Special Report from BasinLife.com and Wynne Broadcasting
Thursday’s update 11/10/22
The Oregonian, OPB, and other media outlets have declared Tina Kotek the new Oregon Governor just yet, but the Associated Press has not declared that as of 9AM today.
So far today, Kotek hasn’t declared victory yet, and Drazan has not conceded. The former Republican House leader’s campaign sent out a seemingly optimistic note, saying they are still monitoring returns “with the expectation that this race will tighten.”
While votes are still being counted, Tina Kotek’s campaign announced the gubernatorial candidate will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. Thursday.
The press conference comes as the campaign projected Kotek’s win over Republican Christine Drazan on Wednesday just after 8 p.m. based on reported projections from The Oregonian/OregonLive and Oregon Public Broadcasting . However, at the time of the announcement, the Associated Press had not projected a winner in the contest.
In a statement, Kotek said “Oregon faces major challenges, and I look forward to getting to work to solve them. I promise to be a Governor for all of Oregon. I will start by working tirelessly to deliver results on issues of shared concern across our state: housing and homelessness, access to mental health and addiction treatment, helping our students succeed, and supporting small businesses.”
“I ask Oregonians – no matter who you voted for in this election – to believe in our state, to stay engaged, and to help figure out solutions together,” Kotek added. “I am honored and humbled by this opportunity to serve Oregon, and I will strive every day to be a force for positive change in our state.”
On another note: Democrat Val Hoyle declared victory Tuesday evening in the race to represent Oregon’s Fourth Congressional District. Meanwhile, Republican Alek Skarlatos still isn’t conceding defeat.
ALEK SKARLATOS -Republican 42.73% —— VAL HOYLE -Democrat 51.11%
This is the first general election in which ballots postmarked on Election Day will still be counted, meaning some of the results are coming in slower than in years past. But most of the remaining ballots left to be counted are from Multnomah and Washington counties, which tend to favor Democratic candidates. Overall, registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in Oregon by more than 280,000.
Wednesday news 11/9/22
Oregon’s Governors Race Between Tina Kotek and Christine Drazen Too Close To Call
Tuesday’s general elections in Oregon resulted in several races that were too close to call.
The delay in decisive results was caused by particularly hotly contested races in normally blue Oregon, extended deadlines for voters to turn in ballots, and a few hiccups during vote counting.
This is the first general election in Oregon in which voters can have their ballots postmarked as late as Election Day and still have them count. The flood of last-minute balloting, along with the number of races that polls showed in a statistical tie, meant there was plenty of uncertainty about winners when voters headed to bed last night.
Closely watched races that remained without a winner Tuesday night are reported to likely be called Wednesday.
Tina Kotek, the Democrat, is ahead of Republican Christine Drazan by just over 1 percentage point, and about 650,000 of the state’s projected 1.9 million votes have not been tallied. Kotek appears on track to win with a generous share of ballots that still must be counted in Democrat-dominated Multnomah County.
At 11 p.m., Kotek led with 45.8% of the vote compared to Drazan’s 44.5%. Unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson, a former longtime Democratic state lawmaker who ran a well-funded campaign, was in third place with 9% of the vote.
Johnson bowed out gracefully last night. https://www.facebook.com/StateSenatorBetsyJohnson/videos/483169776951124
As of 7 am 11/9 — 67% of vote in
Governor’s Race in Oregon
| Tina Kotek (D) | 661,452 | 45.7% |
| Christine Drazan (R) | 646,661 | 44.7% |
| Betsy Johnson | 127,832 | 8.8% |
| Other candidates | 10,615 | 0.7% |
US Senate · Ron Wyden wins · 66% reporting · The Associated Press has called the race.
U.S. HOUSE – OREGON – 4TH DISTRICT Val Hoyle (D)51% 147,305 Alek Skarlatos (R)43% 123,853
OREGON MEASURE 111: AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE NO 50.5% 703,958 YES 49.5% 690,692
OREGON MEASURE 112: REMOVES SLAVERY LANGUAGE YES 54% 760,065 NO 46% 638,308
OREGON MEASURE 113: LEGISLATURE ABSENCES YES 68% 954,137 NO 32% 452,097
OREGON MEASURE 114: FIREARMS PERMIT YES 50% 719,734 NO 50% 710,196
You can follow Oregon Election results here: https://results.oregonvotes.gov
Klamath County Results, so far, as of 6AM, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022:
Here are the most updated election results available as of our news deadline from local and statewide results last night:
In the race for OREGON GOVERNOR, a stunning 72 percent of KLAMATH COUNTY voters were in favor of Republican Christine Drazan. She was born here, and went to Altamont Elementary before moving to the Rogue Valley in later years.
Democrat Tina Kotek garnered 19 percent of the local vote, with several other candidates picking up the rest of the percentage. However……as you may expect, the vote was different in the tri-county area which usually leans democratic. At this time, this appears to be too close to call. Less than one percentage point separated Kotek and Drazan as of now.
This is the first general election in Oregon in which voters can have their ballots postmarked as late as Election Day and still have them count.
The flood of last-minute balloting, along with the number of races that polls showed in a statistical tie, meant there was plenty of uncertainty about winners when voters headed to bed last night.
Some important ballot measures were on the ballot. One changes gun laws in Oregon. Measure 114 which in Klamath County went down soundly by a 78-22 percent margin. The measure, if passed, presents unprecedented gun laws to Oregonians, forcing those that own guns to have permits. Again, statewide, it took a much different turn, and it seemed to be too close to call but the measure had more momentum to pass as presented to the voters by a small margin. Having said that, election officials expect this to be too close to call.
No surprises to speak of in Oregon’s senate and congressional races……Cliff Bentz wins re-election as our Congressman from the 2nd district by defeating Joe Vetter, roughly 75-25% in Klamath County. That margin seemed to hold in other areas. Ron Wyden appears the winner in the state senate race with a large margin lead over Jo Rae Perkins.
E Werner Reschke won easy re-election over challenger Brian LaPore with nearly 78 percent of the vote in the state representative race for district 55, while District 56’s clear winner was Emily McIntyre.
Stephen Hedlund, Kelsey Mueller Wendt, and Abbie Rush McClung earned spots on the Klamath Falls City Council.
In Bonanza, mayor Betty Tyree was re-elected to another term.
Normally, at least half of Oregon voters cast ballots by the day before a fall midterm election. In 2014 and again in 2018, turnout hit 50% by the end of that day.
But not in 2022. As of the end of Monday, just 45% of Oregon voters had returned their ballot to county elections offices, the state reported Tuesday.
That means a whopping 1.66 million voters still had the chance to vote in the final 24 hours.
Oregon lawmakers who boycott the state Capitol for an extended period to kill legislation they oppose could now face a penalty, after voters appeared to approve Measure 113.
Voters were on their way to passing the concept 67.64% to 32.36% in partial returns tallied as of lateTuesday.
Nationally, Tight Races Keep Control of Congress Up in the Air