November 18th, 2022

Kotek: 'I promise to be
a Governor for all of Oregon

Tina Kotek

Tina Kotek, the winner of the Oregon governor's race, released this statement:
“Oregon faces major challenges, and I look forward to getting to work to solve them," she said. "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. 
“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.”
The Oregonian and Oregon Public Broadcasting called the race for Kotek on Wednesday, and she was later officially declared the winner by the Associated Press.  As of Sunday, Kotek's margin of victory was 47 percent to Drazan's 43.6 percent.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly defeated Jamie McLeod-Skinner in the hard-fought CD5 race. With 94 percent of the ballots counted, the Associated Press called the race at 2:20 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13. Chavez-DeRemer was declared the winner while holding a 7,199-vote lead over McLeod-Skinner. Chavez-DeRemer garnered 51.1 percent of the vote to McLeod-Skinner's 48.9 percent.
Val Hoyle will succeed longtime Representative Peter DeFazio, defeating Alex Skarlatos in CD4.
It was a tough election night of losses for our Oregon House hopefuls, Ben Watts (HD15), Mary Cooke (HD11) and Michelle Emmons (HD12), Senate candidate Ashley Pelton (SD6), and Linn County Commissioner candidate Scott Bruslind.  
Ron Wyden​ (U.S. Senate), and Sara Gelser-Blouin (SD8) were re-elected, and Christina Stephenson won her non-partisan runoff race for state Bureau of Labor and Industry Commissioner.
Our three Albany City Council endorsees – Steph Newton (Ward1), Jackie Montague (Ward 2) and Ramycia McGee (Ward 3) won their races.
Michelle Steinhebel (Ward 3) was re-elected to the Lebanon City Council, but Tami Cockeram (Ward 1) and Cassie Cruz (Ward 2) were defeated in their races.
Endorsed by the Linn County Democrats, all four statewide ballot measures won approval: Measure 111 (Affordable healthcare access); Measure 112 (Removing slavery language from the constitution); Measure 113 (Unexcused legislator absences); and Measure 114 (Requires permits to acquire firearms), both of which appear headed toward passage).

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