before Election Day. So we’re able to share most results now, and we will provide more context in the days to come.

Oregon State House and Senate

All 60 state House districts and 15 of the 30 state Senate districts were up for election. Democrats now hold 35 House seats and 17 Senate seats, and just one more in either chamber could give them the 60% supermajority.  Republicans were looking to shrink those majorities, as they did in 2022, but the “red wave” did not hit Oregon.  At press time, here are some of the highlights of the Oregon House and Senate.  We will be updating our blog if anything changes.

Oregon State House and Senate

All 60 state House districts and 15 of the 30 state Senate districts were up for election. Democrats now hold 35 House seats and 17 Senate seats, and just one more in either chamber could give them the 60% supermajority.  Republicans were looking to shrink those majorities, as they did in 2022, but the “red wave” did not hit Oregon.  At press time, here are some of the highlights of the Oregon House and Senate.  We will be updating our blog if anything changes.

OR Senate

• In Bend, Democrats flipped a seat with the election of Anthony Broadman who defeated Republican Michael Summers in a seat held by former Republican Senator Tim Knopp;
• Gresham was a spot that Republicans hoped to flip but Democratic Incumbent Senate Chris Gorsek held on with 55% of the vote to win reelection.
• The Senate will now have 18 Democratic Senators to 12 Republicans.

OR House

• Not many surprises in the Oregon House, with the exception of one race.  At press time, House Republican leader Jeff Helfrich, from Hood River, is only leading by 200 votes in his race against Democrat Nick Walden Poublon . That contest is still too close to call.
• Another close race in the Redmond area was Incumbent Emerson Levy who pulled off a victory (55%-44%) to challenger Keri Lopez.
• Also in Gresham, the two Incumbent Democratic House members, Representative Ricki Ruiz and Representative Zach Hudson were both defeating their Republican challengers by over 1000 votes.
• In SE Portland, another close race is being led by Democratic incumbent Hoa Nguyen defeating John Masterman by just over 500 votes.  This race is too close to call.

Statewide Races

Not many surprises with the three main statewide races in Oregon.

• Longtime credit union supporter Tobias Read defeated State Senator Dennis Linthicum 53%-43% in the race for Secretary of State.
• State Senator Elizabeth Steiner defeated fellow State Senator Brian Boquist 49%-44% and will be the new State Treasurer.
• The race that many Republicans hoped to have a chance at victory was the Attorney General, but the former Speaker of the House, Democrat Dan Rayfield, defeated challenger Will Lathrop (R), 53%-46%.
• Oregon credit unions supported Read, Steiner and Rayfield in their elections.

Federal Congressional

Oregon had one of the most contested races in the country and the 11^th most expensive in the nation was in Congressional District 5 with Incumbent Lori Chavez-Deremer (R), and challenger Janelle Bynum (D).  The race is currently at 47%-45% with Bynum in the lead.

The results of the five other Congressional Seats in Oregon are:

• CD 1 – Congresswoman Bonamici won reelection, with 68% of the vote
• CD 2 – Congressman Cliff Bentz was reelected, with 64% of the vote
• CD 3 – Newly elected was Maxine Dexter, a current member of the Oregon House, won with 69% of the vote
• CD4 – Congresswoman Val Hoyle was reelected with 53% of the vote; and
• CD 6 – Congresswoman Andrea Salinas won with 54% of the vote.

Key Ballot Measures

On Tuesday night, Oregonians said “no” to the biggest tax increase in Oregon history by defeating Ballot Measure 118, 79%-21%.

Measure 118, known as the “Oregon Rebate,” would have increased the minimum tax by 3% on businesses that have sales in the state above $25 million and distribute the proceeds to every resident who lives in the state.  Proponents said the measure would help working-class Oregonian families and reduce childhood poverty with the universal basic income program. Opponents who raised more than $16 million to defeat the measure said it would increase costs across the state and drive businesses away.

The effort to defeat Measure 118 enjoyed tremendous momentum from the start and involved a large coalition that included businesses, organized labor, think tanks, chambers of commerce, nonprofits, a multipartisan group of state and local elected officials and Oregon credit unions.

One other Ballot Measure– (BM117) — otherwise known as “Ranked Choice Voting” was defeated 60%-40%. This ballot measure would have required ranked choice voting in elections for federal offices and state executive offices and would also allow local governments to use ranked choice voting in elections.

Posted in Advocacy on the Move, Oregon Advocacy.