2008 Oregon legislative election

Elections for the 75th Oregon Legislative Assembly took place in 2008. The Republican and Democratic primary elections were on May 20, 2008, and the general election was held on November 4, 2008. Fifteen of the Oregon State Senate's thirty seats were up for election, as were all 60 seats of the Oregon House of Representatives.

In the general election, there were 39 races with both Democratic and Republican candidates; 24 were in districts previously represented by a Republican, 15 in districts previously represented by Democrats. Sixteen Democrats ran without a Republican opponent, and five Republicans ran without a Democratic opponent.

Eighteen incumbent House members and six incumbent Senators earned enough write-in votes in the opposing party's primary to earn a dual endorsement.^[1]

General election Senate candidates

Oregon Senate districts outside the Willamette Valley.

Portland area Senate districts.

Willamette Valley Senate districts south of Portland area.

Every two years, half of the state senate seats come up for election. In 2008 there was also an election for District 17, resulting from Senator Brad Avakian's appointment to Oregon Labor Commissioner. Thus, 16 seats were up for election.

Nine of the 16 Senate seats up for election were previously held by Democrats. Four of these races had both Democratic and Republican candidates in the general election. The other seven seats were previously held by Republicans, and four of them were contested by both major parties. Democrats lost one seat (District 27 in the Bend area) to the Republican Party, and went into 2009 with a majority of 18 seats to the Republicans' 12.

Except where footnoted, candidates were unopposed in their party's primary.

District[2]	Party		Incumbent	Status	Party		Candidate	Votes	%
1		Republican	Jeff Kruse of Roseburg	Re-elected		Republican	Jeff Kruse	38,366	69.69
						Democratic	Eldon Rollins	16,461	29.90
							write-ins	229	0.42
2		Republican	Jason Atkinson of Central Point	Re-elected		Republican	Jason Atkinson	39,265	68.81
						Democratic	Richard Koopmans	17,570	30.79
							write-ins	224	0.39
5		Democratic	Joanne Verger of Coos Bay	Re-elected		Democratic	Joanne Verger	40,012	96.77
							write-ins	1,337	3.23
9		Republican	Fred Girod of Stayton	Re-elected		Republican	Fred Girod[3]	31,201	61.09
						Democratic	Bob McDonald[4]	19,753	38.68
							write-ins	116	0.23
12		Republican	Gary George of Newberg	Retired		Republican	Brian Boquist	33,264	60.62
						Democratic	Kevin Nortness	21,480	39.14
							write-ins	130	0.24
14		Democratic	Mark Hass of Beaverton	Re-elected		Democratic	Mark Hass	35,847	67.79
						Republican	Lisa Michaels	16,850	31.86
							write-ins	186	0.35
17		Democratic	Suzanne Bonamici of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Suzanne Bonamici	44,475	96.90
							write-ins	1,423	3.10
18		Democratic	Ginny Burdick of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Ginny Burdick	41,916	69.96
						Republican	John Wight	17,809	29.72
							write-ins	189	0.32
21		Democratic	Kate Brown of Milwaukie	Retired[5]		Democratic	Diane Rosenbaum	49,149	97.67
							write-ins	1,172	2.33
22		Democratic	Margaret Carter of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Margaret Carter	48,939	98.15
							write-ins	921	1.85
23		Democratic	Avel Gordly of Portland	Retired		Democratic	Jackie Dingfelder[6]	44,631	97.68
							write-ins	1,058	2.32
25		Democratic	Laurie Monnes Anderson of Gresham	Re-elected		Democratic	L. M. Anderson	27,013	58.45
						Republican	Dave Kim[7]	19,036	41.19
							write-ins	167	0.18
27		Democratic	Ben Westlund of Bend	Retired[8]		Republican	Chris Telfer[9]	42,061	59.60
						Democratic	Maren Lundgren	28,379	40.21
							write-ins	129	0.18
28		Republican	Doug Whitsett of Klamath Falls	Re-elected		Republican	Doug Whitsett	39,416	97.65
							write-ins	949	2.35
29		Republican	David Nelson of Pendleton	Re-elected		Republican	David Nelson	32,747	98.13
							write-ins	623	1.87
30		Republican	Ted Ferrioli of John Day	Re-elected		Republican	Ted Ferrioli	35,606	97.91
							write-ins	760	2.09

General election House candidates

Every two years, all of the state house seats come up for election. Democrats gained five seats from the previous session: two in open seats and three in defeating incumbent Republicans.

Except where footnoted, candidates were unopposed in their party's primary.

District[10]	Party		Incumbent	Status	Party		Candidate	Votes	%
1		Republican	Wayne Krieger of Gold Beach	Re-elected		Republican	Wayne Krieger'	17,590
						Democratic	Richard (Rick) Goche	11,357
							write-ins
2		Republican	Susan Morgan of Myrtle Creek	Retired		Republican	Tim Freeman[11]	16,780
						Democratic	Harry McDermott	9,143
							write-ins
3		Republican	Ron Maurer of Grants Pass	Re-elected		Republican	Ron Maurer	16,982
						Democratic	Julie Rubenstein	10,674
							write-ins
4		Republican	Dennis Richardson of Central Point	Re-elected		Republican	Dennis Richardson	19,641
						Independent Party	Keith Wangle	8,053
							write-ins
5		Democratic	Peter Buckley of Ashland	Re-elected		Democratic	Peter Buckley	18,452
						Independent Party	Pete Belcasto	11,653
							write-ins
6		Republican	Sal Esquivel of Medford	Re-elected		Republican	Sal Esquivel	14,622
						Democratic	Lynn Howe	12,638
							write-ins
7		Republican	Bruce Hanna of Roseburg	Re-elected		Republican	Bruce Hanna	17,614
						Democratic	Donald Nordin[12]	9,954
							write-ins
8		Democratic	Paul Holvey of Eugene	Re-elected		Democratic	Paul Holvey	23,366
							write-ins
9		Democratic	Arnie Roblan of Coos Bay	Re-elected		Democratic	Arnie Roblan	15,444
						Republican	Al Pearn	11,365
							write-ins
10		Democratic	Jean Cowan of Newport	Re-elected		Democratic	Jean Cowan	19,829
							write-ins
11		Democratic	Phil Barnhart of Eugene	Re-elected		Democratic	Phil Barnhart	22,260
							write-ins
12		Democratic	Terry Beyer of Springfield	Re-elected		Democratic	Terry Beyer	14,800
						Republican	Sean MP VanGordon	7,554
							write-ins
13		Democratic	Nancy Nathanson of Eugene	Re-elected		Democratic	Nancy Nathanson	22,899
							write-ins
14		Democratic	Chris Edwards of Eugene	Re-elected		Democratic	Chris Edwards	20,552
							write-ins
15		Republican	Andy Olson of Albany	Re-elected		Republican	Andy Olson	18,808
						Democratic	Dick Olsen	10,971
							write-ins
16		Democratic	Sara Gelser of Corvallis	Re-elected		Democratic	Sara Gelser
							write-ins
17		Republican	Sherrie Sprenger of Scio	Re-elected		Republican	Sherrie Sprenger[13]
						Democratic	Dan Thackaberry
							write-ins
18		Republican	Vic Gilliam of Silverton	Re-elected		Republican	Vic Gilliam
						Democratic	Jim Gilbert
							write-ins
19		Republican	Kevin Cameron of Salem	Re-elected		Republican	Kevin Cameron
						Democratic	Hanten (HD) Day
							write-ins
20		Republican	Vicki Berger of Salem	Re-elected		Republican	Vicki Berger
						Democratic	Richard Riggs
							write-ins
21		Democratic	Brian Clem of Salem	Re-elected		Democratic	Brian Clem
							write-ins
22		Democratic	Betty Komp of Woodburn	Re-elected		Democratic	Betty Komp
						Republican	Tom M. Chereck, Jr.
							write-ins
23		Republican	Brian Boquist of Dallas	Retired[14]		Republican	Jim Thompson[15]
						Democratic	Jason Brown[16]
							write-ins
24		Republican	Donna G. Nelson of McMinnville	Retired		Republican	Jim Weidner[17]
						Democratic	Bernt (Al) Hansen
							write-ins
25		Republican	Kim Thatcher of Keizer	Re-elected		Republican	Kim Thatcher
							write-ins
26		Republican	Matt Wingard of Wilsonville	Re-elected		Republican	Matt Wingard
						Democratic	Jessica Adamson
						Libertarian	Marc Delphine
							write-ins
27		Democratic	Tobias Read of Beaverton	Re-elected		Democratic	Tobias Read
						Republican	Michael F. DeVietro
							write-ins
28		Democratic	Jeff Barker of Aloha	Re-elected		Democratic	Jeff Barker
							write-ins
29		Democratic	Chuck Riley of Hillsboro	Re-elected		Democratic	Chuck Riley
						Independent Party	Terry L. Rilling
							write-ins
30		Democratic	David Edwards of Hillsboro	Re-elected		Democratic	David Edwards
						Republican	Andy Duyck
						Constitution	Ken Cunningham
							write-ins
31		Democratic	Brad Witt of Clatskanie	Re-elected		Democratic	Brad Witt
							write-ins
32		Democratic	Deborah Boone of Cannon Beach	Re-elected		Democratic	Deborah Boone
						Republican	Tim Bero
							write-ins
33		Democratic	Mitch Greenlick of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Mitch Greenlick
						Republican	James (Jim) Ellison
							write-ins
34		Democratic	Chris Harker of Beaverton	Re-elected		Democratic	Chris Harker
						Republican	Piotr Kuklinski
							write-ins
35		Democratic	Larry Galizio of Tigard	Re-elected		Democratic	Larry Galizio
						Republican	Tony Marino
							write-ins
36		Democratic	Mary Nolan of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Mary Nolan
						Republican	Steve Oppenheim
						Libertarian	Jay A. Ellefson
							write-ins
37		Republican	Scott Bruun of West Linn	Re-elected		Republican	Scott Bruun
						Democratic	Michele Eberle
							write-ins
38		Democratic	Greg Macpherson of Lake Oswego	Retired[18]		Democratic	Chris Garrett[19]
						Republican	Steve Griffith
							write-ins
39		Republican	Wayne Scott of Oregon City	Retired		Republican	Bill Kennemer
						Democratic	Toby Forsberg
							write-ins
40		Democratic	Dave Hunt of Gladstone	Re-elected		Democratic	Dave Hunt
							write-ins
41		Democratic	Carolyn Tomei of Milwaukie	Re-elected		Democratic	Carolyn Tomei
						Republican	Randy Uchytil
							write-ins
42		Democratic	Diane Rosenbaum of Portland	Retired[20]		Democratic	Jules Kopel-Bailey[21]
						Pacific Green	Chris Extine
							write-ins
43		Democratic	Chip Shields of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Chip Shields
							write-ins
44		Democratic	Tina Kotek of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Tina Kotek
							write-ins
45		Democratic	Michael Dembrow of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Michael Dembrow[22]
						Libertarian	Jim Karlock
							write-ins
46		Democratic	Ben Cannon of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Ben Cannon
							write-ins
47		Democratic	Jeff Merkley of Portland	Retired[23]		Democratic	Jefferson Smith
							write-ins
48		Democratic	Mike Schaufler of Happy Valley	Re-elected		Democratic	Mike Schaufler
							write-ins
49		Republican	Karen Minnis of Wood Village	Retired		Democratic	Nick Kahl[24]
						Republican	John Nelsen
							write-ins
50		Republican	John Lim of Gresham	Lost re-election		Democratic	Greg Matthews
						Republican	John Lim
							write-ins
51		Republican	Linda Flores of Clackamas	Lost re-election		Democratic	Brent Barton
						Republican	Linda Flores
							write-ins
52		Republican	Patti Smith of Corbett	Retired		Democratic	Suzanne VanOrman[25]
						Republican	Matt Lindland[26]
							write-ins
53		Republican	Gene Whisnant of Sunriver	Re-elected		Republican	Gene Whisnant
						Democratic	Conrad Ruel
							write-ins
54		Republican	Chuck Burley of Bend	Lost re-election		Democratic	Judy Stiegler
						Republican	Chuck Burley
							write-ins
55		Republican	George Gilman of Bend	Re-elected		Republican	George Gilman
							write-ins
56		Republican	Bill Garrard of Klamath Falls	Re-elected		Republican	Bill Garrard
							write-ins
57		Republican	Greg Smith of Heppner	Re-elected		Republican	Greg Smith
						Democratic	Jerome (Jerry) Sebestyen
							write-ins
58		Republican	Bob Jenson of Pendleton	Re-elected		Republican	Bob Jenson
						Democratic	Ben Talley[27]
							write-ins
59		Republican	John Huffman of The Dalles	Re-elected		Republican	John Huffman
						Democratic	Mike Ahern
							write-ins
60		Republican	Cliff Bentz of Ontario	Re-elected		Republican	Cliff Bentz[28]
							write-ins

Citations and primary election notes

1. Sinks, James (June 23, 2008). "On east side, 6 from GOP earn Democrats' nod". The Bend Bulletin.
2. "November 4, 2008, General Election Abstracts of Votes: State Senate". Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
3. Defeated Sarah Arcune and Herman Joseph Baurer in the Republican primary.
4. Defeated Steven Frank in the Democratic primary.
5. Ran for Oregon Secretary of State
6. Defeated Sean Cruz in the Democratic primary.
7. Successful write-in candidate; see Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division Official Results.
8. Ran for Oregon State Treasurer
9. Defeated John Robbins in the Republican primary
10. "November 4, 2008, General Election Abstracts of Votes: State Representative". Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
11. Defeated Jim Fox in the Republican primary.
12. Defeated G. Nick McKibbin in the Democratic primary.
13. Defeated Bruce Cuff, Marc Lucca, and Cliff Wooten in the Republican primary.
14. Ran successfully for the Oregon Senate
15. Defeated Craig Pope in the Republican primary.
16. Defeated Wesley West in the Democratic primary.
17. Defeated Jim Bunn and Edward (Ed) Glad in the Republican primary.
18. Ran unsuccessfully for Oregon Attorney General
19. Defeated Linda Brown in the Democratic primary.
20. Ran successfully for the Oregon Senate.
21. Defeated Regan Felice Gray, Gordon Hillesland, and Teddy Keizer in the Democratic primary.
22. Defeated Cyreena Boston and Jon Coney in the Democratic primary.
23. Ran successfully for United States Senate
24. Defeated Barbara Kyle in the Democratic primary.
25. Defeated Steve Richkind in the Democratic primary.
26. Defeated Phyllis Thiemann in the Republican primary.
27. Defeated Barbara Ann Wright in the Democratic primary.
28. Defeated Tim K. Smith in the Republican primary.