Oregon gubernatorial election, 2018 (May 15 Democratic primary)

Elections in Oregon, 2018

• General election: Nov. 6
• Voter registration deadline: Oct. 16
• Early voting: N/A
• Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 6

• Online registration: Yes
• Same-day registration: N/A (all-mail elections)
• Voter ID: N/A
• Poll times: N/A

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2022 → ← 2014
Governor of Oregon
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 6, 2018
Primary: May 15, 2018 General: November 6, 2018 Pre-election incumbent(s): Kate Brown (Democrat)
How to vote
Poll times: No polling hours (vote-by-mail) Voting in Oregon
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Toss-up Sabato's Crystal Ball: Toss-up Inside Elections: Tilt Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
Federal and state primary competitiveness State executive elections in 2018 Impact of term limits in 2018 State government trifectas State government triplexes Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
Oregon executive elections
Governor Labor commissioner

A Democratic Party primary election took place on May 15, 2018 in Oregon to determine which candidate would run as the party's nominee in the state's November 6, 2018, gubernatorial election.

For more information about gubernatorial elections in 2018, click here.

SETTING THE STAGE

Heading into the 2018 election, the sitting governor was Kate Brown (D), who took office on February 18, 2015, following the resignation of John Kitzhaber (D). Brown was elected to finish the remainder of Kitzhaber's term in 2016. Brown announced on September 25, 2017, that she would seek election to a full term in 2018.

In 2018, Oregon was a Democratic trifecta. It had held this status since 2013, when Democrats gained a majority in the Oregon House of Representatives. Oregon was under divided triplex control.

Oregon was won by the Democratic candidate in each of the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016. The widest margin of victory was Barack Obama's 16 percent margin in 2008 while the narrowest was Al Gore's 0.44 percent margin in 2000.

Oregon was one of 36 states that held an election for governor in 2018. Democrats gained seven previously Republican-held seats, and Republicans gained one previously independent-held seat. Heading into the 2018 elections, there were 16 Democratic governors, 33 Republican governors, and one independent governor. In 2018, 26 of the 33 states with a Republican governor held a gubernatorial election, while nine out of the 16 states with a Democratic governor held a gubernatorial election. Seventeen of the 36 seats up for election were open seats (four Democratic, 12 Republican, and one independent), meaning that the sitting governor was not seeking re-election. Click here for more information on other 2018 gubernatorial elections.

Candidates and election results

See also: Statistics on gubernatorial candidates, 2018

Incumbent Kate Brown defeated Ed Jones and Candace Neville in the Democratic primary for Governor of Oregon on May 15, 2018.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Oregon

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kate Brown	83.8	324,451
		Ed Jones	8.6	33,464
		Candace Neville	7.5	29,110

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 387,025
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Context of the 2018 election

Past elections

2016

See also: Oregon gubernatorial special election, 2016

Kate Brown, who had been serving as acting governor of Oregon following the resignation of John Kitzhaber (D), ran to finish the remaining two years of Kitzhaber's term in the state's 2016 election. In the Democratic primary, Brown defeated Julian Bell, Dave Stauffer, Steve Johnson, Kevin M. Forsythe, and Chet Chance by a 76.9 percent margin.

Democratic primary for governor, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Kate Brown Incumbent	83.96%	403,730
Julian Bell	7.04%	33,872
Dave Stauffer	2.83%	13,624
Steve Johnson	2.36%	11,366
Kevin M. Forsythe	1.79%	8,599
Chet Chance	0.95%	4,584
Write-in votes	1.06%	5,077
Total Votes		480,852
Source: https://sos.oregon.gov/elections/Pages/electionhistory.aspx

Voter information

How the primary works

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Oregon generally utilizes a closed primary process. The selection of a party's candidates in an election is limited to registered party members for presidential and legislative elections.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Poll times

Oregon is an all-mail voting state. Each county provides privacy booths that voters can use to mark their ballot. County clerks' offices are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. local time on Election Day. Oregon is divided between the Mountain and Pacific time zones.

Registration requirements

Check your voter registration status here.

To register to vote in Oregon, one must be a resident of Oregon, a United States citizen, and at least 16 years old. Voters must be at least 18 years old by the day of the election in order to receive a ballot. Potential voters can register online or by mailing in a voter registration form to your county election office. The deadline to register is 21 days before the election.

Automatic registration

Oregon implemented automatic voter registration in 2016. For more information, click here.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

Oregon has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.

Same-day registration

Oregon does not allow same-day voter registration.

Residency requirements

To register to vote in Oregon, you must be a resident of the state.

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

Oregon does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual must attest that they are a U.S. citizen when registering to vote. According to the state's voter registration application, a voter who knowingly falsely registers "can be fined up to $125,000 and/or imprisoned for up to 5 years."

All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. As of November 2024, five states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, and New Hampshire — had passed laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration. However, only two of those states' laws were in effect, in Arizona and New Hampshire. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allowed noncitizens to vote in some local elections as of November 2024. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.

Verifying your registration

The Oregon Secretary of State’s Office allows residents to check their voter registration status online by visiting this website.

Voter ID requirements

Oregon is an all-mail voting state. When registering to vote, voters must provide their driver's license number or state ID card number. If voters can not provide this information, they can print and sign a online voter registration form and mail it to their county election office to complete their registration.

Early voting

Since it is an all-mail voting state, Oregon permits early voting. Learn more by visiting this website.

Early voting permits citizens to cast ballots in person at a polling place prior to an election. In states that permit no-excuse early voting, a voter does not have to provide an excuse for being unable to vote on Election Day. States that allow voters to cast no-excuse absentee/mail-in ballots in person are counted as no-excuse early voting states.

As of February 2024, 47 states and the District of Columbia permitted no-excuse early voting.

Absentee voting

Oregon conducts what are commonly referred to as all-mail elections. In Oregon, voting is conducted primarily, although not necessarily exclusively, by mail. Election officials automatically distribute mail-in ballots to eligible electors.

State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in Oregon heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

• Following the 2016 elections, Democrats held both U.S. Senate seats in Oregon.
• Democrats held four of five U.S. House seats in Oregon.

State executives

• As of September 2018, Democrats held three of 11 state executive positions, Republicans held one, and the remaining positions were officially nonpartisan.
• The governor of Oregon was Democrat Kate Brown. The state held an election for governor on November 6, 2018.

State legislature

• Democrats controlled both chambers of the Oregon State Legislature. They had a 35-25 majority in the state House and a 17-13 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status

• Oregon was a Democratic trifecta, meaning that the Democratic Party controlled the office of the governor, the state House, and the state Senate.

2018 elections

See also: Oregon elections, 2018

Oregon held elections for the following positions in 2018:

• 18 U.S. House seats
• Governor
• One lower state executive position
• 17 of 30 state Senate seats
• 60 state House seats
• Municipal elections in Portland and Multnomah County

Demographics

Demographic data for Oregon
	Oregon	U.S.
Total population:	4,024,634	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	95,988	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	85.1%	73.6%
Black/African American:	1.8%	12.6%
Asian:	4%	5.1%
Native American:	1.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.4%	0.2%
Two or more:	4.1%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	12.3%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	89.8%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	30.8%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$51,243	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	18.4%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Oregon. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

As of July 2016, Oregon's three largest cities were Portland (pop. est. 647,805), Salem (pop. est. 169,798), and Eugene (pop. est. 168,916).

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Oregon from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Oregon Secretary of State.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Oregon every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Oregon 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Hillary Clinton	50.1%	Donald Trump	39.1%	11.0%
2012	Barack Obama	54.2%	Mitt Romney	42.1%	12.1%
2008	Barack Obama	56.7%	John McCain	40.4%	16.3%
2004	John Kerry	51.3%	George W. Bush	47.2%	4.1%
2000	Al Gore	47.0%	George W. Bush	46.5%	0.5%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Oregon from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Oregon 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Ron Wyden	56.6%	Mark Callahan	33.4%	23.2%
2014	Jeff Merkley	55.7%	Monica Wehby	36.9%	18.8%
2010	Ron Wyden	57.2%	Jim Huffman	39.3%	17.9%
2008	Jeff Merkley	48.9%	Gordon Smith	45.6%	3.3%
2004	Ron Wyden	63.4%	Al King	31.8%	32.6%
2002	Gordon Smith	56.2%	Bill Bradbury	39.6%	16.6%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Oregon.

Election results (Governor), Oregon 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Kate Brown	50.9%	Bud Pierce	43.1%	7.8%
2014	John Kitzhaber	49.9%	Dennis Richardson	44.1%	5.8%
2010	John Kitzhaber	49.3%	Chris Dudleyy	47.8%	1.5%
2006	Ted Kulongoski	50.7%	Ron Saxton	42.8%	7.9%
2002	Ted Kulongoski	49.0%	Kevin Mannix	46.2%	2.8%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Oregon in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Oregon 2000-2016
Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	1	20%	4	80%	D+3
2014	1	20%	4	80%	D+3
2012	1	20%	4	80%	D+3
2010	1	20%	4	80%	D+3
2008	1	20%	4	80%	D+3
2006	1	20%	4	80%	D+3
2004	1	20%	4	80%	D+3
2002	1	20%	4	80%	D+3
2000	1	20%	4	80%	D+3

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Oregon Party Control: 1992-2024
Sixteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	S	S	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
House	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	S	S	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Two of 36 Oregon counties—5.6 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County	Trump margin of victory in 2016	Obama margin of victory in 2012	Obama margin of victory in 2008
Columbia County, Oregon	11.46%	5.16%	12.02%
Tillamook County, Oregon	5.58%	4.86%	9.89%

In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) won Oregon with 50.1 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 39.1 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Oregon cast votes for the winning presidential candidate 73.3 percent of the time. In that same time frame, Oregon supported Republican candidates for president more often than Democratic candidates, 56.7 to 43.3 percent. The state, however, favored Democrats in every election between between 2000 and 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Oregon. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 39 out of 60 state House districts in Oregon with an average margin of victory of 26.9 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 36 out of 60 state House districts in Oregon with an average margin of victory of 31.6 points. Clinton won four districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.

In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 21 out of 60 state House districts in Oregon with an average margin of victory of 20.3 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 24 out of 60 state House districts in Oregon with an average margin of victory of 24 points. Trump won three districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

2016 presidential results by state House district
District	Obama	Romney	2012 Margin	Clinton	Trump	2016 Margin	Party Control
1	37.15%	59.91%	R+22.8	30.45%	63.42%	R+33	R
2	35.86%	61.05%	R+25.2	27.65%	65.58%	R+37.9	R
3	38.59%	58.64%	R+20.1	32.16%	60.97%	R+28.8	R
4	34.06%	63.51%	R+29.4	27.52%	66.33%	R+38.8	R
5	60.76%	35.69%	D+25.1	58.86%	33.66%	D+25.2	D
6	43.64%	53.69%	R+10	40.10%	52.36%	R+12.3	R
7	40.94%	55.86%	R+14.9	32.79%	59.77%	R+27	R
8	68.36%	28.03%	D+40.3	65.84%	26.50%	D+39.3	D
9	49.44%	47.54%	D+1.9	40.23%	52.56%	R+12.3	D
10	55.67%	41.16%	D+14.5	47.25%	45.02%	D+2.2	D
11	55.39%	41.57%	D+13.8	50.86%	41.87%	D+9	D
12	56.62%	40.21%	D+16.4	49.34%	41.70%	D+7.6	D
13	63.69%	32.89%	D+30.8	62.35%	29.39%	D+33	D
14	57.20%	40.05%	D+17.1	51.09%	40.77%	D+10.3	D
15	44.80%	52.00%	R+7.2	39.46%	51.33%	R+11.9	R
16	68.67%	27.22%	D+41.4	69.48%	20.98%	D+48.5	D
17	36.23%	60.65%	R+24.4	27.71%	64.47%	R+36.8	R
18	38.39%	59.05%	R+20.7	33.45%	58.97%	R+25.5	R
19	44.87%	52.96%	R+8.1	42.46%	50.19%	R+7.7	R
20	50.99%	46.50%	D+4.5	49.71%	42.02%	D+7.7	D
21	57.81%	39.39%	D+18.4	53.19%	38.56%	D+14.6	D
22	54.27%	42.99%	D+11.3	52.07%	40.38%	D+11.7	D
23	43.15%	54.01%	R+10.9	36.74%	55.52%	R+18.8	R
24	47.77%	49.67%	R+1.9	44.83%	46.73%	R+1.9	R
25	43.43%	54.28%	R+10.8	40.87%	50.61%	R+9.7	R
26	49.24%	48.65%	D+0.6	51.80%	40.43%	D+11.4	R
27	62.96%	34.72%	D+28.2	66.84%	25.48%	D+41.4	D
28	59.90%	37.33%	D+22.6	59.87%	31.58%	D+28.3	D
29	54.53%	42.09%	D+12.4	52.00%	38.65%	D+13.4	D
30	56.91%	40.02%	D+16.9	57.59%	33.00%	D+24.6	D
31	52.12%	44.60%	D+7.5	44.06%	47.64%	R+3.6	D
32	52.75%	44.09%	D+8.7	45.64%	46.09%	R+0.5	D
33	65.90%	31.83%	D+34.1	72.64%	20.98%	D+51.7	D
34	63.85%	33.25%	D+30.6	67.22%	24.53%	D+42.7	D
35	60.70%	36.93%	D+23.8	63.83%	28.39%	D+35.4	D
36	79.34%	17.38%	D+62	82.77%	11.05%	D+71.7	D
37	52.79%	45.42%	D+7.4	57.22%	35.31%	D+21.9	R
38	65.77%	32.10%	D+33.7	71.88%	22.01%	D+49.9	D
39	42.78%	55.07%	R+12.3	38.83%	54.39%	R+15.6	R
40	53.15%	44.33%	D+8.8	49.14%	42.74%	D+6.4	D
41	70.80%	26.25%	D+44.5	70.28%	22.34%	D+47.9	D
42	87.06%	7.84%	D+79.2	87.10%	6.08%	D+81	D
43	89.37%	6.92%	D+82.5	89.00%	5.40%	D+83.6	D
44	82.65%	13.55%	D+69.1	81.66%	11.41%	D+70.2	D
45	79.69%	17.31%	D+62.4	80.42%	13.55%	D+66.9	D
46	79.45%	16.72%	D+62.7	80.06%	13.10%	D+67	D
47	66.01%	31.23%	D+34.8	63.57%	29.15%	D+34.4	D
48	61.00%	36.01%	D+25	59.27%	32.83%	D+26.4	D
49	57.08%	40.26%	D+16.8	51.57%	40.49%	D+11.1	D
50	54.82%	42.75%	D+12.1	51.27%	41.12%	D+10.2	D
51	53.04%	44.74%	D+8.3	50.91%	41.90%	D+9	D
52	51.53%	45.97%	D+5.6	46.57%	45.78%	D+0.8	R
53	40.98%	56.77%	R+15.8	39.36%	53.26%	R+13.9	R
54	54.38%	42.95%	D+11.4	55.64%	35.94%	D+19.7	R
55	32.25%	65.13%	R+32.9	24.43%	69.92%	R+45.5	R
56	28.24%	69.10%	R+40.9	23.76%	69.30%	R+45.5	R
57	32.89%	64.08%	R+31.2	27.24%	65.33%	R+38.1	R
58	33.98%	63.22%	R+29.2	27.37%	65.78%	R+38.4	R
59	42.10%	55.62%	R+13.5	36.82%	56.07%	R+19.3	R
60	26.45%	70.57%	R+44.1	20.38%	73.39%	R+53	R
Total	54.64%	42.46%	D+12.2	51.96%	40.57%	D+11.4	-
Source: Daily Kos

Recent news

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Oregon gubernatorial election, 2018 (May 15 Democratic primary) - Google News

See also

Oregon government:

• Oregon state executive offices
• Oregon State Legislature
• Oregon courts

Elections:

• Oregon state executive official elections, 2018
• Gubernatorial elections, 2018
• Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2018
• Attorney General elections, 2018
• Secretary of State elections, 2018
• State executive official elections, 2018, 2017, 2016

Ballotpedia exclusives:

• State executives compensation
• State of the state addresses
• Trifecta control of state government

External links

Suggest a link

• Governor of Oregon official website