Oregon voters will head to the polls Tuesday to pick nominees in party primaries for state offices and U.S. congressional races, and they will also decide a statewide transportation measure. The Associated Press Decision Notes previewed the slate ahead of the vote, saying Oregon’s Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek is among the candidates seeking party nominations for state and federal offices.
Kotek, a Democrat, is running for a second term against nine Democratic primary challengers. On the Republican side, AP said the field includes 14 candidates, including Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethell, state Rep. Ed Diehl, state Sen. Christine Drazan and financial planner and former NBA player Chris Dudley. AP also noted that Dudley last ran for governor in 2010, when he received about 48% of the vote in the general election, and that he previously won the 2010 governor primary with 39% against eight candidates.
AP said national politics also figure into the primary dynamics. It reported that Kotek has made President Donald Trump a top foil in her campaign, and it said the vote on Measure 120 to raise vehicle fees and gas taxes for transportation infrastructure projects is taking place as gas prices have climbed since the start of the Iran war.
Alongside the governor’s race, AP said incumbents are running for reelection for U.S. Senate and all six U.S. House seats, with only one member of Congress not facing opposition for renomination. The AP preview also identified key counties in both Democratic and Republican primaries: Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties in the Portland area, plus Lane County, home to Eugene, along with Salem-based Marion County, Jackson County and Deschutes County.
The AP notes emphasized Oregon’s vote-by-mail system as a practical factor in when results appear. It said Oregon elections are conducted predominantly by mail, and that ballots delivered to a ballot drop box or a county elections office must be received by 8 p.m. local time, which AP translated to 10 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. ET depending on time zone. AP added that mailed ballots must be postmarked by 8 p.m. local time and received by May 26 to be counted.
AP also outlined basic eligibility rules for participating in a party primary. Voters must be registered with a political party to take part in that party’s primary, it said, and Democrats may not vote in the Republican primary and vice versa. AP reported that independent or unaffiliated voters may not participate in either primary.
In terms of scale and turnout context, AP said that as of May 4 Oregon had about 3.1 million registered voters, including about 988,000 registered Democrats and about 737,000 registered Republicans. It reported that registered Democrats cast between 420,000 and 456,000 votes in the 2024 primaries depending on the contest, while registered Republicans cast just shy of 300,000 votes. AP said turnout was higher in the 2022 midterm primaries, when Democrats cast between 478,000 and 492,000 votes and Republicans cast between 347,000 and 370,000 votes.
On the day-of voting timeline, AP reported that as of Friday nearly 513,000 ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election. It said results from mail voting are released throughout the night and the following days, with a handful of smaller counties releasing all or most of their results from Election Day voting in their first vote report.
Finally, AP said vote counting and calls follow specific rules. It reported that in the 2024 presidential and state primary, AP first reported results at 11 p.m. ET as final polls closed, and that the last update of the night came at 5:11 a.m. ET with about 74% of total votes counted. AP said it does not make projections and will declare winners only when it determines there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap; if a race is not called, AP said it will continue to cover developments such as concessions or declarations of victory while explaining that no winner has yet been declared.
AP also described recount triggers in Oregon. It said recounts are automatic in the event of a tie vote or if the margin is 0.2% of the total vote or less, and that 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.