United States Senate election in Oregon, 2020 (May 19 Democratic primary)

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2014
U.S. Senate, Oregon
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 10, 2020
Primary: May 19, 2020
General: November 3, 2020

Pre-election incumbent:
Jeff Merkley (Democratic)
How to vote
Poll times: No polling hours (vote-by-mail)
Voting in Oregon
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic
Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
U.S. Senate, Oregon
U.S. Senate1st2nd3rd4th5th
Oregon elections, 2020
U.S. Congress elections, 2020
U.S. Senate elections, 2020
U.S. House elections, 2020

A Democratic Party primary took place on May 19, 2020, in Oregon to determine which Democratic candidate would run in the state's general election on November 3, 2020.

Incumbent Jeff Merkley advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Oregon.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
March 10, 2020
May 19, 2020
November 3, 2020


Heading into the election, the incumbent was Jeff Merkley (Democrat), who was first elected in 2008.

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.[2][3]

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

This page focuses on Oregon's United States Senate Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the state's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Oregon made no changes to its primary election.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.


Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Oregon

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Jeff Merkley
Jeff Merkley
 
98.7
 
564,878
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.3
 
7,386

Total votes: 572,264
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.[4] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.[5] The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Jeff Merkley Democratic Party $11,451,041 $8,277,385 $3,805,561 As of December 31, 2020

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.


General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

  • Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
  • Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
  • Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[6]
  • Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[7][8][9]

Race ratings: U.S. Senate election in Oregon, 2020
Race trackerRace ratings
November 3, 2020October 27, 2020October 20, 2020October 13, 2020
The Cook Political ReportSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallSafe DemocraticSafe DemocraticSafe DemocraticSafe Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Oregon is a vote-by-mail state. Polling hours apply to vote centers where individuals can instead vote in person.
  2. National Conference of State Legislatures,"State Primary Election Types," accessed October 4, 2024
  3. Oregon Secretary of State,"Frequently Asked Questions," accessed October 4, 2024
  4. Fundraising by primary candidates can be found on the race's respective primary election page. Fundraising by general election candidates can be found on the race's general election page.
  5. Federal Election Commission, "2022 Quarterly Reports," accessed March 2, 2022
  6. Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
  7. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
  8. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
  9. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018


Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
Val Hoyle (D)
District 5
District 6
Democratic Party (7)
Republican Party (1)