Oregon elections, 2012

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The state of Oregon held elections in 2012. Below are the dates of note:

• Signature filing deadline: March 6, 2012 & July 6, 2012 (Measures only)
• Primary date: May 15, 2012
• General election date: November 6, 2012

On the 2012 ballot			Click here for all November 6, 2012 Election Results
U.S. Senate	d	Preview Article
U.S. House (5 seats)	a
State Executives (4 positions)	a	Preview Article
State Senate (16 seats)	a	Preview Article
State House (60 seats)	a
Ballot measures (9 measures)	a	Preview Article

2012 Elections

Note: Election information listed on this page does not pertain to 2012 presidential elections. For more about Ballotpedia's areas of coverage, click here.
For election results in the 50 states, see our November 6, 2012 election results page

U.S. House

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Oregon, 2012

Members of the U.S. House from Oregon -- Partisan Breakdown
Party		As of November 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	4	4
	Republican Party	1	1
Total		5	5

State Executives

See also: Oregon state executive official elections, 2012

Four state executive positions were up for election.

• Oregon Secretary of State
• Attorney General of Oregon
• Oregon Treasurer
• Oregon Commissioner of Labor and Industries

Oregon Secretary of State General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Kate Brown Incumbent	51.4%	863,656
	Republican	Knute Buehler	43.3%	727,607
	Green	Seth Woolley	2.6%	44,235
	Libertarian	Bruce Alexander Knight	1.4%	24,273
	Progressive	Robert Wolfe	1.3%	21,783
Total Votes				1,681,554
Election results via Oregon Secretary of State

Attorney General of Oregon General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ellen Rosenblum Incumbent	56.3%	917,627
	Republican	James Buchal	39.2%	639,363
	Libertarian	James Leuenberger	2.8%	45,451
	Progressive	Chris Henry	1.7%	28,187
Total Votes				1,630,628
Election results via Oregon Secretary of State

Oregon Treasurer General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ted Wheeler Incumbent	57.9%	955,213
	Republican	Tom Cox	37%	609,989
	Progressive	Cameron Whitten	2.4%	38,762
	Libertarian	John Mahler	1.8%	30,002
	Constitution	Michael Paul Marsh	0.9%	15,415
Total Votes				1,649,381
Election results via Oregon Secretary of State

Oregon Commissioner of Labor and Industries General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Brad Avakian* (D) Incumbent	52.5%	681,987
	Nonpartisan	Bruce Starr* (R)	46.7%	606,735
	Nonpartisan	Write-in	0.7%	9,616
Total Votes				1,298,338
Election results via Oregon Secretary of State

State Senate

See also: Oregon State Senate elections, 2012

Heading into the election, Democrats maintained partisan control in the state senate.

Oregon State Senate
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	16	16
	Republican Party	14	14
Total		30	30

State House

See also: Oregon House of Representatives elections, 2012

Heading into the election, the state house was split 30-30.

Oregon House of Representatives
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	30	34
	Republican Party	30	26
Total		60	60

Ballot measures

See also: Oregon 2012 ballot measures

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Measure 77	Admin of gov't	Revision to responses to catastrophic disasters; requires approval by a 2/3rds majority	a
LRCA	Measure 78	Admin of gov't	Changes terminology in the state Constitution for the three state gov't branches	a
CICA	Measure 79	Taxes	Would ban real estate transfer taxes.	a
CISS	Measure 80	Marijuana	Would create a cannabis commission to regulate the cultivation and sale of cannabis.	d
CISS	Measure 81	Animal rights	Bans Columbia River commercial salmon fishing with gillnets by non-tribal persons, allows seine nets instead.	d
CICA	Measure 82	Gambling	Authorizes establishment of privately-owned casinos.	d
CISS	Measure 83	Gambling	Authorizes Multnomah County casino.	d
CISS	Measure 84	Taxes	Phases out estate and inheritance taxes.	d
CICA	Measure 85	Taxes	Allocates corporate income/excise tax "kicker" refund to additionally fund K through 12 public education.	a

Local measures

See also: Local ballot measures, Oregon and Local ballot measure elections in 2012

Ballotpedia tracked local ballot elections in 11 states. Those states included: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.

For the state of Oregon, below is a glimpse of some of the local measures that appeared or were scheduled to appear on ballots in 2012.

• Wallowa County Weed Tax Levy (November 2012)
• Cascade Locks City Measure 14-51 (November 2012)
• Cascade Locks City Measure 14-49 (November 2012)
• Sumpter City Measure (November 2012)
• Yamhill Soil And Water Conservation District Levy Increase Measure (November 2012)
• Yamhill County Fire Protection District Levy Increase Measure (November 2012)
• Sheridan Vacancy Appointees Election Amendment Measure (November 2012)
• Newberg City Annexation Measure (November 2012)
• Dayton City Police Services Levy Renewal Measure (November 2012)
• Tillamook County Soil and Water Conservation District Permanent Tax Rate Limit Measure(November 2012)

...click here for all 2012 Oregon local measures.

Eligibility to Vote

Primary election

See also: Voting in the 2012 primary elections

Oregon was one of 21 states to use a strictly closed primary system. Voters were required to register to vote in the primary by April 24, 2012, which was 21 days before the primary took place. (Information about registering to vote)

General election

See also: Voting in the 2012 general elections

The deadline to register to vote was 21 days prior to the election day, which in 2012 was October 16.

• Voter ID info
• Residency requirements: Resident
• Same-day registration: None

Voting absentee

See also: Absentee Voting

Oregon is an all-mail voting state. A ballot and voter pamphlet are automatically mailed to each registered voter two to three weeks prior to each statewide election. A return envelope is included that may be returned by business reply mail at no cost to the voter. Completed ballots must either be returned by mail and postmarked by Election Day or returned in person at an official dropbox by the close of polls on Election Day.

According to the Oregon Secretary of State's website, "​​Students attending an out-of-state college or voters traveling during an election can still receive a ballot. Fill out the Absentee Ballot Request Form ​and return it to the county elections office, or update online using My Vote​​.​​​​​​"

Voting early

See also: Early voting

Oregon exclusively uses a vote-by-mail system. As such, there is no need for explicit absentee or early voting procedures.

See also

• Statewide elections, 2012
• 2012 election dates
• Election result resources
• Voter guides
• State Blue Books
• State Poll Opening and Closing Times (2012)
• Voting in Oregon
• Absentee voting
• Early voting