Skip to main content
Tina Kotek decided to hold her election day watch party at Portland’s Revolution Hall.
And early tallies from around the state suggest voters are feeling at least a little revolutionary, despite widespread pessimism that some observers thought could hurt Kotek.
The initial release of voting results—224,000 ballots, or about one-quarter of the expected turnout—showed Kotek with a 55% to 33% lead over her chief rival, State Treasurer Tobias Read of Beaverton. It was enough for the Associated Press to call the race in Kotek’s favor less than an hour after officials began releasing results.
Slow ballot returns In the past two weeks, marked by apathy among urban Democrats, signaled that Kotek, 55, the former House speaker from Portland, might have a tougher time than many expected besting Read.
Kotek added to a somber mood by taking to the podium at the Show Bar on the first floor of Rev Hall before the first results were released to thank the many supporters present. She rattled off a laundry list of groups who’d lined up behind her campaign and the work they’d done: knocking on 15,000 doors, making 45,000 phone calls, and sending 120,000 texts.
“Team Tina is a small but mighty group,” Kotek said.
She also, however, looked forward to the general election. “It’s going to be all hands on deck in November,” Kotek said, standing next to her wife, Aimee Wilson.
The older, more conservative electorate had put some wind in Read’s sails, so much so that in the middle of the final day of voting, Kotek’s campaign issued an unusual communication apparently aimed at lowering expectations for the candidate whom pollsters and political consultants considered the front-runner.
“Tina has worked hard to overcome significant advantages the treasurer brought to the race,” the memo said. The details—Read, 46, has twice won statewide races and started pointing toward the governor’s office not long after his second victory in 2020—didn’t include the fact that Kotek was the longest-serving House speaker in Oregon history and brought to the race the backing of the state’s two largest public employee unions and a host of progressive groups adept at mobilizing large numbers of voters.
But that’s all context.
Tonight, after elections officials released the first round of results, it looked very good for Kotek.
“We’re excited about the margin,” said her campaign consultant, Thomas Wheatley.
State Rep. Barbara Smith Warner (D-Portland), who served as House majority leader under Kotek, stood beaming as results came in. “She worked hard and took nothing for granted,” Smith Warner said.
Nodding to the room full of representative from labor, reproductive choice, and environmental groups, Smith Warner noted that the pillars of the Democratic Party had stood up for Kotek. “All these organizations, they’re not just names,” Smith Warner said. “They are people—voters who are really engaged.”