Oregon held its general election on November 8, 2016, deciding 76 legislative seats and 4 statewide offices led by the governorship. No chamber changed party control.
Highlights
- Democrats kept full control of state government, but losing one Senate seat cost them the 18-12 supermajority that had let them pass revenue bills without Republican votes, and Republicans won a statewide office for the first time since 2002.
- Kate Brown (D) beat Bud Pierce (R), a former Oregon Medical Association president, by about 7 points, becoming the nation’s first elected LGBT governor. Brown took office when John Kitzhaber resigned in 2015 and won the remaining two years of his term.
- Dennis Richardson (R) beat Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian (D) by about 4 points for secretary of state. Tobias Read (D) held the treasurer's office for Democrats by about 2 points over Jeff Gudman (R), and Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum (D) won another term by about 13 points.
- The Senate seat changed hands in Ashland's Senate District 3, open after Sen. Alan Bates (D) died of a heart attack in August. Former Ashland mayor Alan DeBoer (R) beat Tonia Moro (D) by about 400 votes, leaving the chamber at 17-13; Jefferson Public Radio said the result gave Republicans more leverage against the Democratic agenda. In Senate District 5, Sen. Arnie Roblan (D) held off Dick Anderson (R) by about 350 votes. The House stayed at 35-25; its closest race was House District 51, where Janelle Bynum (D) beat Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R) by about 560 votes.
- Voters passed 5 of 7 measures, but rejected the biggest one. Measure 97, a proposed $3 billion business tax increase, failed by about 18 points after opponents spent $27 million on ads against it; it carried only Multnomah and Benton counties. Voters approved new lottery or school spending in Measure 96 (veterans), Measure 98 (dropout prevention and college readiness), and Measure 99 (outdoor school), and rejected Measure 94, which would have ended the mandatory retirement age for judges.
Legislature
- House (60 seats): 35 D, 25 R before the election, 35 D, 25 R after; control stayed with Democrats.
- Senate (30 seats): 18 D, 12 R before the election, 17 D, 13 R after; control stayed with Democrats.
Statewide races
Legislative races
| Race | Winner | Others | Notes |
|---|
| House 1 | David Brock Smith (R) | Terry Brayer (D), Tamie Kaufman (L) | |
| House 2 | Dallas Heard (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| House 3 | Carl Wilson (R) 72.63% | Tom Johnson (D) 27.37% | |
| House 4 | Duane A. Stark (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| House 5 | Pam Marsh (D) 62.88% | Steven Richie (R) 37.12% | |
| House 6 | Sal Esquivel (R) 56.64% | Michael J. Moran (D) 43.36% | |
| House 7 | Cedric Hayden (R) 65.51% | Vincent T Portulano (D) 23.86%, Fergus Mclean (I) 10.63% | |
| House 8 | Paul Holvey (D) 69.47% | Mary M Tucker (R) 26.43%, Martha Sherwood (L) 4.1% | |
| House 9 | Caddy McKeown (D) 49.86% | Teri Grier (R) 46.27%, Guy Rosinbaum (L) 3.87% | |
| House 10 | David Gomberg (D) | Thomas M Donohue (R) | |
| House 11 | Phil Barnhart (D) | Joe Potwora (R) | |
| House 12 | John Lively (D) | Bob Schwartz (R) | |
| House 13 | Nancy Nathanson (D) | Laura D. Cooper (R), Christopher Tsekouras (L) | |
| House 14 | Julie Fahey (D) | Kathy Lamberg (R) | |
| House 15 | Andy Olson (R) | Cynthia Hyatt (G) | |
| House 16 | Dan Rayfield (D) 58.16% | Judson McClure (R) 21.01%, Sami Al-Abdrabbuh (Progressive Party) 16.01% | |
| House 17 | Sherrie Sprenger (R) 78.76% | Jeff Goodwin (I) 21.24% | |
| House 18 | Vic Gilliam (R) 64.92% | Tom Kane (D) 32.26%, Patrick Marnell (L) 2.82% | |
| House 19 | Jodi Hack (R) 61.1% | Larry Trott (D) 38.9% | |
| House 20 | Paul Evans (D) 53.05% | Laura S Morett (R) 46.95% | |
| House 21 | Brian Clem (D) 55.79% | Doug Rodgers (R) 37.78%, Alvin M Klausen Jr (I) 6.43% | |
| House 22 | Teresa Alonso Leon (D) 55.47% | Patti Milne (R) 44.53% | |
| House 23 | Mike Nearman (R) 52.85% | Jim Thompson (I) 37.22%, Alex Polikoff (G) 5.74% | |
| House 24 | Ron Noble (R) 55.01% | Ken Moore (D) 44.99% | |
| House 25 | Bill Post (R) 63.8% | Sharon P Freeman (D) 36.2% | |
| House 26 | Rich Vial (R) 54.9% | Ray M Lister (D) 45.1% | |
| House 27 | Sheri Malstrom (D) 100% | Unopposed | |
| House 28 | Jeff Barker (D) 64.34% | Gary M Carlson (R) 35.66% | |
| House 29 | Susan McLain (D) 59.17% | Juanita Lint (R) 40.83% | |
| House 30 | Janeen Sollman (D) 52.33% | Dan Mason (R) 39.15%, Kyle Markley (L) 8.52% | |
| House 31 | Bradley Witt (D) 81.14% | Robert Miller (L) 18.86% | |
| House 32 | Deborah Boone (D) 56.7% | Bruce L Bobek (R) 43.3% | |
| House 33 | Mitch Greenlick (D) 69.6% | John Verbeek (R) 30.4% | |
| House 34 | Ken Helm (D) 65.33% | Donald E Hershiser (I) 34.67% | |
| House 35 | Margaret Doherty (D) 62.53% | Jessica L Cousineau (I) 37.47% | |
| House 36 | Jennifer Williamson (D) 89.14% | Amanda Burnham (L) 10.86% | |
| House 37 | Julie Parrish (R) 53.9% | Paul Southwick (D) 43.74%, Ryan R Haffner (L) 2.36% | |
| House 38 | Ann Lininger (D) 69.82% | Patrick De Klotz (R) 30.18% | |
| House 39 | Bill Kennemer (R) 64.92% | Charles Gallia (D) 32.12%, Kenny Sernach (L) 2.96% | |
| House 40 | Mark Meek (D) 51.16% | Evon Tekorius (R) 43.45%, Christine VanOrder (I) 2.72% | |
| House 41 | Karin Power (D) 71.5% | Timothy E. McMenamin (R) 28.5% | |
| House 42 | Rob Nosse (D) 88.98% | James E Stubbs (I) 6.46%, Jeremy Wilson (L) 4.57% | |
| House 43 | Tawna Sanchez (D) 100% | Unopposed | |
| House 44 | Tina Kotek (D) 80.34% | Joe Rowe (G) 19.66% | |
| House 45 | Barbara Smith Warner (D) 100% | Unopposed | |
| House 46 | Alissa Keny-Guyer (D) 100% | Unopposed | |
| House 47 | Diego Hernandez (D) 67.09% | Michael P Langley (I) 32.91% | |
| House 48 | Jeff Reardon (D) 63.1% | George (Sonny) Yellott (R) 28.21%, Gary Dye (L) 4.71% | |
| House 49 | Chris Gorsek (D) 100% | Unopposed | |
| House 50 | Carla Piluso (D) 50.33% | Stella Armstrong (R) 30.83%, Michael Calcagno (I) 18.84% | |
| House 51 | Janelle Bynum (D) 51.01% | Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R) 48.99% | |
| House 52 | Mark Johnson (R) 55.59% | Mark Reynolds (D) 44.41% | |
| House 53 | Gene Whisnant (R) 67.56% | Michael Graham (D) 32.44% | |
| House 54 | Knute Buehler (R) 52.08% | Gena Goodman-Campbell (D) 47.92% | |
| House 55 | Mike McLane (R) 75.82% | Brie S Malarkey (D) 24.18% | |
| House 56 | Werner Reschke (R) 48.77% | Al Switzer (D) 40.35%, Jonah Hakanson (I) 10.88% | |
| House 57 | Greg A. Smith (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| House 58 | Greg Barreto (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| House 59 | John E. Huffman (R) 70.43% | Tyler J Gabriel (D) 29.57% | |
| House 60 | Cliff Bentz (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 1 | Jeff Kruse (R) 73.53% | Timm Rolek (D) 26.47% | |
| Senate 2 | Herman Baertschiger Jr. (R) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 3 | Alan DeBoer (R) 50.3% | Tonia Moro (D) 49.7% | Flipped D to R |
| Senate 5 | Arnie Roblan (D) 48.24% | Dick Anderson (R) 47.68%, Dan Souza (L) 4.08% | |
| Senate 9 | Fred Girod (R) 68.84% | Richard Harisay (D) 26.92%, Jack Stillwell (L) 4.24% | |
| Senate 12 | Brian Boquist (R) 63% | Ross Swartzendruber (D) 37% | |
| Senate 14 | Mark Hass (D) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 18 | Ginny Burdick (D) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 21 | Kathleen Taylor (D) 77.05% | James Ofsink (Progressive Party) 14.68%, Joshua Howard (L) 8.27% | |
| Senate 22 | Lew Frederick (D) 91.95% | Eugene A Newell Jr (L) 8.05% | |
| Senate 23 | Michael Dembrow (D) 100% | Unopposed | |
| Senate 25 | Laurie Monnes Anderson (D) 55.16% | Tamie Tlustos-Arnold (R) 40.8%, Jeffrey Ricks (L) 4.04% | |
| Senate 27 | Tim Knopp (R) 60.7% | Greg Delgado (D) 39.3% | |
| Senate 28 | Dennis Linthicum (R) 61.59% | Todd Kepple (D) 38.41% | |
| Senate 29 | Bill Hansell (R) 80.57% | Barbara E Dickerson (I) 19.43% | |
| Senate 30 | Ted Ferrioli (R) 70.3% | W Mark Stringer (D) 29.7% | |
Ballot measures
| Measure | Description | Result |
|---|
| Measure 100 | Prohibit the sale of products from 12 species of endangered animals | Passed (69.45% yes) |
| Measure 94 | Repeal the judicial retirement age for state court judges | Failed (36.95% yes) |
| Measure 95 | Allow public state universities to invest in equities | Passed (70.41% yes) |
| Measure 96 | Devote 1.5 percent of state lottery net proceeds to veteran services | Passed (83.76% yes) |
| Measure 97 | Increase taxes on businesses with annual sales over $25 million | Failed (40.97% yes) |
| Measure 98 | Require state funding for dropout prevention | Passed (65.96% yes) |
| Measure 99 | Create an "Outdoor School Education Fund" | Passed (67.11% yes) |