Dennis Richardson Wins Oregon Secretary of State Race, Defeating Brad Avakian

Republican Dennis Richardson leads Democrat Brad Avakian are in Oregon's closest race.

By Nigel Jaquiss

UPDATE, 11 pm: Republican Dennis Richardson is expected to become the next Oregon Secretary of State, defeating the Democratic nominee Brad Avakian.

Avakian has conceded the race, WW's news partner KATU-TV reports.

Republicans have not won a statewide race in Oregon since 2002. So if Richardson becomes the state's top elections and audits official, it would mark a major upset.

ORIGINAL POST, 8:15 pm: Early returns this evening show Republican Dennis Richardson leading Democrat Brad Avakian by two percentage points in a closely contested race for secretary of state.

Recent polls have shown Richardson with a slight lead but they also showed a high percentage of undecided voters.

As many statewide races do, this one will probably come down to last-minute voters in Multnomah County, where historically the late vote favors the Democratic candidate.

Update at 10:30 pm. Even as Democrats swept other state-wide races and held large majorities in the Legislature, Richardson built an early lead and continued to hold a 60,000 vote margin late into the evening. The test will indeed be Multnomah County where Avakian was defeating Richardson by a two-to-one margin. If that differential continues, Avakian will close the gap but it's unclear if enough votes remain uncounted for him to catch Richardson.

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