Oregon State Senate elections, 2024

2024 Oregon Senate Elections
Primary	May 21, 2024
General	November 5, 2024

2024 Elections
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Elections for the Oregon State Senate took place in 2024. The general election was on November 5, 2024. The primary was May 21, 2024. The filing deadline was March 12, 2024.

Following the election, Democrats maintained an 18-12 majority. Democrats needed to gain three Senate seats and five House seats to achieve a Democratic legislative veto-proof majority. Republicans needed to lose fewer than three Senate seats or fewer than five House seats to prevent a Democratic legislative veto-proof majority.

The Oregon State Senate was one of 85 state legislative chambers with elections in 2024. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

Party control

See also: Partisan composition of state senates and State government trifectas

Oregon State Senate
Party	As of November 5, 2024	After November 6, 2024
	Democratic Party	17	18
	Republican Party	12	12
	Independent Party of Oregon	1	0
Total	30	30

Candidates

General election

Primary

Voting information

See also: Voting in Oregon

General election race ratings

The table below displays race ratings for each race in this chamber from CNalysis.

Incumbents who were not re-elected

See also: Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report: Vol. 14, 2024

Incumbents defeated in general elections

See also: Incumbents defeated in state legislative elections, 2024

No incumbents lost in general elections. Four incumbents have lost general elections since Ballotpedia began tracking this data in 2010.

Incumbents defeated in primaries

No incumbents lost in primaries. An average of 0.3 incumbents per year lost in Oregon Senate primary elections from 2010-2022.

Retiring incumbents

Seven incumbents did not file for re-election in 2024.^[1] This was the highest number of retirements since Ballotpedia began tracking the figure in 2010. Those incumbents were:

Name	Party	Office
Art Robinson	Republican	Senate District 2
Brian Boquist	Independent Party of Oregon	Senate District 12
Michael Dembrow	Democratic	Senate District 23
Tim Knopp	Republican	Senate District 27
Dennis Linthicum	Republican	Senate District 28
Bill Hansell	Republican	Senate District 29
Lynn Findley	Republican	Senate District 30

Primary election competitiveness

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

This section contains data on state legislative primary election competitiveness in Oregon. These totals include data from all regularly-scheduled House and Senate elections. For more information about Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of state legislative elections, please click here.

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all state legislative districts up for election in Oregon in 2024. Information below was calculated on May 16, 2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

There were 75 state legislative seats up for election in Oregon in 2024. Across those, 14 incumbents (six Democrats, seven Republicans, and one Independent) did not file to run for re-election. That was just over the average number of retirements since Ballotpedia began tracking this data in 2010 (13.9). In 2022, 24 incumbents did not run for re-election (15 Democrats and 9 Republicans).

Eleven incumbents out of 61 running faced primary challengers. That was the most since 2010, and the highest percentage of incumbents in contested primaries during that span (18%). The next closest year was 2022 with 9 contested incumbents (17.6% of 51 incumbents) running in contested primaries.

The total number of contested primaries (with more than one candidate) was 27 (12 Democratic and 15 Republican). This was higher than the average number of contested primaries from 2010-2022 (23.9), and the third highest year overall after 2022 (37) and 2020 (33). This means 18% of possible primaries in Oregon in 2024 were contested, the third highest figure since 2010. The year with the highest percentage of contested primaries was 2022 (24.7%), followed closely by 2020 (22.0%).

Oregon had a Democratic trifecta, meaning the Democratic Party controlled the governorship and both chambers of the state legislature. As of May 16, 2024, there were 23 Republican trifectas, 17 Democratic trifectas, and 10 divided governments where neither party held trifecta control.

Open seats

Open Seats in Oregon State Senate elections: 2010 - 2024
Year	Total seats	Open seats	Seats with incumbents running for re-election
2024	15	7 (47%)	8 (53%)
2022	15	4 (27%)	11 (73%)
2020	16	4 (25%)	11 (75%)
2018	17	1 (6%)	16 (94%)
2016	16	4 (25%)	12 (75%)
2014	15	1 (7%)	14 (93%)
2012	14	3 (21%)	11 (79%)
2010	16	2 (13%)	14 (87%)

Legislative referrals

See also: Legislative referral

A legislative referral, or legislatively referred ballot measure, is a ballot measure that appears on the ballot due to a vote of the state legislature. A legislative referral can be a constitutional amendment, state statute, or bond issue.

As of the 2024 election, a simple majority vote was required during one legislative session for the Oregon State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounted to a minimum of 31 votes in the Oregon House of Representatives and 16 votes in the Oregon State Senate, assuming no vacancies.

At the time of the 2024 election, Democrats held a 17-12-1 majority in the Senate and a 35-25 majority in the House. Democrats needed to lose two Senate seats and five House seats to be no longer able to pass legislative referrals without Republican votes. Republicans needed to win four Senate seats and six House seats to have the same ability.

Process to become a candidate

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Oregon

For major party candidates

See statutes: Chapter 249, Sections 020, 068 and 056 of the Oregon Revised Statutes

A major party candidate can gain access to the ballot via one of two methods: by paying a filing fee or by filing a nominating petition.

Filing fee

A candidate of a major party can have his or her name printed on the ballot by filing a declaration of candidacy with the Oregon Secretary of State and paying the requisite filing fees. Filing fees are as follows:^[3][4][5]

Filing fees for major party candidates in Oregon
Office sought	Fee
United States Senator	$150
Governor, secretary of state, treasurer, attorney general, labor and industries commissioner, United States Representative	$100
State senator and state representative	$25

Nominating petition

A candidate of a major party can have his or her name printed on the ballot by filing a nominating petition with the Oregon Secretary of State. Signature requirements are as follows:^[6]

Petition signature requirements for major party candidates in Oregon
Office sought	Required signatures
United States Representative	The lesser of 1,000 signatures or 2 percent of the number of votes cast in the district for president by members of the candidate's party*
Governor, secretary of state, treasurer, attorney general, United States Senator	The lesser of 1,000 signatures or 2 percent of the number of votes cast for president by members of the candidate's party**
State senator and state representative	The lesser of 500 signatures or 2 percent of the number of votes cast in the district for president by members of the candidate's party***
*"Signatures must be obtained from 5 percent of the precincts in one-fourth of the counties in the congressional district." **"Signatures must be obtained from at least seven counties and be comprised of electors from 5 percent of the precincts in each of those counties." ***"If the district is within one county, signatures must be obtained from 10 percent of the precincts. If the district is in more than one county, signatures must be obtained from at least two counties and be comprised of electors from 6 percent of the precincts in each of those counties."

For minor party candidates

Recognized minor parties (as defined in this article) are not permitted to participate in primary elections and instead must select candidates by nominating convention.

For unaffiliated candidates

An unaffiliated candidate can gain access to the ballot via one of two methods: nomination by individual electors or nomination by an assembly of electors.

Nomination by individual electors

See statutes: Chapter 249, Section 740 of the Oregon Revised Statutes

An unaffiliated candidate must submit the appropriate filing form with the Oregon Secretary of State and obtain approval to circulate the nominating petition prior to collecting signatures. Once approval has been obtained, circulators must gather signatures equal to at least 1 percent of the total votes cast for all candidates for presidential electors in the most recent general election within the electoral district for which the nomination is being sought.^[7]

The Oregon Secretary of State does not calculate in advance the number of signatures required for each office. Instead, the number of required signatures is determined when candidates obtain approval to circulate nominating petitions.^[8][9]

Nomination by assembly of electors

See statutes: Chapter 249, Section 735 of the Oregon Revised Statutes

An unaffiliated candidate must submit a candidate filing form signed only by the candidate. Upon receipt of the form, the Oregon Secretary of State will review the document and provide approval to organize an assembly of electors. The candidate must coordinate with the secretary of state to determine the time of the assembly. Once scheduled, notice of the assembly must be published at least once in at least three newspapers of general circulation in the electoral district in which the assembly seeks to nominate candidates. The notice must include the time and place of the assembly, offices for which nominations will be made, and the names and addresses of at least 25 active registered voters who want the assembly held and who are eligible to participate.^[10]

Final approval to convene the assembly is granted once the candidate files a copy of the published notice with the secretary of state. An affidavit verifying that notice of the assembly was published in accordance with statutory requirements must be included with the copy of the notice. This affidavit must be signed by the newspaper's owner, editor, publisher, manager, advertising manager, principal clerk of one of the aforementioned, or the printer. The secretary of state will provide a written approval to convene the assembly. This formal approval document will include a petition number, the number of signatures required, the filing deadline, and a signature sheet template.^[11][12]

The assembly itself must meet the following requirements:^[11]

• The assembly must be held in one day in one location and must be completed within 12 hours.
• Assembly participants must be active registered voters within the electoral district from which the assembly is nominating candidates.
• Candidates may only be nominated for offices published in the notice.
• The candidate winning the highest number of voters will be the nominee of the assembly for that office.
• Only assembly-goers may sign the approved signature sheets.
• All signers on a signature sheet must be registered voters in the same county.
• Once the required number of registered voters are present, they must remain in assembly until candidates have been nominated, signature sheets signed, and the convention adjourned.

Signature requirements for nomination by an assembly of electors are described in the table below.^[11]

Signature requirements for nomination by an assembly of electors in Oregon
Office sought	Required signatures
United States Representative	500 signatures obtained at the assembly
Governor, secretary of state, treasurer, attorney general, United States Senator	1,000 signatures obtained at the assembly
State senator and state representative	250 signatures obtained at the assembly

Once the nomination process has been completed, the assembly is adjourned. The secretary of state collects all completed signature sheets and stamps each sheet under the last signature line signed to ensure that no additional signatures are added. Signature sheets will be then be returned to the presiding officer at the assembly, who in turn must submit the signature sheets to the appropriate county-level election official for verification. The county-level election official, upon completing the verification process, will return the forms to the presiding officer of the assembly. The candidate or presiding officer of the assembly must then submit to the Oregon Secretary of State a candidate filing form with the certificate of nomination completed by the presiding officer and secretary of the assembly and notarized, the verified signature sheets, and the proof of published notice affidavit. The Oregon Secretary of State will then determine whether the filing packet and petition are valid.^[11]

For write-in candidates

Write-in candidates are not required to submit candidate filing forms in advance. In the event that a write-in candidate is nominated or elected, the election official will notify the candidate by sending a write-in candidate filing form. To accept the nomination or office, the candidate must complete, sign, and return the form to the election official.

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Article 4, Section 8 of the Oregon Constitution states:

• No person shall be a Senator or Representative who at the time of election is not a citizen of the United States; nor anyone who has not been for one year next preceding the election an inhabitant of the district from which the Senator or Representative may be chosen. However, for purposes of the general election next following the operative date of an apportionment under section 6 of this Article, the person must have been an inhabitant of the district from January 1 of the year following the reapportionment to the date of the election.
• Senators and Representatives shall be at least twenty one years of age.
• No person shall be a Senator or Representative who has been convicted of a felony during:
  • The term of office of the person as a Senator or Representative; or
  • The period beginning on the date of the election at which the person was elected to the office of Senator or Representative and ending on the first day of the term of office to which the person was elected.
• No person is eligible to be elected as a Senator or Representative if that person has been convicted of a felony and has not completed the sentence received for the conviction prior to the date that person would take office if elected. As used in this subsection, “sentence received for the conviction” includes a term of imprisonment, any period of probation or post-prison supervision and payment of a monetary obligation imposed as all or part of a sentence.
• Notwithstanding sections 11 and 15, Article IV of this Constitution:
  • The office of a Senator or Representative convicted of a felony during the term to which the Senator or Representative was elected or appointed shall become vacant on the date the Senator or Representative is convicted.
  • A person elected to the office of Senator or Representative and convicted of a felony during the period beginning on the date of the election and ending on the first day of the term of office to which the person was elected shall be ineligible to take office and the office shall become vacant on the first day of the next term of office.
• Subject to subsection (4) of this section, a person who is ineligible to be a Senator or Representative under subsection (3) of this section may:
  • Be a Senator or Representative after the expiration of the term of office during which the person is ineligible; and
  • Be a candidate for the office of Senator or Representative prior to the expiration of the term of office during which the person is ineligible.
• No person shall be a Senator or Representative who at all times during the term of office of the person as a Senator or Representative is not an inhabitant of the district from which the Senator or Representative may be chosen or served on represent. A person shall not lose status as an inhabitant of a district if the person is absent from the district for purposes of business of the Legislative Assembly. Following the operative date of an apportionment under section 6 of this Article, until the expiration of the term of office of the person, a person may be an inhabitant of any district.

Salaries and per diem

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

State legislative salaries, 2024[13]
Salary	Per diem
$35,052/year	$157/day

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

Oregon legislators assume office the second Monday in January following the election.^[14]

Oregon political history

Trifectas

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government.

Oregon Party Control: 1992-2025
Seventeen years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Presidential politics in Oregon

2020

See also: Presidential election, 2020

2016

See also: Presidential election, 2016

Oregon presidential election results (1900-2024)

• 16 Democratic wins
• 16 Republican wins

See also

Oregon	State Legislative Elections	News and Analysis
Oregon State Executive Offices Oregon State Legislature Oregon Courts	2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 Oregon elections: 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015	Party control of state government State government trifectas Partisan composition of state legislatures Partisan composition of state senates Partisan composition of state houses

External links

• Oregon State Senate

Footnotes