2020 United States Senate election in Oregon

See also: 2020 United States Senate elections

2020 United States Senate election in Oregon
← 2014 November 3, 2020 2026 →
 
Nominee Jeff Merkley Jo Rae Perkins
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,321,047 912,814
Percentage 56.91% 39.32%
Merkley:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80–90%      >90%
Perkins:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80–90%      >90%
Tie:      40–50%      50%      No data
U.S. senator before election

Jeff Merkley
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Jeff Merkley
Democratic

Elections in Oregon
Federal government
Presidential elections
Presidential primaries
Democratic
2000
2004
2008
2016
2020
2024
Republican
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
U.S. Senate elections
U.S. House of Representatives elections
State government
General elections
Gubernatorial elections
Secretary of State elections
Attorney General elections
State Treasurer elections
Labor Commissioner elections
Legislative Assembly elections
Ballot measures
List of Oregon ballot measures
Multnomah County
District Attorney elections
Portland
General elections
Mayoral elections
City Council elections
City Auditor elections

The 2020 United States Senate election in Oregon was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Oregon, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic senator Jeff Merkley won reelection to a third term in office. Although this Senate seat was largely expected to be one of the safest for the Democrats, the race received national attention due to the Republican nominee Jo Rae Perkins's promotion of the unfounded QAnon conspiracy theory. Furthermore, Perkins had flipped five counties that Merkley had won in 2014 (though only by pluralities in the cases of Jackson, Polk and Yamhill).[1]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Withdrawn

  • Michael David, activist and ethnographer[4]

Endorsements

Jeff Merkley
Organizations

Results

Democratic primary results[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jeff Merkley (incumbent) 564,878 98.71%
Democratic Write-in 7,386 1.29%
Total votes 572,264 100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Withdrawn

Declined

Endorsements

Jo Rae Perkins
State representatives
Individuals
Organizations

Results

Results by county:
  Rae Perkins—50–60%
  Rae Perkins—40–50%
Republican primary results[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jo Rae Perkins 178,004 49.23%
Republican Paul J. Romero, Jr. 109,783 30.36%
Republican Robert Schwartz 40,196 11.12%
Republican John Verbeek 29,382 8.13%
Republican Write-in 4,250 1.17%
Total votes 361,615 100.0%

Other candidates

Pacific Green Party

Nominee

Endorsements

Ibra Taher
Individuals
Organizations

Libertarian Party

Nominee

  • Gary Dye, former refinery operator and engineer[28][29][3]

General election

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[30] Solid D October 29, 2020
Inside Elections[31] Safe D October 28, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball[32] Safe D November 2, 2020
Daily Kos[33] Safe D October 30, 2020
Politico[34] Safe D November 2, 2020
RCP[35] Safe D October 23, 2020
DDHQ[36] Safe D November 3, 2020
538[37] Safe D November 2, 2020
Economist[38] Safe D November 2, 2020

Endorsements

Jeff Merkley (D)
Organizations
Unions
Jo Rae Perkins (R)
State representatives
Organizations
Ibrahim Taher (G)
Individuals
Organizations

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[a] 		Margin
of error 		Jeff
Merkley (D) 		Jo Rae
Perkins (R) 		Other Undecided
Civiqs/Daily Kos[58] September 26–29, 2020 944 (LV) ± 3.5% 55% 35% 5%[b] 5%

Results

2020 United States Senate election in Oregon[59]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Jeff Merkley (incumbent) 1,321,047 56.91% +1.18%
Republican Jo Rae Perkins 912,814 39.32% +2.45%
Libertarian Gary Dye 42,747 1.84% −1.23%
Pacific Green Ibrahim Taher 42,239 1.82% −0.40%
Write-in 2,402 0.11% -0.34%
Total votes 2,321,249 100.0%
Democratic hold

By county

By county
County Jeff Merkley
Democratic 		Jo Rae Perkins
Republican 		Gary Dye
Libertarian 		Ibrahim Taher
Pacific Green 		Write-in Margin Total
votes
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Baker 2,633 27.01 6,863 70.39 176 1.81 71 0.73 7 0.07 -4,230 -43.38 9,750
Benton 35,021 67.29 14,811 28.46 1,041 2.00 1,118 2.15 52 0.10 20,210 38.83 52,043
Clackamas 134,813 53.79 106,838 42.63 4,767 1.90 3,995 1.59 227 0.09 27,975 11.16 250,640
Clatsop 13,052 55.48 9,623 40.91 438 1.86 391 1.66 20 0.09 3,429 14.58 23,524
Columbia 14,375 45.44 15,948 50.41 767 2.42 507 1.60 40 0.13 -1,573 -4.97 31,637
Coos 14,885 41.23 20,051 55.53 676 1.87 470 1.30 24 0.07 -5,166 -14.31 36,106
Crook 4,133 27.29 10,628 70.17 250 1.65 118 0.78 17 0.11 -6,495 -42.88 15,146
Curry 6,170 42.24 7,993 54.72 268 1.83 170 1.16 7 0.05 -1,823 -12.48 14,608
Deschutes 65,264 53.19 53,285 43.43 2,244 1.83 1,769 1.44 128 0.10 11,979 9.76 122,690
Douglas 20,707 33.03 40,036 63.87 1,217 1.94 660 1.05 65 0.10 -19,329 -30.84 62,685
Gilliam 373 31.96 765 65.55 18 1.54 8 0.69 3 0.26 -392 -33.59 1,167
Grant 1,119 24.80 3,273 72.52 89 1.97 27 0.60 5 0.11 -2,154 -47.73 4,513
Harney 1,055 24.10 3,213 73.41 65 1.49 38 0.87 6 0.14 -2,158 -49.30 4,377
Hood River 8,619 66.89 3,821 29.65 229 1.78 209 1.62 7 0.05 4,798 37.24 12,885
Jackson 59,093 47.54 61,010 49.08 2,217 1.78 1,901 1.53 82 0.07 -1,917 -1.54 124,303
Jefferson 4,591 39.07 6,810 57.95 206 1.75 130 1.11 15 0.13 -2,219 -18.88 11,752
Josephine 18,697 37.23 29,685 59.10 986 1.96 789 1.57 68 0.14 -10,988 -21.88 50,225
Klamath 11,237 31.23 23,579 65.53 702 1.95 435 1.21 29 0.08 -12,342 -34.30 35,982
Lake 908 21.29 3,261 76.46 63 1.48 29 0.68 4 0.09 -2,353 -55.17 4,265
Lane 133,033 61.26 75,550 34.79 3,842 1.77 4,497 2.07 236 0.11 57,483 26.47 217,158
Lincoln 17,485 57.88 11,628 38.49 546 1.81 524 1.73 25 0.08 5,857 19.39 30,208
Linn 27,048 38.29 40,801 57.76 1,618 2.29 1,079 1.53 98 0.14 -13,753 -19.47 70,644
Malheur 3,353 28.92 7,882 67.97 230 1.98 124 1.07 7 0.06 -4,529 -39.06 11,596
Marion 79,990 49.37 75,908 46.85 3,221 1.99 2,683 1.66 212 0.13 4,082 2.52 162,014
Morrow 1,558 30.94 3,324 66.02 109 2.16 41 0.81 3 0.06 -1,766 -35.07 5,035
Multnomah 356,870 78.53 78,673 17.31 6,775 1.49 11,669 2.57 431 0.09 278,197 61.22 454,418
Polk 22,893 48.16 22,931 48.24 928 1.95 725 1.53 54 0.11 -38 -0.08 47,531
Sherman 302 25.61 845 71.67 26 2.21 6 0.51 0 0.00 -543 -46.06 1,179
Tillamook 8,326 50.19 7,768 46.83 270 1.63 213 1.28 12 0.07 558 3.36 16,589
Umatilla 11,253 34.95 19,876 61.74 696 2.16 339 1.05 30 0.09 -8,623 -26.78 32,194
Union 4,545 31.12 9,674 66.24 230 1.57 145 0.99 11 0.08 -5,129 -35.12 14,605
Wallowa 1,702 33.56 3,267 64.43 65 1.28 37 0.73 0 0.00 -1,565 -30.86 5,071
Wasco 6,716 48.67 6,572 47.63 290 2.10 208 1.51 13 0.09 144 1.04 13,799
Washington 202,073 64.64 97,799 31.28 6,131 1.96 6,206 1.99 409 0.13 104,274 33.36 312,618
Wheeler 262 28.11 646 69.31 16 1.72 8 0.86 0 0.00 -384 -41.20 932
Yamhill 26,893 46.88 28,177 49.12 1,335 2.33 900 1.57 55 0.10 -1,284 -2.24 57,360
Totals 1,321,047 56.91 912,814 39.32 42,747 1.84 42,239 1.82 2,402 0.10 408,233 17.59 2,321,249

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

Merkley won four of five congressional districts.[60]

District Merkley Perkins Representative
1st 62% 34% Suzanne Bonamici
2nd 43% 53% Cliff Bentz
3rd 73% 22% Earl Blumenauer
4th 52% 44% Peter DeFazio
5th 53% 43% Kurt Schrader

Notes

General

  1. ^ Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. ^ Dye (L) and Taher (G) with 2%; "Someone else" with 1%

References

  1. ^ Baker, Mike (May 20, 2020). "G.O.P. Voters Back QAnon Conspiracy Promoter for U.S. Senate". The New York Times. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  2. ^ Sullivan, Sean (March 5, 2019). "Sen. Jeff Merkley opts out of Democratic presidential contest and will run for reelection to Oregon seat". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "Oregon 2020 Senate Candidate List". secure.sos.state.or.us. Oregon Secretary of State. July 17, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  4. ^ "Candidate Information: Michael David". Oregon Secretary of State: Elections Division. February 28, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  5. ^ "2020 State of Oregon Primary Candidate Recommendations". Stateweb. February 28, 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Senate Candidates - Council for a Livable World". Council for a Livable World.
  7. ^ a b "Our Candidates". Democracy for America. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  8. ^ a b Acosta, Lucas (March 2, 2020). "HRC Endorses Sen. Jeff Merkley for Reelection". Human Rights Campaign. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Society, Humane. "2020 Endorsements". Humane Society Legislative Fund.
  10. ^ a b Burke, Holly (June 27, 2019). "LCV Action Fund Endorses Senator Jeff Merkley for Re-Election". League of Conservation Voters.
  11. ^ a b "NARAL Pro-Choice America Endorses Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) for Re-election". NARAL Pro-Choice America. April 24, 2019.
  12. ^ a b "OEA-PAC | Oregon Education Association". oregoned.org. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
  13. ^ "2020 Primary Endorsements". OLCV.
  14. ^ "2020 Election – SEIU Oregon State Council". Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Sierra Club #ClimateVoter Guide: Endorsements". Sierra Club.
  16. ^ a b "May 19, 2020, Primary Election Abstract of Votes" (PDF). Oregon Secretary of State. May 19, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  17. ^ "Candidate Information: Jo Rae Perkins". Oregon Secretary of State: Elections Division. January 17, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  18. ^ "Believer in QAnon conspiracy theory wins Republican Senate nomination in Oregon". The Washington Post. May 20, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020. "Where we go one, we go all," Perkins said in the video, reciting a QAnon slogan. "I stand with President Trump. I stand with Q and the team. Thank you Anons, and thank you patriots. And together, we can save our republic."
  19. ^ Cegavske, Carisa (September 20, 2019). "Roseburg Republican seeks senate seat held by Democrat Jeff Merkley". The News-Review. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  20. ^ "Oregon Secretary Of State". secure.sos.state.or.us. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  21. ^ "Candidate Information: John Verbeek". Oregon Secretary of State: Elections Division. March 6, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  22. ^ "FILING FEC-1380922". FEC. February 7, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  23. ^ "44 changes to the candidate list". The Green Papers. March 12, 2020. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  24. ^ Warner, Gary (December 29, 2018). "After losing race for governor, Buehler plans his future". The Bulletin. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Endorsements". Perkins for Senate. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  26. ^ "Our Coordinating Committee". Pacific Green Party Standard. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  27. ^ a b c d e "Endorsements". Ibrahim Taher. June 24, 2020.
  28. ^ "Gary Dye". Ballotpedia. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  29. ^ "Official website of the Libertarian Party of Oregon". Libertarian Party of Oregon. August 14, 2020. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  30. ^ "2020 Senate Race Ratings for October 29, 2020". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  31. ^ "2020 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  32. ^ "2020 Senate race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  33. ^ "2020 Senate Race Ratings". Daily Kos Elections. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  34. ^ "2020 Election Forecast". Politico. November 19, 2019.
  35. ^ "Battle for the Senate 2020". RCP. October 23, 2020.
  36. ^ "2020 Senate Elections Model". Decision Desk HQ. September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  37. ^ Silver, Nate (September 18, 2020). "Forecasting the race for the Senate". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  38. ^ "Forecasting the US elections". The Economist. November 2, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  39. ^ "350 Action Endorses Kara Eastman (NE-02) and Jeff Merkley for Congress in 2020". 350action.org. December 17, 2019.
  40. ^ Klein, Howie (May 12, 2019). "Blue America's Mothers' Day Senate Endorsement: Jeff Merkley". Blue America.
  41. ^ "2020 Endorsements". Retrieved August 18, 2024.
  42. ^ "DUH/PEP website". duh4all.org. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  43. ^ Muller, Tiffany (April 25, 2019). "End Citizens United Endorses Senator Jeff Merkley for Re-election". End Citizens United.
  44. ^ "Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund Endorses Senator Jeff Merkley For U.S. Senate". Everytown. June 30, 2020.
  45. ^ "JStreetPAC Candidates". JStreetPAC. Archived from the original on May 2, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  46. ^ "Meet the 2020 Candidates". Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs.[permanent dead link]
  47. ^ "Our Candidates". MoveOn.org.
  48. ^ "Candidates We Endorse and Support". NCPSSM.
  49. ^ "2020 Federal Endorsements - NOW PAC". nowpac.org.
  50. ^ "Six Environmental Champions Win NRDC Action Fund Endorsements". www.nrdcactionfund.org. May 18, 2020.
  51. ^ "PeaceVoter 2020 Endorsements". Peace Action. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  52. ^ "2020 Endorsements". plannedparenthoodaction.org. Archived from the original on April 12, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  53. ^ "Endorsements". ppaoregon.org.
  54. ^ "2020 Endorsements". Population Connection. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  55. ^ "U.S. Senate - Education Votes". educationvotes.nea.org.
  56. ^ "2020 OREGON AFL-CIO ENDORSEMENTS". Oregon AFL-CIO. March 6, 2020.
  57. ^ "Oregon – Official UAW Endorsements". uawendorsements.org. United Automobile Workers.
  58. ^ Civiqs/Daily Kos
  59. ^ "November 3, 2020, General Election Abstract of Votes" (PDF). Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  60. ^ "DRA 2020". Daves Redistricting. Retrieved August 18, 2024.

Official campaign websites