2016 Oregon legislative election

The 2016 elections for the Oregon Legislative Assembly determined the composition of both houses for the 79th Oregon Legislative Assembly. The Republican and Democratic parties held primary elections on May 17, 2016 with general elections on November 8.

Oregon legislative elections, 2016

← 2014 November 8, 2016 (2016-11-08) 2018 →
16 seats of the Oregon State Senate and 60 seats of the Oregon House of Representatives
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 53 (18 in Senate, 35 in House) 37 (12 Senate, 25 House) Seats after 52 (17 in Senate, 35 in House) 38 (13 Senate, 25 House) Seat change 1 1 in Senate, in House 1 1 in Senate, in House
2016 General Election Voters' Pamphlet

The Democratic Party maintained its 35-25 advantage in the Oregon House of Representatives while losing one seat in the Oregon State Senate to bring their advantage to 17-13 over the Republicans.

Oregon Senate

In the previous session, the Democrats held an 18-12 majority over the Republicans. The 16 seats up for election included 8 seats previously held by Republicans, and 8 by Democrats.

Open seats

• In District 3, incumbent Democrat Kevin Talbert, who was appointed in August to replace the deceased Alan Bates^[1] decided not to seek election.^[2]
• In District 21, incumbent Democrat and President Pro Tempore Diane Rosenbaum retired.^[3]
• In District 22, incumbent Democrat Chip Shields retired.^[4]
• In District 28, incumbent Republican Doug Whitsett retired.^[5]

Results

Affiliation		Candidates	Votes	Vote %	Seats Won	Seats After
	Democratic	14	472,564	50.95%	7 (1)	17
	Republican	11	410,566	44.27%	9 (1)	13
	Libertarian	2	11,173	1.20%	0
	Progressive	1	10,390	1.12%	0
	Independent	1	9,114	0.98%	0
	Others	N/A	13,659	1.47%	0
Total		45	927,466	100%	16	30

District[6]	Party		Incumbent	Status	Party		Candidate	Votes	%
1		Republican	Jeff Kruse of Roseburg	Re-elected		Republican	Jeff Kruse	45,424	73.39%
						Democratic	Timm Rolek	16,365	26.44%
							others	104	0.17%
2		Republican	Herman Baertschiger Jr. of Grants Pass	Re-elected		Republican	Herman Baertschiger Jr.	43,519	97.61%
							others	1,064	2.39%
3		Democratic	Kevin Talbert of Ashland	Did not seek election, Republican gain		Republican	Alan DeBoer	32,925	50.20%
						Democratic	Tonia Moro	32,516	49.57%
							others	152	0.23%
5		Democratic	Arnie Roblan of Coos Bay	Re-elected		Democratic	Arnie Roblan	30,301	48.18%
						Republican	Dick Anderson	29,944	47.61%
							others	2,663	4.23%
9		Republican	Fred Girod of Stayton	Re-elected		Republican	Fred Girod	40,655	68.70%
						Democratic	Rich Harisay	15,901	26.87%
							others	2,623	4.43%
12		Republican	Brian Boquist of Dallas	Re-elected		Republican	Brian Boquist	39,900	62.86%
						Democratic	Ross Schwartzendruber	23,437	36.92%
							others	137	0.22%
14		Democratic	Mark Hass of Beaverton	Re-elected		Democratic	Mark Hass	44,338	97.21%
							others	1,271	2.79%
18		Democratic	Ginny Burdick of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Ginny Burdick	51,491	97.44%
							others	1,353	2.56%
21		Democratic	Diane Rosenbaum of Portland	Retired, Democratic hold		Democratic	Kathleen Taylor	54,520	76.70%
						Progressive	James Ofsink	10,390	14.62%
						Libertarian	Josh Howard	5,852	8.23%
							others	322	0.45%
22		Democratic	Chip Shields of Portland	Retired, Democratic hold		Democratic	Lew Frederick	60,803	91.55%
						Libertarian	Eugene Newell	5,321	8.01%
							others	202	0.44%
23		Democratic	Michael Dembrow of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Michael Dembrow	48,722	97.85%
							others	1,071	2.15%
25		Democratic	Laurie Monnes Anderson of Gresham	Re-elected		Democratic	Laurie Monnes Anderson	25,339	55.07%
						Republican	Tamie Tlustos-Arnold	18,742	40.73%
							others	1,930	4.19%
27		Republican	Tim Knopp of Bend	Re-elected		Republican	Tim Knopp	44,691	60.58%
						Democratic	Greg Delgado	28,933	39.22%
							others	147	0.20%
28		Republican	Doug Whitsett of Klamath Falls	Retired, Republican hold		Republican	Dennis Linthicum	36,770	61.32%
						Democratic	Todd Kepple	22,906	38.20%
							others	284	0.37%
29		Republican	Bill Hansell of Athena	Re-elected		Republican	Bill Hansell	37,785	80.27%
						Independent Party	Barbara Dickerson	9,114	19.36%
							others	176	0.28%
30		Republican	Ted Ferrioli of John Day	Re-elected		Republican	Ted Ferrioli	40,211	70.10%
						Democratic	W. Mark Stringer	16,992	29.62%
							others	160	0.74%

Oregon House of Representatives

Winning party by margin of victory

Winning party by district

All 60 seats of the Oregon House of Representatives were up for re-election, being represented by 35 Democrats and 25 Republicans. The Democrats expanded their 34-26 advantage to 35-25 in the 2014 election.

Open seats

• In District 1, incumbent Republican Wayne Krieger retired.^[7]
• In District 5, incumbent Democrat Peter Buckley retired.^[8]
• In District 14, incumbent Democrat Val Hoyle contested the Democratic primary for Secretary of State.^[9]
• In District 22, incumbent Democrat Betty Komp retired.^[10]
• In District 24, incumbent Republican Jim Weidner retired.^[11]
• In District 26, incumbent Republican John Davis retired.^[12]
• In District 27, incumbent Democrat Tobias Read retired to run for Oregon State Treasurer.^[13]
• In District 30, incumbent Democrat Joe Gallegos retired.^[12]
• In District 40, incumbent Democrat Brent Barton retired.^[14]
• In District 41, incumbent Democrat Kathleen Taylor retired to contest the District 21 Senate seat held by Diane Rosenbaum.^[15]
• In District 43, incumbent Democrat Lew Frederick retired to contest the District 22 Senate seat held by Chip Shields.^[16]
• In District 47, incumbent Democrat Jessica Vega Pederson retired to run for Multnomah County Commissioner.^[17]
• In District 51, incumbent Democrat Shemia Fagan retired.^[18]
• In District 56, incumbent Republican Gail Whitsett retired.^[19]

Results

Affiliation		Candidates	Votes	Vote %	Seats Won
	Democratic	52	882,897	50.23%	35
	Republican	48	756,619	43.05%	25
	Independent	9	58,563	3.33%	0
	Libertarian	4	15,219	0.87%	0
	Progressive	2	9,985	0.57%	0
	Others	N/A	26,714	1.52%	0
Total		178	1,757,603	100%	60

District[6]	Party		Incumbent	Status	Party		Candidate	Votes	%
1		Republican	Wayne Krieger of Gold Beach	Retired, Republican hold		Republican	David Brock Smith	20,212	59.79%
						Democratic	Terry Brayer	10,099	29.87%
						Libertarian	Tamie Kaufman	3,496	10.33%
							others	45	0.13%
2		Republican	Dallas Heard of Roseburg	Re-elected		Republican	Dallas Heard	19,759	97.49%
							others	509	2.51%
3		Republican	Carl Wilson of Grants Pass	Re-elected		Republican	Carl Wilson	21,957	72.39%
						Democratic	Tom Johnson	8,423	27.29%
							others	99	0.32%
4		Republican	Duane Stark of Grants Pass	Re-elected		Republican	Duane Stark	21,957	98.33%
							others	374	1.67%
5		Democratic	Peter Buckley of Ashland	Retired, Democratic hold		Democratic	Pam Marsh	22,440	62.71%
						Republican	Steven Richie	13,254	37.04%
							others	89	0.25%
6		Republican	Sal Esquivel of Medford	Re-elected		Republican	Sal Esquivel	15,931	56.48%
						Democratic	Mike Moran	12,196	43.24%
							others	78	0.28%
7		Republican	Cedric Ross Hayden of Fall Creek	Re-elected		Republican	Cedric Ross Hayden	19,409	65.45%
						Democratic	Vincent Portulano	7,053	23.78%
						Independent Party	Fergus McLean	3,116	10.51%
							others	76	0.26%
8		Democratic	Paul Holvey of Eugene	Re-elected		Democratic	Paul Holvey	23,886	69.20%
						Republican	Mary Tucker	9,150	26.51%
							others	1,479	4.29%
9		Democratic	Caddy McKeown of Coos Bay	Re-elected		Democratic	Caddy McKeown	15,346	49.81%
						Republican	Teri Grier	14,240	46.22%
							others	1,225	3.98%
10		Democratic	David Gomberg of Newport	Re-elected		Democratic	David Gomberg	17,499	56.24%
						Republican	Thomas Donohue	13,524	43.47%
							others	91	0.29%
11		Democratic	Phil Barnhart of Eugene	Re-elected		Democratic	Phil Barnhart	17,298	53.12%
						Republican	Joe Potwora	15,194	46.66%
							others	73	0.22%
12		Democratic	John Lively of Springfield	Re-elected		Democratic	John Lively	16,030	62.30%
						Republican	Robert Schwartz	9,606	37.33%
							others	94	0.37%
13		Democratic	Nancy Nathanson of Eugene	Re-elected		Democratic	Nancy Nathanson	21,304	66.29%
						Republican	Laura Cooper	9,746	30.33%
							others	1,088	3.39%
14		Democratic	Val Hoyle of Eugene	Retired, Democratic hold		Democratic	Julie Fahey	16,039	51.76%
						Republican	Kathy Lamberg	14,886	48.03%
							others	65	0.21%
15		Republican	Andy Olson of Albany	Re-elected		Republican	Andy Olson	25,175	82.84%
						Progressive	Cynthia Hyatt	5,051	16.62%
							others	163	0.54%
16		Democratic	Dan Rayfield of Corvallis	Re-elected		Democratic	Dan Rayfield	17,921	58.05%
						Republican	Judson McClure	6,474	20.97%
						Progressive	Sami Al-AbadRabbuh	4,934	15.98%
							others	1,542	4.99%
17		Republican	Sherrie Sprenger of Scio	Re-elected		Republican	Sherrie Sprenger	22,673	78.27%
						Independent Party	Jeffrey Goodwin	6,113	21.10%
							others	182	0.63%
18		Republican	Vic Gilliam of Silverton	Re-elected		Republican	Vic Gilliam	19,250	64.74%
						Democratic	Tom Kane	9,565	32.17%
							others	918	3.09%
19		Republican	Jodi Hack of Salem	Re-elected		Republican	Jodi Hack	17,805	60.87%
						Democratic	Larry Trott	11,337	38.76%
							others	110	0.38%
20		Democratic	Paul Evans of Monmouth	Re-elected		Democratic	Paul Evans	17,408	52.92%
						Republican	Laura Morett	15,409	46.84%
							others	77	0.23%
21		Democratic	Brian Clem of Salem	Re-elected		Democratic	Brian Clem	12,313	55.52%
						Republican	Doug Rodgers	8,338	37.60%
						Independent Party	Alvin Klausen	1,420	6.42%
							others	106	0.48%
22		Democratic	Betty Komp of Woodburn	Retired, Democratic hold		Democratic	Teresa Alonso Leon	9,604	55.27%
						Republican	Patti Milne	7,711	44.38%
							others	61	0.35%
23		Republican	Mike Nearman of Independence	Re-elected		Republican	Mike Nearman	17,560	52.76%
						Independent Party	Jim Thompson	12,370	37.17%
						Pacific Green	Alex Polikoff	1,906	5.73%
							others	1,448	4.35%
24		Republican	Jim Weidner of Yamhill	Retired, Republican hold		Republican	Ron Noble	17,065	54.91%
						Democratic	Ken Moore	13,953	44.89%
							others	62	0.20%
25		Republican	Bill Post of Keizer	Re-elected		Republican	Bill Post	18,545	63.64%
						Democratic	Sharon Freeman	10,523	36.11%
							others	71	0.24%
26		Republican	John Davis of Wilsonville	Retired, Republican hold		Republican	A. Richard Vial	18,704	54.82%
						Democratic	Ray Lister	15,365	45.02%
							others	47	0.14%
27		Democratic	Tobias Read of Beaverton	Retired, Democratic hold		Democratic	Sheri Malstrom	22,504	97.83%
							others	500	2.17%
28		Democratic	Jeff Barker of Aloha	Re-elected		Democratic	Jeff Barker	17,107	64.07%
						Republican	Gary Carlson	9,481	35.51%
							others	112	0.42%
29		Democratic	Susan McLain of Forest Grove	Re-elected		Democratic	Susan McLain	14,248	58.95%
						Republican	Juanita Lint	9,833	40.68%
							others	90	0.37%
30		Democratic	Joe Gallegos of Hillsboro	Retired, Democratic hold		Democratic	Janeen Sollman	15,336	52.22%
						Republican	Dan Mason	11,473	39.07%
						Libertarian	Kyle Markley	2,498	8.51%
							others	61	0.21%
31		Democratic	Brad Witt of Clatskanie	Re-elected		Democratic	Brad Witt	24,658	80.55%
						Libertarian	Robert Miller	5,706	18.64%
							others	248	0.81%
32		Democratic	Deborah Boone of Cannon Beach	Re-elected		Democratic	Deborah Boone	18,540	56.53%
						Republican	Bruce Bobek	14,157	43.17%
							others	97	0.30%
33		Democratic	Mitch Greenlick of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Mitch Greenlick	24,466	69.45%
						Republican	John Verbeek	10,686	30.33%
							others	77	0.22%
34		Democratic	Ken Helm of Beaverton	Re-elected		Democratic	Ken Helm	18,606	65.13%
						Independent Party	Donald Hershiser	9,875	34.57%
							others	86	0.30%
35		Democratic	Margaret Doherty of Tigard	Re-elected		Democratic	Margaret Doherty	19,609	62.32%
						Independent Party	Jessica Cousineau	11,752	37.35%
							others	106	0.34%
36		Democratic	Jennifer Williamson of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Jennifer Williamson	28,875	88.73%
						Libertarian	Amanda Burnham	3,519	10.81%
							others	149	0.46%
37		Republican	Julie Parrish of West Linn	Re-elected		Republican	Julie Parrish	18,971	53.81%
						Democratic	Paul Southwick	15,393	43.66%
							others	893	2.53%
38		Democratic	Ann Lininger of Lake Oswego	Re-elected		Democratic	Ann Lininger	26,675	69.69%
						Republican	Patrick De Klotz	11,533	30.13%
							others	68	0.18%
39		Republican	Bill Kennemer of Oregon City	Re-elected		Republican	Bill Kennemer	22,160	64.82%
						Democratic	Charles Gallia	10,963	32.07%
							others	1,062	3.11%
40		Democratic	Brent Barton of Gladstone	Retired, Democratic hold		Democratic	Mark Meek	16,282	51.03%
						Republican	Evon Tekorius	13,829	43.34%
							others	1,798	5.63%
41		Democratic	Kathleen Taylor of Portland	Retired, Democratic hold		Democratic	Karin Power	24,589	71.35%
						Republican	Timothy E. McMenamin	9,799	28.43%
							others	76	0.22%
42		Democratic	Rob Nosse of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Rob Nosse	33,894	88.71%
						Independent Party	James Stubbs	2,459	6.44%
							others	1,854	4.85%
43		Democratic	Lew Frederick of Portland	Retired, Democratic hold		Democratic	Tawna Sanchez	31,052	98.55%
							others	457	1.45%
44		Democratic	Tina Kotek of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Tina Kotek	23,288	80.34%
						Pacific Green	Joe Rowe	5,700	19.50%
							others	242	0.83%
45		Democratic	Barbara Smith Warner of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Barbara Smith Warner	24,843	98.07%
							others	488	1.93%
46		Democratic	Alissa Keny-Guyer of Portland	Re-elected		Democratic	Alissa Keny-Guyer	23,366	97.95%
							others	489	2.05%
47		Democratic	Jessica Vega Pederson of Portland	Retired, Democratic hold		Democratic	Diego Hernandez	14,323	66.91%
						Independent Party	Michael Langley	7,025	32.82%
							others	59	0.28%
48		Democratic	Jeff Reardon of Happy Valley	Re-elected		Democratic	Jeff Reardon	15,154	62.92%
						Republican	George (Sonny) Yellott	6,774	28.13%
							others	2,155	8.95%
49		Democratic	Chris Gorsek of Troutdale	Re-elected		Democratic	Chris Gorsek	16,075	96.50%
							others	583	3.50%
50		Democratic	Carla Piluso of Gresham	Re-elected		Democratic	Carla Piluso	11,840	50.25%
						Republican	Stella Armstrong	7,254	30.79%
						Independent Party	Michael Calcagno	4,433	18.82%
							others	33	0.14%
51		Democratic	Shemia Fagan of Clackamas	Retired, Democratic hold		Democratic	Janelle Bynum	14,310	50.85%
						Republican	Lori Chavez-Deremer	13,746	48.85%
							others	86	0.31%
52		Republican	Mark Johnson of Hood River	Re-elected		Republican	Mark Johnson	17,582	55.47%
						Democratic	Mark Reynolds	14,047	44.32%
							others	66	0.21%
53		Republican	Gene Whisnant of Sunriver	Re-elected		Republican	Gene Whisnant	24,425	67.45%
						Democratic	Michael Graham	11,727	32.38%
							others	60	0.17%
54		Republican	Knute Buehler of Bend	Re-elected		Republican	Knute Buehler	19,352	51.92%
						Democratic	Gena Goodman-Campbell	17,804	47.77%
							others	117	0.31%
55		Republican	Mike McLane of Powell Butte	Re-elected		Republican	Mike McLane	24,693	75.68%
						Democratic	Brie Malarkey	7,857	24.08%
							others	77	0.24%
56		Republican	Gail Whitsett of Klamath Falls	Retired, Republican hold		Republican	E. Werner Reschke	13,164	48.70%
						Democratic	Al Switzer	10,882	40.26%
							Jonah Hakanson	2,918	10.80%
							others	66	0.24%
57		Republican	Greg Smith of Heppner	Re-elected		Republican	Greg Smith	17,432	98.74%
							others	222	1.26%
58		Republican	Greg Barreto of Cove	Re-elected		Republican	Greg Barreto	23,010	97.29%
							others	642	2.71%
59		Republican	John Huffman of The Dalles	Re-elected		Republican	John Huffman	21,392	70.24%
						Democratic	Tyler Gabriel	8,982	29.49%
							others	81	0.27%
60		Republican	Cliff Bentz of Ontario	Re-elected		Republican	Cliff Bentz	22,339	98.14%
							others	424	1.86%

Maps

• 
  House District 54
• 
  House District 56

See also

• 78th Oregon Legislative Assembly (2015-2016)
• 79th Oregon Legislative Assembly (2017-2018)

References

1. "Kevin Talbert appointed to Oregon Senate following Alan Bates' death". KATU 2. Sinclair Broadcast Group. August 31, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
2. Aldous, Vickie (August 30, 2016). "Kevin Talbert selected to fill Alan Bates' Senate seat". Ashland Daily Tidings. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
3. Achen, Paris (March 2016). "Rosenbaum won't seek reelection". Portland Tribune. Pamplin Media Group. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
4. Gray, Chris. "Shields Departing Senate with One More Insurance Reform Bill in His Quiver". The Lund Report. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
5. Anderson, Taylor (March 11, 2016). "Late Republican shuffling may spurn election hopes". The Bulletin. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
6. "November 8, 2016, General Election Abstract of Votes". Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
7. Stebbins, Jane. "Race for state house". Curry Coastal Pilot. Western Communications, Inc. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
8. Cureton, Emily; Riley, Geoffrey. "Oregon Rep. Peter Buckley Retires". Jefferson Public Radio. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
9. Hubbard, Saul. "Eugene state Sen. Chris Edwards stepping down for administrative job at UO". The Register-Guard. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
10. "46 Rep. Betty Komp announces retirement from legislature". Statesman Journal. USA Today Network. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
11. Montesano, Nicole (October 21, 2016). "Moore, Noble vie for House District 24 seat". Yamhill Valley News-Register. News-Register Publishing. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
12. Anderson, Taylor (November 2, 2016). "Where Oregon races stand a week before Election Day". The Bulletin. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
13. Apalategui, Eric. "Carlson to face Barker in House District 28". Portland Tribune. Pamplin Media Group. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
14. Rendleman, Raymond. "North Clackamas voters pick Mark Meek, Karin Power for Oregon House seats". Portland Tribune. Pamplin Media Group. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
15. Rendleman, Raymond. "Milwaukie Councilor Karin Power running for State Rep. Kathleen Taylor's seat". Portland Tribune. Pamplin Media Group. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
16. Hammill, Luke (May 18, 2016). "Oregon legislative roundup: Key races in House, Senate (election results)". OregonLive. Oregon Live LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
17. "Zimmerman, Vega Pederson, Stegmann for Multnomah County Commission: Editorial endorsement". OregonLive. Oregon Live LLC. April 12, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
18. Lehman, Chris. "The Road To Legislative Control In Oregon Leads Through The Suburbs". Northwest Public Radio. Archived from the original on November 27, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
19. Moriarty, Liam (November 4, 2016). "Klamath Region Spawns Oregon's Oddest Legislative Races This Year". Jefferson Public Radio. Retrieved November 27, 2016.