Oregon primary election results

Well, just like that Oregon's primary election has come and gone. Turnout is estimated to be between 50% and 60% which is not a record, but is pretty good for a primary election, especially given that most people believe that Obama has the Democratic nomination locked up. Let's have a look at the results:

United States President: Obama 58.7% Clinton 41.3%
Pretty substantial victory for Barack. Of course, Hillary had a big night in Kentucky, where she beat him by a 2-to-1 margin. Barack may have problems in Appalachia, but here in Oregon he's doing just fine.




United States Senator: Merkley 45% Novick 42% Neville 7%

Merkley wins out in a close race. I voted for Merkley because I feel he has the best chance of unseating spineless Gordon Smith in November. Apparently, Gordie agrees with me. He has been running negative television ads against Merkley during the primary. Also, I noticed Gordie took out a full page ad in the Oregonian today, headlined "Democrats for Smith." Can you hear the footsteps, Gordie? Ironically, although I don't regret my vote, I learned a lot about
Steve Novick after I had cast it. And I have come to like Novick quite a bit. I hope we'll see him again.

United States Representative in Congress, 3rd District: Earl Blumenauer easily

Earl won big, although I have been unable to find the percentages. He beat out two opponents: John Sweeney and Joseph Walsh. Earl faces Republican Delia Lopez, a real estate investor, in the fall. It's hard to imagine that he'll have much trouble holding his seat.

Secretary of State: Brown 52% Metsger 27% Walker 18% Wells 3%
Kate Brown, a juvenile law attorney, wins and goes on to face Repulican Rick Dancer, a television anchorman from Eugene. Kate had help from the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and from public unions. If the current national trends have any bearing on this race, Kate should be the favorite against Dancer.

Attorney General: Kroger 56% Macpherson 44%
Here's one that I would have liked to go the other way. John Kroger ran a lot of ads on television and made himself more visible than Greg Macpherson. Kroger ran a "tough on crime" campaign and, of course, no one can complain about that. But, as my neighbor, Mac Prichard, pointed out, enforcing the law is only one aspect of the Attorney General's duties. Let's hope Kroger will remember that he must also be an advocate for the State of Oregon in Federal Court, along with the myriad other things that a good Attorney General must do. Kroger seems likely to win in the fall election since the Republicans haven't even managed to field a candidate.

State Representative, 42nd District Kopel-Bailey 40% Gray 30% Keizer 27% Hillesland 2%
Jules, my one-street-over neighbor wins the nomination. This also means that, barring some unlikely event, he will win the seat as well. The Republicans have not fielded a candidate, and there is really no reason they should. The district covers Southeast Portland where Republicans are about as popular as pinkeye.



City of Portland, Commissioner, Position 1: Fritz 43.11% Lewis 12.63% Bissonnette 12.17% Branam 12.03% Fahey 10.35% Smith 9.27%

Since no one got 50+% of the vote, there will be a runoff between Amanda Fritz and Charles Lewis. Given that Lewis barely eked out a second-place finish, one would have to imagine that Amanda is the favorite.



City of Portland, Commissioner, Position 2: Fish 61% Middaugh 21%
Voters were not ambiguous here. Nick Fish is in.






City of Portland, Commissioner, Position 4: Leonard 71%
Randy Leonard got nearly three-quarters of the vote, beating out three challengers.





Metro Councilor, 6th District: Robert Liberty 73%

Robert won a second term, beating out college student Cole Miller. Robert said he hoped voters chose him because he was "known quality." He went on to say, "I've been pretty clear and consistent, and not tried to straddle a lot of issues." Well, that is a refreshing approach for a politician nowadays.


Multnomah County Commissioner, District 1: Kafoury 88%

Well, Deborah Kafoury won easily. She's the former Oregon House Democratic leader, so she's experienced. And she's progressive enough to win in Multnomah County (and my vote). Let's see how she does...


City of Portland, Mayor: Adams 58% Dozono 34%

Sam Adams gets the nod, in a convincing manner, winning by enough of a margin as to render a runoff unnecessary. Sam Adams becomes the first openly gay mayor of Portland. I think it speaks very positively about Portland that Sam's sexual orientation was not an issue in the race. (I didn't even know he was gay until after the election.) He has experience, having been Mayor Vera Katz's chief of staff for 11 years. Good on ya, Sam.

It feels very strange, being on the winning side of so many elections, after 7 cruel years of Republican dominance. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the results. Now, on to November, where we can give the Republicans a right and proper beating!