Oregon General Election Update November 4, 2020
We don’t know who will be elected President of the United States at this time, but we do know that Oregon Democrats will retake control of all statewide offices with the election of Sen. Shemia Fagan to the Secretary of State’s Office. She replaces Bev Clarno, a Republican, who was appointed by Gov. Kate Brown after the death of Dennis Richard- son. Treasurer Tobias Read was elected to a second term. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, D, wins re-election. Democrats kept their supermajorities in the Oregon Legislature but the 2/3 majority needed to prevent a walk-out eludes them.
2020 General Election Snapshot
- State Legislature: Democrats now control the House 38-22 and the Senate 18-12. They have a super majority, which allows them to raise taxes without Republican votes. They need 40 seats in the House and 20 in the Senate in order to constitute a quorum and prevent walk-outs.
- Democrats lost one open D seat in the Oregon Senate but flipped an R seat.
- In the Oregon House, Democrats lost two open seats but flipped an R seat. If trends hold the new makeup is House 37-23 and Senate 18-12.
- Physicians Dr. Lisa Reynolds (D-36), Dr. Maxine Dexter (D-33) win their races for a two-year term in the House of Representatives. Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, a fellow physician, won her race in 2018. Senate seats are for four-year terms.
Ballot Measure Recap
Ballot Measure 107 Campaign Finance Reform PASSED
Ballot Measure 108 Increase Tobacco /Vaping/Cigar taxes: PASSED
Ballot Measure 109 Psilocybin: PASSED
Ballot Measure 110 Decriminalize personal possession of drugs: PASSED
Universal PreSchool passes in Portland
Congressional Races
U.S. Senate — Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley wins re-election. Sen. Ron Wyden, D, won re-election in 2016. U.S. Senate terms are six years. U.S. House of Representatives Sen. Cliff Bentz, R, becomes the newest member of Oregon’s Congressional Delega- tion. He replaces Rep. Greg Walden, R-District 2, who is retiring this year. The rest ofOregon’s delegation was re-elected: Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-District 1; Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-District 3; Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-District 4; and Rep. Kurt Schrader, D- District 5. U.S. House terms are two-years.
Secretary of State
Sen. Shemia Fagan, (D) wins her race against Sen. Kim Thatcher (R).
State Senate Races
Four new senators are elected to open seats
Senate seats are for staggered four-year terms. This year 16 of them were up for elec- tion and four new seats opened: Sen. Laurie Monnes Anderson, D-Gresham, Sen. Arnie Roblan, D, Coos Bay, Democrat Mark Hass, D-Beaverton and Sen. Herman Baertschiger, R-Grants Pass, are not running for re-election. The seats will be filled by Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale, Dick Anderson, R, Lincoln City, Kate Lieber, D-Portland and Art Robinson, R-Cave Junction. An appointee will take the seat vacated by Democratic State Senator Shemia Fagan.
The spotlight races
Senate District 5 (South and central coast): Flipped seat D to R
Republican Dick Anderson, a former Lincoln City mayor is leading Melissa Cribbons, the Democratic candidate in the open seat vacated by Sen. Arnie Roblan, D.
District 10 (South and West Salem; part of Polk County): Flipped seat R to D Democrat Deb Patterson, a pastor, has won the race over incumbent Sen. Denyc Boles, to finish the remaining two years of Sen. Jackie Winter’s term. Sen. Winters died of cancer in 2019. The seat will be up for election in 2022. Boles works in community rela- tions at Salem Hospital.
District 27 (Bend and surrounding area): Republican incumbent Tim Knopp of Bend, executive vice president of the Central Oregon Builders Association, is narrowly leading Democrat Eileen Kiely of Sunriver, a retired Daimler Truck North America executive.
State House Races
Twelve new state representatives are elected
The spotlight races:
District 9 (South coast, from Coos Bay to Lincoln County): Flipped seat D to R Republican Gerald “Boomer” Wright of Reedsport, retired Mapleton school superintendent, wins this open seat vacated by Caddy McKeown of Coos Bay after four terms. District 19 (South Salem, Aumsville and Turner):
Republican appointee Raquel Moore-Green of Salem, consultant, wins the seat former- ly held by Denyc Boles.
District 20 (South and West Salem; part of Polk County): Democratic incumbent Paul Evans of Monmouth, community college instructor and communications consultant, wins his rematch against Republican Selma Pierce of Salem, retired dentist.
District 26 (Wilsonville, Sherwood, parts of Clackamas, Washington and Yamhill coun- ties): Democratic incumbent Courtney Neron of Wilsonville, teacher, wins re-election.
District 32 (North coast, also part of western Washington County): Flipped seat D to R. Republican mayor Suzanne Weber of Tillamook, wins the open seat vacated by De- mocrat Tiffiny Mitchell of Astoria in this district with a 5 percent Democratic edge. District 37 (Tualatin, West Linn):Democratic incumbent Rachel Prusak of West Linn, nurse, wins re-election
District 47 (East Portland): Democratic incumbent Diego Hernandez wins re-election. District 52 Democratic incumbent Anna Williams of Hood River, academic adviser and adjunct faculty for online college program, wins her re-match against Republican Jeff Helfrich of Hood River, project manager at Hood Tech Aero and retired Portland police sergeant.
District 54 (Bend): Flipped R to D. Republican incumbent Cheri Helt of Bend, small- business owner, has lost the race by a large margin to Democrat Jason Kropf of Bend, a deputy district attorney in Deschutes County.
Sources: Portland Tribune, Oregon Secretary of State Election Results, NPR Nov. 4, 2020 10:32 a.m.
