A general election was held in the U.S. state of
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
on November 3, 2020. Primary elections were held on May 19, 2020.
Federal
President of the United States
Former
Democratic Vice President Joseph Biden beat incumbent
Republican President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
, first
elected in 2016, to receive Oregon's seven electoral votes.
United States Senate
Incumbent
Democratic Senator
Jeff Merkley
Jeffrey Alan Merkley (born October 24, 1956) is an American politician who is the junior United States senator from Oregon. He was first elected to the Senate in 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1999 to 2009 as the repres ...
, who was first
elected in 2008 and
re-elected in 2014, was re-elected to a third term in office.
United States House of Representatives
All five of Oregon's seats in the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
were up for re-election in 2020. These seats were currently represented by four Democrats and one Republican. In October 2019, incumbent
Republican Representative
Greg Walden
Gregory Paul Walden (born January 10, 1957) is an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1999 to 2021. He is a Republican Party (United States), Republican. Walden is the son of ...
of the
2nd district announced that he would not seek a twelfth term. All of the other incumbent Representatives won in their respective districts, and Republican
Cliff Bentz
Cliff Stewart Bentz (born January 12, 1952) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Oregon's 2nd congressional district since 2021. He previously served in the Oregon Sen ...
won in the 2nd district.
Attorney general
Incumbent Democratic attorney general
Ellen Rosenblum
Ellen F. Rosenblum (born January 6, 1951) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 17th Oregon Attorney General from June 2012 to December 2024. She is the first female state attorney general in Oregon's history, and previously wa ...
was originally appointed to the role by former
governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
John Kitzhaber
John Albert Kitzhaber (born March 5, 1947) is an American former politician and physician who served as the 35th and 37th governor of Oregon from 1995 to 2003 and again from 2011 to 2015. In February 2015, shortly after beginning his fourth term, ...
on June 29, 2012, to finish the term of her predecessor
John Kroger
John Richard Kroger (born 1966) is an American lawyer who served as the president of Reed College. He served as Attorney General for the U.S. state of Oregon from 2009 to 2012. Prior to being elected in 2008, he had earlier served in the Marine ...
, who resigned from office. She was
elected to a full term in 2012 and
re-elected in 2016. This office is not subject to term limits, and Rosenblum was reelected to a third full term.
Democratic primary
Declared candidates
*
Ellen Rosenblum
Ellen F. Rosenblum (born January 6, 1951) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 17th Oregon Attorney General from June 2012 to December 2024. She is the first female state attorney general in Oregon's history, and previously wa ...
, incumbent attorney general
Results
Republican primary
Declared candidates
*Michael Cross, professional driver and software designer, leader of an unsuccessful attempt to
recall
Recall may refer to:
* Recall (baseball), a baseball term
* Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop
* Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure
* ReCALL (journal), ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted langua ...
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Kate Brown
Katherine Brown (born June 21, 1960) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 38th governor of Oregon from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms as the state representative from the 13th distr ...
in 2019
Withdrawn candidates
*Daniel Zene Crowe, lawyer and Republican nominee for attorney general in
2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
''(withdrew candidacy effective March 13, 2020)''
Results
General election
Secretary of state
Incumbent Republican secretary of state
Bev Clarno
Beverly A. Clarno (born March 29, 1936) is an American politician who served as the 27th Oregon Secretary of State from 2019 to 2021. She was the only Republican statewide official in Oregon at the time. Clarno previously served as a member of t ...
was originally appointed to the role by Governor
Kate Brown
Katherine Brown (born June 21, 1960) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 38th governor of Oregon from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms as the state representative from the 13th distr ...
on March 31, 2019, to finish the term of her predecessor,
Dennis Richardson, who died in office. Brown announced that she was only interested in appointing a successor to Richardson who wanted the day-to-day responsibilities of the office and would not run for election to a full term, a condition to which Clarno agreed upon her appointment.
Republican primary
Declared candidates
*Dave Stuaffer, environmental engineer, candidate for
Governor of Oregon
The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...
in
2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
(as a Democrat) and in
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
(as a Republican)
*
Kim Thatcher
Lona Kim Thatcher (born 1964) is an American politician currently serving as a member of the Oregon State Senate for the 11th district since 2023. She previously represented the 13th district from 2015 to 2023, and served as a member of the Oreg ...
, state Senator representing
District 13
''District B13'' ( French title ''Banlieue 13'' or ''B13''), is a 2004 French action film directed by Pierre Morel, produced by Luc Besson, and written by Besson and Bibi Naceri. It depicts parkour in several action sequences, which was complet ...
Declined
*
Rich Vial
Armand Richard Vial (born September 28, 1954) is an American lawyer, farmer, small business owner, and Nonpartisan (United States), Nonpartisan candidate for Oregon's State Senate District 18, which covers parts of Washington County, in the Novemb ...
, former state Representative for
District 26
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
, former deputy Secretary of State
Endorsements
Results
Democratic primary
Declared candidates
*
Shemia Fagan
Shemia Patricia Fagan (born September 20, 1981) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Oregon secretary of state from 2021 to 2023. She previously served as a Democratic member of the Oregon Senate, representing Senate District ...
, state Senator representing
District 24
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
*
Mark Hass
Mark Hass (born December 10, 1956) is an American politician from the US state of Oregon. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he was the representative for District 14 in the Oregon State Senate from November 21, 2007, until January ...
, state Senator representing
District 14
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
*Jamie McLeod-Skinner, environmental attorney and Democratic nominee for the
2018 election for
Oregon's 2nd congressional district
Oregon's 2nd congressional district is the largest of Oregon's Oregon's congressional districts, six districts, and is the List of United States congressional districts, seventh largest district in the nation. It is the second-largest congressi ...
Withdrawn candidates
*Jamie Morrison ''(withdrew candidacy effective February 28, 2020 to run for
District 18
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
in the
Oregon House of Representatives
The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, the upper house being the Oregon State Senate. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of ...
)''
*Cameron Smith, former director of
Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services
The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) is the agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon, which has wide-ranging regulatory and consumer-protection authority in Oregon. It administers laws and rules governing wo ...
and
Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs ''(withdrew candidacy effective March 10, 2020)''
*
Jennifer Williamson, former Majority Leader of the
Oregon House of Representatives
The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, the upper house being the Oregon State Senate. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of ...
and former state Representative for
District 36 ''(withdrew candidacy effective February 26, 2020)''
*Ryan Wruck, office manager ''(withdrew candidacy effective November 8, 2019, endorsed Mark Hass)''
Endorsements
Results
General election
State treasurer
Incumbent Democratic state treasurer
Tobias Read
Tobias Read (born July 1, 1975) is an American politician who is currently serving as the 30th Oregon Secretary of State since 2025. As a member of the Democratic Party he served as the 29th Oregon State Treasurer from 2017 to 2025. Before that, ...
, first
elected in 2016, was reelected to a second term in office.
Democratic primary
Declared candidates
*
Tobias Read
Tobias Read (born July 1, 1975) is an American politician who is currently serving as the 30th Oregon Secretary of State since 2025. As a member of the Democratic Party he served as the 29th Oregon State Treasurer from 2017 to 2025. Before that, ...
, incumbent state treasurer
Results
Republican primary
Declared candidates
*Jeff Gudman, former
Lake Oswego
Lake Oswego ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah County, Oregon, Multnomah and Washington County, Oregon, Washington counties ...
City Councilor
Results
General election
Legislative
In the
previous legislative session, Democrats held a majority of 18–12 in the Senate and 38–22 in the House of Representatives. Of the 30 seats in the Senate, 16 were up for re-election. All 60 seats in the House of Representatives were up for re-election.
After the election, Democrats held a majority 18–12 in the Senate and 37–23 in the House of Representatives.
Judicial
Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
Ballot measures
There were four statewide
Oregon ballot measures
The list of Oregon ballot measures lists all statewide ballot measures to the present.
In Oregon, the initiative and referendum process dates back to 1902, when the efforts of the Direct Legislation League prompted amending the Oregon Constitut ...
on the general election ballot. As a result of the election, all four measures passed.
Polling
Measure 109
Results
See also
*
Elections in Oregon
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated s ...
*
Portland, Oregon mayoral election, 2020
Notes
References
External links
Elections Divisionat the Oregon Secretary of State
Oregonat
Ballotpedia
Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...
*
*
* (state affiliate of the U.S.
League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...
)
Official campaign websites for attorney general candidates
Michael Cross (R) for Attorney General
Ellen Rosenblum (D) for Attorney General
Official campaign websites for secretary of state candidates
Shemia Fagan (D) for Secretary of StateKim Thatcher (R) for Secretary of State
Official campaign websites for state treasurer candidates
Jeff Gudman (R) for TreasurerTobias Read (D) for Treasurer
{{2020 United States elections
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
Oregon elections by year