Kotek Ahead by 185,000 Votes, Drazan Leads in 27 of Oregon’s 36 Counties

Oregon — Gov. Tina Kotek held a 185,037-vote lead over Republican Christine Drazan in unofficial returns Wednesday morning, with large margins in Multnomah, Washington and Lane counties outweighing Drazan’s leads across much of Oregon.

As of 10:15 a.m. Pacific on Nov. 11, Kotek had 1,041,511 votes (53.21%), compared with Drazan’s 856,474 votes (43.76%). Pacific Green candidate Brett Smith received 56,689 votes (2.90%), while write-ins accounted for 2,521 votes (0.13%).

Election officials reported 1,974,266 ballots counted statewide among 3,109,272 active registered voters, putting reported turnout at 63.50%. The governor’s contest accounted for 1,957,195 votes. Results remain unofficial.

Drazan led in 27 of Oregon’s 36 counties, while Kotek led in nine. The distribution reflects the differing sizes of county electorates. Multnomah County alone reported 366,867 votes in the governor’s contest, compared with 763 in Wheeler County.

Kotek’s largest advantage came from Multnomah County, where she received 77.92% to Drazan’s 19.12%, producing a 215,741-vote margin. That exceeded Kotek’s statewide lead. Across the other 35 counties combined, Drazan held a 30,704-vote advantage.

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Washington County supplied Kotek’s second-largest margin, 71,191 votes, with 62.11% supporting her and 34.91% backing Drazan. In Lane County, Kotek led by 32,186 votes, receiving 56.98% to Drazan’s 39.70%.

Together, those three counties gave Kotek a net advantage of 319,118 votes. Drazan led by 134,081 votes across the remaining 33 counties combined.

The contest was much closer in Clackamas County, where Kotek led by 1,016 votes out of 215,940 cast. She had 48.89%, compared with Drazan’s 48.42%. Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties together accounted for approximately 43.15% of all votes tallied in the governor’s race.

Kotek also led in Benton, Clatsop, Deschutes, Hood River and Lincoln counties. Her advantage in Deschutes County was 5,248 votes, with 51.26% to Drazan’s 46.41%.

Drazan’s largest county margin came from Douglas County, where she led by 23,878 votes and received 70.46%. Her next-largest margins were 18,757 votes in Linn County, 13,971 in Klamath County and 13,476 in Josephine County.

Drazan also led in Jackson County by 8,713 votes and Marion County by 5,367 votes. She received 52.79% in Jackson and 50.45% in Marion.

Her strongest percentage came from Lake County, where she received 83.90%. She also exceeded 80% in Grant and Harney counties. Kotek’s strongest percentage was in Multnomah County.

Smith’s highest county share was 4.15% in Columbia County, followed by 4.06% in Wheeler County and 4.01% in Wasco County.

Compared with the previous statewide tally, Kotek’s lead increased by 4,520 votes, while her percentage-point advantage narrowed from 9.66 to 9.45 points.