Oregon will hold its primary on Tuesday with Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek seeking a second term and Republican challengers competing for their party’s nomination, while voters also decide a statewide measure tied to transportation funding, according to election decision notes distributed by the Associated Press.
Kotek, the state’s Democratic incumbent governor, is one of the main races driving turnout in the Democratic primary. The AP notes she faces nine Democratic primary challengers as voters decide nominees for state and federal offices on the same ballot.
On the Republican side, the decision notes describe a broader field, with 14 candidates pursuing the party nomination for governor. Among them are Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethell, state Rep. Ed Diehl, state Sen. Christine Drazan and financial planner and former NBA player Chris Dudley, whose previous gubernatorial bid was in 2010 and resulted in about 48% of the vote in the general election.
The AP also says incumbents are running for reelection for U.S. Senate and all six U.S. House seats, with only one member of Congress facing no opposition for renomination. The AP describes the contest as part of a midterm election year in which national politics can influence voter choices.
In that framing, the AP notes that Kotek has made President Donald Trump a top foil in her campaign. It also links the Measure 120 vote to broader conditions, saying the statewide ballot question takes place against the backdrop of gas prices that have steadily climbed since the start of the Iran war.
The AP says the ballot’s statewide question is Measure 120, which would raise gas taxes to pay for improvements to Oregon’s roads and bridges. It also frames the decision as affecting transportation infrastructure projects funded through changes to vehicle fees and gas taxes.
For voters trying to understand the timeline, the AP says Oregon elections are conducted predominantly by mail. Ballots delivered to a ballot drop box or a county elections office must be received by 8 p.m. local time—10 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. ET—though counties can keep locations open longer.
The AP adds that deadlines vary by time zone within the state: in areas observing Pacific time, the deadline is 11 p.m. ET; in areas observing Mountain time, it is 10 p.m. ET. For mail ballots, the AP says voters must postmark ballots by 8 p.m. local time and have them received by May 26 to be counted.
The AP also provides context on participation and early voting. It says that as of May 4 there were about 3.1 million registered voters in Oregon, including about 988,000 registered Democrats and about 737,000 registered Republicans. In the lead-up to Tuesday’s primary, the AP says nearly 513,000 ballots had already been cast as of Friday.
As for who can participate, the AP says voters must be registered with a political party to vote in that party’s primary, meaning Democrats cannot vote in the Republican primary and vice versa. Independent or unaffiliated voters, the AP says, may not participate in either primary.
The AP says results from mail voting are released throughout the night and into the following days, while a handful of smaller counties may release most or all of their Election Day vote results in their first update. The AP adds that in the 2024 presidential and state primary, it first reported results at 11 p.m. ET as the final polls closed, with the last vote update that night at 5:11 a.m. ET with about 74% of total votes counted.
Finally, the AP describes how winners could be handled if the results are tight. It says Oregon recounts are automatic in the event of a tie vote or if the margin is 0.2% of the total vote or less, and it notes the AP may declare a winner in a race subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.