Portland, Oregon: Tina Kotek Wins Second Term as Governor, Defeats Christine Drazan

Tina Kotek will serve a second term as governor of Oregon. Decision Desk HQ projected her win at 8:08 p.m. Pacific on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, eight minutes after Oregon's ballot drop box deadline, and CBS News also projected Kotek as the winner in her rematch with Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan.

The Associated Press had not called the race in its latest count, and this article uses the AP only for vote numbers. That count put Kotek at 743,488 votes and Drazan at 643,016, with an estimated 69.75 percent of the vote counted. In the Oregon Secretary of State update at 9:30 p.m. Pacific, Kotek had 674,509 votes, or 52.16 percent, against 584,253, or 45.18 percent, for Drazan, with Pacific Green candidate Brett Smith at 32,852 votes, or 2.54 percent. The projections are media calls, not certification, and results stay unofficial until the state certifies them.

A rematch that stayed close

The race was a rerun of 2022. Kotek, a Democrat, beat Drazan four years ago by about 67,000 votes in a three way race that also featured nonaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson, who took more than 8 percent of the vote. This time Smith was the third candidate on the ballot, and he held a much smaller share.

Polling before November 3 showed the two main candidates running neck and neck, with leads inside the margin of error, in a state that has not elected a Republican governor since Vic Atiyeh in 1982.

Victory in Portland, no concession in Canby's camp

Kotek addressed supporters at an election night gathering in downtown Portland shortly after 9:20 p.m. Pacific, in a speech reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting. "I am proud to stand here as your next governor of the beautiful state of Oregon," she said. She told the crowd, "I hope it's OK, but we have four more years together."

Drazan took the stage shortly after 10 p.m. Pacific. She thanked her supporters and did not concede, saying the race was not over while ballots were still being counted.

Money and the two records

Kotek, 60, served nine years as speaker of the Oregon House before she became governor in 2023. She ran on a claim of progress in her first term and on a promise to keep challenging the federal administration and to protect Oregon from federal interference.

Drazan, 54, is a state senator from Canby. She served in the state House from 2018 until she resigned to run for governor in 2022, was elected to the House again in 2024, and was appointed to the Senate in October 2025. She argued that Oregon needed a change after Kotek's first term.

As of November 2, Drazan had received $21.5 million in contributions and spent about $22.2 million, with the Republican Governors Association her biggest donor at $5.75 million in the last month. Kotek had received about $19 million and spent $20.2 million.

Counting continues

Oregon counties are still counting. Ballots postmarked by Election Day can arrive up to seven days later and still be counted, and the Secretary of State calendar lists December 10 for certification. The final margin will come from that completed count.