Election 2022
One week before election, Oregon voter turnout lags past primaries
Oregon voters are holding onto their ballots longer this year than they have in recent primary elections. A week before the May 17 election, just over 288,000 of the state’s more than 2.9 million registered voters have cast their ballots, according to the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office. That’s a turnout rate of 9.8%. Both […]
Proposal to decriminalize sex work won’t appear on Oregon ballots
Oregonians won’t get the chance to vote on whether to decriminalize sex work this year after backers of a ballot initiative ended their campaign Thursday. The proposed initiative would have made it legal to buy and sell sex in Oregon and would have treated sex work like other occupations, subject to employment law and state […]
Poll: Drazan leads crowded Republican field for Oregon governor
The former House Republican leader has moved to the top of a crowded field of GOP candidates for Oregon governor with less than two weeks left before the May 17 primary election, according to a new independent poll. About 19% of the 514 likely Republican voters who responded to the poll chose Christine Drazan, who […]
Next Oregon governor could change state’s approach to abortion after Supreme Court decision
In recent years, Oregon has established itself as a haven for abortion rights, providing access at no cost to Oregonians and creating a fund for out-of-state patients who can’t obtain care in their own states. That could all change after the 2022 election. Monday night’s leak of a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion that would […]
Independent redistricting advocates look to 2024 after Oregon Supreme Court ruling
A group of Oregonians who don’t want politicians to draw Oregon’s electoral maps are giving up on their attempts to reach the ballot this year to change that. Petitioners sought to amend the Oregon Constitution to create an independent redistricting commission that would draw new legislative and congressional districts beginning in 2023. Before voters can […]
How to find fundraising and spending in Oregon politics
Vast information about who gives money to people running for office and how those candidates spend the money is available for free online. But the state and federal websites that compile campaign finance information can be clunky and far from intuitive. For people who aren’t candidates, campaign treasurers or political journalists who use ORESTAR or […]
Local party officials tell DC Dems to stay out of Oregon primaries
Days before President Joe Biden endorsed Rep. Kurt Schrader for re-election, local Democratic officials sent national Democrats a very different message. Biden, in a statement last weekend announcing his endorsement, said he didn’t always agree with Schrader, but that the seven-term congressman was there for him when it mattered and helped pass much of Biden’s […]
Time running out to register to vote in Oregon primary election
Tuesday is the last day to register to vote or choose a political party in time to vote in the May primary election. Oregon has closed primaries, meaning only registered Democrats or Republicans get to vote in primary elections for most races, including governor, Congress, the U.S. Senate and the Legislature. The more than 1.2 […]
Secretary of State reissuing second voters’ guide in Washington County to correct omissions
The Secretary of State’s Office will reissue Voters’ Pamphlets for Washington County after leaving out statements from four candidates in versions already sent to voters. The agency said Thursday that the pamphlets it sent out omitted statements for four Democratic state representatives running in the May election: Rep. Courtney Neron, who is seeking re-election in […]
Oregon man facing charges for Jan. 6 ends campaign for governor
A Hillsboro man facing federal criminal charges for his involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has ended his campaign for governor. Reed Christensen shared a press release dated April 14 about his decision to end his campaign in response to a Capital Chronicle article about Republican gubernatorial candidates who defended the […]
Republican candidates for Oregon governor chasing small slivers of voters
Just 5.3 percent of the vote theoretically could produce the next Republican nominee for Oregon governor, far fewer votes someone would need to be elected state senator in the fall. The primary winner likely will get considerably more than that, of course. But since every candidate on the ballot will pick up at least a […]
Democrats learn to wave at the log trucks in rural Yamhill County
Six of the leading Democratic primary candidates in Oregon’s new Congressional district have more in common than their largely indistinguishable policy agendas. Each of them has spent at least half a day, some a full nine hours, touring Yamhill County and driving old logging roads with the county’s only Democratic commissioner, Casey Kulla. Yamhill County, […]