Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Oregon's 2014 Mid-Term Election Results

It's rare that I'm disappointed in my State. I'm a native Oregonian, and I love this place, but sometimes — especially where politics are concerned — I just can't figure what the people around me are thinking.

The U.S. Senate, House, and the Gubernatorial races all went to the incumbents. We figured they would. As it always seems to go, Multnomah County — the small, highly-urban, deep-blue heart of the Portland Metro area — carries the state in any election where the whole state votes.

Sorry, all you conservatives nation-wide who were hoping for a Republican Senate sweep. Dr. Monica Wehby was a lackluster candidate (at best), Oregonians strongly favor incumbents (almost to a fault), and Jeff Merkley is kind of a do-little Senator; he just hasn't done much wrong (or right, or at all) to get enough people pissed at him.

The State House and Senate races are a bit more interesting. Those votes are still being counted, though; with all the rush to get the results of the Gubernatorial and national Congressional races, who cares about the local ones, right? Still, they also strongly favor incumbents, so it's not likely much will change overall.

I already discussed the ballot initiatives, so I won't rehash what they are, but here are the results:
  • Measure 86: Failed
  • Measure 87: Passed
  • Measure 88: Failed
  • Measure 89: Passed (Why?)
  • Measure 90: Failed (Thank God!)
  • Measure 91: Passed (Handily; they thought it'd be closer)
  • Measure 92: Failed (See update)
[UPDATE 11/5 12:43 pm: Measure 92 failed by an extremely narrow margin, after setting a new record as the most expensive ballot measure in Oregon's history. List updated accordingly.[/UPDATE]

So, how'd you all do? Any notable flips or interesting results in your respective areas?

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