2026 Midterms State GuideOregon
Hold on to your Douglas firs and Tillamook.
Polls are closed
Polls are closed in Oregon, and results aren’t finalized yet.
Ballots are still being counted, close races can take days to call, and no result is official until it’s certified.
A prayer for Oregon
God who removes and sets up kings, You are our confidence in election season, and Your sovereignty is our peace in a tottering world.
Read the whole prayerUpdated
Hi! It’s me, Shadrach. Apparently, I’m your civic guide today. If you’ve been complaining about how things are going (and I’ve heard you... the walls are thin), this guide will help you feel informed and able to vote in this year’s midterms. Now, hold on to your Douglas firs and Tillamook, and let’s get into it.
Oregon at a glance
Oregon votes on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, for governor, U.S. Senate and all 6 U.S. House seats.
- Election Day
- Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026
- Voter registration
- Oct. 13: Voter registration deadline
- Governor
- 3 candidates
- U.S. Senate
- 2 candidates
- U.S. House
- 6 seats
- Statewide ballot measures
- None
What happens next
The counting continues
Election-night numbers are unofficial. Mail, provisional, and military ballots are still being counted, so close races can take days to call.
Officials double-check the count
Local election officials review the ballots and the tallies (the canvass). A very close race can go to a recount.
Oregon certifies the results
Results become official once Oregon certifies them, usually a few weeks after Election Day.
Winners take office
The new Congress takes office in early January. Governors and other state officials take office on dates set by state law, most of them in January too.
Important dates
- May 19Primaries This date has passed.
- Oct. 5Ballots mailed to voters whose Oregon mailing address is out of state (but not military or overseas) This date has passed.
- Oct. 13Voter registration deadline This date has passed.
- Oct. 14Ballots mailed to all registered Oregon voters This date has passed.
- Nov. 3Election Day. Ballots must be postmarked by this date if returned by mail, or deposited in an official drop box by 8:00 p.m. This date has passed.
What’s at stake
For the first time since 1978, Oregon is seeing a gubernatorial rematch; four years ago, Tina Kotek (D) beat Christine Drazan (R) by ~3.4 points. While forecasters lean in favor of Kotek winning again, it’s looking unlikely to be a sweep. A 2026 DHM poll found that Portland area Oregonians’ priorities have shifted in recent years from social issues to economic pressures. 20% of voters identified homelessness as the most pressing regional issue, followed by high taxes (14%), cost of living and inflation (12%), affordable housing (11%), and immigration enforcement (10%).
Who’s on your ballot
Tap a race to see the candidates.
Oregon is choosing a governor
See whose priorities line up with yours
Here are the top priorities each candidate lists, in their own words. Pick the 3 that matter most to you. Names stay hidden until you see your results.
0 of 3 picked
Tina KotekDemocratincumbent seeking her second four-year term
Top priorities- Lowering costs by tackling corporate price gouging and reducing housing costs
- Funding literacy programs and setting new student performance targets
- Reducing homelessness with more affordable housing and statewide shelter programs
Christine DrazanRepublicancurrent state senator, 26th district
Top priorities- Lowering costs by cutting taxes on working families, tips and overtime and repealing costly regulations
- Freezing new regulations and clearing barriers to trade to grow Oregon's economy
- Declaring an addiction and mental health emergency and auditing homelessness spending
- Top priorities
Brett SmithPacific Green Party of Oregon- Ending corruption in state government
- Shifting costs from taxpayers to large employers that pay low wages
- Placing a permanent moratorium on data centers
All U.S. House of Representatives seats are up for election every two years. Find your district here.
- Shadrach’s big picture
Oregon will elect six candidates to represent them in the U.S. House. Democrats are expected to hold five of those seats.
- Open seats
None
- Competitive districts
No Oregon district is considered competitive (OR-2 solidly Republican, the rest solidly Democrat). Candidates in both parties filed to run in all six districts, so no district is guaranteed to either party. OR-5 has changed party hands twice in the last two cycles, but is considered solidly Democratic for 2026 midterms. OR-6 was added after the 2020 census, and no other district has changed party hands since 1996.
Also on the ballot
Other races Oregon voters will decide.
- Labor commissioner
- State Senate
- State House
- State Supreme Court
- Intermediate appellate courts
- Municipal government
- Recalls
- Local ballot measures
Whose job is it?
Ten things government does. Tap the office that does each one.
Whose job is it to…
1 of 10
Declare a state of emergency after a hurricane or flood?
Pass it on
Know someone voting in Oregon?
Send them the guide. It takes one tap, and it saves them an evening of arguing in a group chat.
A prayer for Oregon
God who removes and sets up kings, You are our confidence in election season, and Your sovereignty is our peace in a tottering world.
While we wait for Your soon-coming kingdom, appoint for Oregon a leader who will seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly. Stabilize Oregonians in the midst of uncertainty; raise up qualified, upright candidates; protect them and the voting process from violence and fraud. May voters receive accurate, helpful information, and may their government earn their trust and work for their good.
King of Every Nation, though these candidates seek positions of power, their strength pales against Yours. Though officials seek to make things better, You are making all things new. Oregon’s leaders may fumble and fight and fade, but You, my King, are immovable, unconquerable, and everlasting. So strengthen Oregonians with forbearance to submit to imperfect leadership until all the world comes together under Your perfect rule.
Amen.