General election picture becomes clearer with most races decided

Connor Radnovich
Salem Statesman Journal
Workers check ballots at elections offices in Clackamas County, Oregon, the state's third most populous county south of Portland, Tuesday, May 17, 2022. Many ballots in the county were printed with blurry barcodes, preventing them from being read by voting tabulation machines. Workers, one Democrat and one Republican per pair, are re-recording votes from the blurred ballots on new ballots so they can be read. The problem may cause significant delays in vote-counting in a county that includes parts of two Congressional districts, including one with a competitive Democratic primary. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)

With the majority of votes counted across Oregon from Tuesday's primary election, voters now have a clearer sense of what the general election races will look like across local, regional, state and federal contests.

In the governor's race, former Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek will face off against former Oregon House Republican Leader Christine Drazan. The two will be joined by former Democratic Sen. Betsy Johnson, who changed her party affiliation and is running as a nonaffiliated candidate.

Those who have followed the Oregon Legislature over the past few years will be familiar with the sparring matches between Drazan and Kotek since Drazan became Republican leader before the 2020 legislative session.

The pair's overlapping time in the Legislature was marked by increased tensions between Republicans and Democrats.

Republicans frequently said they were cut out of negotiations over important bills and, when they were allowed at the table, their ideas were not taken seriously or included in the final draft. Democrats maintained that Republicans were not willing to engage with them early enough and the amendments they proposed often went against the legislation's core tenets.

The practice of reading bills in-full before a vote also became commonplace in recent years, even when there wasn't a particular piece of legislation causing friction between the parties.

Before 2020, the minority party declining to suspend the constitutional rule that requires bills be read in-full before final passage was done to voice a specific frustration. Historically, the rule was suspended to allow the body to complete its work more quickly.

The 2020 session was a sign of things to come: During the most recent session, the House and Senate required dozens of hours more of floor sessions to accommodate the practice, with the chambers investing in computer bill-reading software to save staffers' voices.

Drazan also led two House Republican quorum-denying walkouts in 2020. The first was a one-night walkout to protest the speed with which bills were moving through the legislature, the second was a multi-day, session-ending effort in response to a controversial greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade bill.

Drazan claimed Democrats were unwilling to compromise on the climate change legislation or shelve it for a later date. Kotek said Republicans broke their oaths of office and undermined democracy by leaving. Only three bills made it through the legislative process that year, out of 258 introduced.

The pair were also at odds during the state's redistricting process. During the 2021 legislative session, Kotek cut a deal with Republicans to stop the practice of reading bills in-full in return for giving them equal representation on the committee that would play a key role in deciding the state's new state legislative and congressional district boundaries.

However, later that year with the redistrict effort stalled, Kotek reneged on the deal and put Democrats back into the majority on the committee responsible for the congressional maps. The maps ended up passing and were drafted into law.

Republicans, including Drazan, accused Kotek of breaking her word and cheating. Drazan moved to censure Kotek, which failed when Democrats refused to support the motion. Kotek's office said Republicans had already violated the "spirit" of the deal by not meaningfully contributing to the process.

By the time they both left the Legislature to focus on their respective campaigns for governor, legislative staff said the partisan disagreements that are common in the legislative process had devolved into personal grudges between House Democratic and Republican leadership.

Lessons learned from primary

While some races are still undecided due to either close vote margins or uncounted ballots (particularly in Clackamas County) state political analysts have pulled some lessons from the primary election.

Jim Moore, political science professor at Pacific University, said progressive Democratic candidates fared better this year than their more-moderate counterparts. He points to Kotek winning a number of smaller, rural counties that are typically more moderate and presumably would have favored her top rival Oregon Treasurer Tobais Read.

Moore also noted that Jamie McLeod-Skinner is currently leading in the primary for Congressional District 5 over moderate incumbent Rep. Kurt Schrader. That race has not yet been called because of the thousands of ballots uncounted in Clackamas County, which happens to be Schrader's home county.

If McLeod-Skinner ends up winning, it would be arguably the biggest upset this primary season. She was massively outspent and was going up against an incumbent with significant name recognition. In most races this year - as is typical every year - the candidate with greater name recognition and campaign apparatus won easily, Moore said.

"The people who had money were those who tended to win," he said.

Bill Lunch, political science professor emeritus at Oregon State University, said the most interesting aspect of the May primary elections didn't really have anything to do with these races at all. Instead, it is nonaffiliated gubernatorial candidate Betsy Johnson now becoming a bigger part of the race as candidates look toward November.

Republicans have said since the primary began they have a genuine shot at the governorship for the first time in 35 years in part due to the problems Oregon is facing — which they blame on Democrats — and Johnson's candidacy.

The GOP has argued Johnson will pull votes away from Democrats since she herself was a Democrat for years. Democrats, on the other hand, point out that Johnson's top campaign contributors are traditionally conservative donors, which could starve Republicans of important cash.

Johnson has said both Kotek and Drazan are too extreme and those voters who want a candidates focused on solutions, not partisanship, will vote for her.

Lunch said it's too early to tell which way voters will go.

"She has the potential to create a genuine three-way race in November and, in so doing, provide an opening for the R's to win the governor’s race for the first time in decades," he said. "Though Johnson appeals primarily, as far as I can tell, to voters who otherwise have shifted toward the R's in recent years, so she may simply reinforce the strength of the D's."

Primary election results

As of Saturday at 1 p.m., here are the results in each contested race:

Governor

Democratic primary — Winner: Tina Kotek

  • Tina Kotek — 56.72%
  • Tobias Read — 31.25%
  • Patrick Starnes — 2.14%
  • George Carrillo — 1.88%
  • Michael Trimble — 1.01%
  • John Sweeney — 0.85%
  • Julian Bell — 0.81%
  • Dave Stauffer — 0.47%
  • Wilson Bright — 0.46%
  • Ifeanyichukwu Diru — 0.36%
  • Keisha Lanell Merchant — 0.35%
  • Genevieve Wilson — 0.32%
  • David Beem — 0.26%
  • Michael Cross — 0.26%
  • Peter Hall — 0.2%

Republican primary — Winner: Christine Drazan

  • Christine Drazan — 22.70%
  • Bob Tiernan — 17.82%
  • Stan Pulliam — 10.42%
  • Bridget Barton — 10.25%
  • Bud Pierce — 8.93%
  • Kerry McQuisten — 7.97%
  • Marc Thielman — 7.75%
  • Bill Sizemore — 3.56%
  • Jessica Gomez — 2.65%
  • Tim McCloud — 1.16%
  • Nick Hess — 1.13%
  • Court Boice — 1.09%
  • Brandon Merritt — 0.96%
  • Reed Christensen — 0.85%
  • Amber Richardson — 0.53%
  • Raymond Baldwin — 0.12%
  • David Burch — 0.11%
  • John Presco — 0.05%
  • Stefan Strek — 0.05%

U.S. Senate

Democratic primary — Winner: Ron Wyden

  • Ron Wyden — 89.13%
  • William Barlow III — 6.84%
  • Brent Thompson — 3.41%

Republican primary — Winner: Too close to call

  • Jo Rae Perkins — 32.66%
  • Darin Harbick — 30.79%
  • Sam Palmer — 12.32%
  • Jason Beebe — 11.38%
  • Christopher Christensen — 8.15%
  • Robert Fleming — 1.98%
  • Ibra Taher — 1.88%

Congressional District 5

Democratic primary: This race has not been called due to the many uncounted ballots in Clackamas County.

  • Jamie McLeod-Skinner — 59.61%
  • Kurt Schrader — 39.75%

Republican primary: This race has not been called due to the many uncounted ballots in Clackamas County.

  • Lori Chavez-DeRemer — 42.09%
  • Jimmy Crumpacker — 30.00%
  • John Di Paola — 15.83%
  • Laurel Roses — 8.72%
  • Madison Oatman — 2.75%

Congressional District 6

Democratic primary — Winner: Rep. Andrea Salinas

  • Rep. Andrea Salinas — 36.28%
  • Carrick Flynn — 18.28%
  • Cody Reynolds — 11.47%
  • Loretta Smith — 9.81%
  • Dr. Kathleen Harder — 8.16%
  • Matt West — 7.98%
  • Rep. Teresa Alonso Leon — 6.71%

Republican primary — Winner: Mike Erickson

  • Mike Erickson — 34.44%
  • Rep. Ron Noble — 17.88%
  • Amy Ryan Courser — 16.18%
  • Angela Plowhead — 13.28%
  • Jim Bunn — 10.31%
  • David Russ — 3.82%
  • Nathan Sandvig — 3.49%

Bureau of Labor and Industries commissioner

The top two voter-getters in this primary will advance to a November runoff election, as long as one candidate does not receive more than 50% of the vote.

  • Christina Stephenson — 46.93%
  • Cheri Helt — 19.32%
  • Casey Kulla — 14.15%
  • Brent Barker — 11.27%
  • Robert Neuman — 3.70%
  • Chris Henry — 2.59%
  • Aaron Baca — 1.59%

Oregon legislative races

House District 17

Republican primary Winner: Ed Diehl

  • Ed Diehl — 71.17%
  • Beth Jones — 28.43%

House District 19

Democratic primary — Winner: Too close to call

  • Tom Andersen — 36.68%
  • Jackie Leung — 31.65%
  • Rep. Brad Witt — 31.05%

House District 21

Republican primary — Winner: Kevin Mannix

  • Kevin Mannix — 86.23%
  • Kyler McNaught — 13.29%

Democratic primary — Winner: Ramiro Navarro

  • Ramiro Navarro — 64.06%
  • Robert Husseman — 34.44%

House District 22

Republican primary: Winner — Tracy Cramer

  • Tracy Cramer — 68.39%
  • Jim Lowder — 30.92%

House District 23

Democratic primary: Winner — Kriss Wright

  • Kriss Wright — 53.66%
  • Elise Yarnell Hollamon — 45.27%

Senate District 11

Republican primary: Winner — Sen. Kim Thatcher

  • Sen. Kim Thatcher — 91.73%
  • Marcello di Cecco — 7.02%

Democratic primary: Winner — Eric Swenson

  • Eric Swenson — 44.18%
  • Richard Walsh — 34.20%
  • Anthony Rosilez — 20.41%

Local and regional races

Marion County District Attorney — Winner: Paige Clarkson

  • Paige Clarkson — 52.17%
  • Spencer Todd — 47.55%

Polk County Commissioner — Winner: Craig Pope

  • Craig Pope — 60.37%
  • Mickey Garus — 39.31%

Salem mayor — Winner: Chris Hoy

  • Winner: Chris Hoy — 55.12%
  • Chane Griggs — 44.22%

Salem City Council Ward 4 — Winner: Too close to call

  • Deanna Gwyn — 50.01%
  • Dynee Medlock — 49.64%

Salem City Council Ward 6 — Winner: Too close to call

  • Julie Hoy — 53.13%
  • Stacey Vieyra-Braendle — 46.45%

Salem City Council Ward 8 — Winner: Too close to call

  • Micki Varney — 51.66%
  • Chris Cummings — 48.19%

Court of Appeals, Position 3 — Winner: Darleen Ortega

  • Darleen Ortega — 62.11%
  • Vance Day — 37.58%

Dallas School District bond — Winner: Yes

  • Yes — 56.74%
  • No — 43.26%

Keep fluoride in Sublimity water — Winner: Yes

  • Yes — 51.83%
  • No — 48.17%

Donald police operational levy — Winner: No

  • No — 53.95%
  • Yes — 46.05%

Aurora infrastructure bond — Winner: Yes

  • Yes — 58.91%
  • No — 41.09%

Gervais School District bond — Winner: No

  • No — 58.37%
  • Yes — 41.63%

Reporter Connor Radnovich covers the Oregon Legislature and state government. Contact him at cradnovich@statesmanjournal.com or 503-508-6131, or follow him on Twitter at @CDRadnovich.