The 2020 United States Senate election in Oregon was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Oregon, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.
Incumbent Democratic senator Jeff Merkley won reelection to a third term in office. Although this Senate seat was largely expected to be one of the safest for the Democrats, the race received national attention due to the Republican nominee Jo Rae Perkins's promotion of the unfounded QAnon conspiracy theory. Furthermore, Perkins flipped five counties that Merkley had won in 2014 (though only by pluralities in the cases of Jackson, Polk and Yamhill). That said, Merkley overperformed Democrat Joe Biden in the concurrent presidential election by about a point and a half.
Democratic primary Candidates Nominee Jeff Merkley, incumbent U.S. senator (also nominated by the Oregon Independent Party and the Working Families Party)
Withdrawn Michael David, activist and ethnographer
Endorsements
Results
Republican primary Candidates Nominee Jo Rae Perkins, former chairwoman of the Linn County Republican Party
Eliminated in primary Paul Romero, refrigeration repair technician and candidate for Oregon's 2nd congressional district in 2016 and 2018 Robert Schwartz, dance teacher John Verbeek, financial executive and nominee for Oregon's 1st congressional district in 2018
Withdrawn Matthew Kulow
Declined Knute Buehler, former state representative for District 54, nominee for Oregon secretary of state in 2012 and governor of Oregon in 2018 (running for Oregon's 2nd congressional district)
Endorsements
Results
Other candidates Pacific Green Party Nominee Ibrahim Taher, philosopher, anti-war activist, current member state coordinating committee in the Pacific Green Party (also nominated by the Oregon Progressive Party)
Endorsements
Libertarian Party
Nominee
Gary Dye, former refinery operator and engineer
General election Predictions SourceRankingAs of The Cook Political Report October 29, 2020 Inside Elections October 28, 2020 Sabato's Crystal Ball November 2, 2020Daily Kos October 30, 2020PoliticoNovember 2, 2020RCPOctober 23, 2020DDHQNovember 3, 2020538November 2, 2020EconomistNovember 2, 2020
Additional general election endorsements
Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin JeffMerkley (D) Jo RaePerkins (R) Other UndecidedCiviqs/Daily KosCiviqs/Daily Kos September 26–29, 2020 944 (LV) ± 3.5%55% 35% 5% 5%
Results
By county
CountyJeff MerkleyDemocraticJo Rae PerkinsRepublicanVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotalvotes#%#%#%#%Baker2,63327.016,86370.392542.61-4,230-43.389,750Benton35,02167.2914,81128.462,2114.2520,21038.8352,043Clackamas134,81353.79106,83842.638,9893.5927,97511.16250,640Clatsop13,05255.489,62340.918493.613,42914.5823,524Columbia14,37545.4415,94850.411,3144.15-1,573-4.9731,637Coos14,88541.2320,05155.531,1703.24-5,166-14.3136,106Crook4,13327.2910,62870.173852.54-6,495-42.8815,146Curry6,17042.247,99354.724453.05-1,823-12.4814,608Deschutes65,26453.1953,28543.434,1413.3811,9799.76122,690Douglas20,70733.0340,03663.871,9423.10-19,329-30.8462,685Gilliam37331.9676565.55292.49-392-33.591,167Grant1,11924.803,27372.521212.68-2,154-47.734,513Harney1,05524.103,21373.411092.49-2,158-49.304,377Hood River8,61966.893,82129.654453.454,79837.2412,885Jackson59,09347.5461,01049.084,2003.38-1,917-1.54124,303Jefferson4,59139.076,81057.953512.99-2,219-18.8811,752Josephine18,69737.2329,68559.101,8433.67-10,988-21.8850,225Klamath11,23731.2323,57965.531,1663.24-12,342-34.3035,982Lake90821.293,26176.46962.25-2,353-55.174,265Lane133,03361.2675,55034.798,5753.9557,48326.47217,158Lincoln17,48557.8811,62838.491,0953.625,85719.3930,208Linn27,04838.2940,80157.762,7953.96-13,753-19.4770,644Malheur3,35328.927,88267.973613.11-4,529-39.0611,596Marion79,99049.3775,90846.856,1163.774,0822.52162,014Morrow1,55830.943,32466.021533.04-1,766-35.075,035Multnomah356,87078.5378,67317.3118,8754.15278,19761.22454,418Polk22,89348.1622,93148.241,7073.59-38-0.0847,531Sherman30225.6184571.67322.71-543-46.061,179Tillamook8,32650.197,76846.834952.985583.3616,589Umatilla11,25334.9519,87661.741,0653.31-8,623-26.7832,194Union4,54531.129,67466.243862.64-5,129-35.1214,605Wallowa1,70233.563,26764.431022.01-1,565-30.865,071Wasco6,71648.676,57247.635113.701441.0413,799Washington202,07364.6497,79931.2812,7464.08104,27433.36312,618Wheeler26228.1164669.31242.58-384-41.20932Yamhill26,89346.8828,17749.122,2903.99-1,284-2.2457,360 Totals1,321,04756.91912,81439.3287,3883.76408,23317.592,321,249 Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Columbia (largest municipality: St. Helens) Coos (largest municipality: Coos Bay) Jackson (largest municipality: Medford) Polk (largest municipality: West Salem) Yamhill (largest municipality: McMinnville)
By congressional district Merkley won four of five congressional districts. District Merkley Perkins Representative 62% 34%Suzanne Bonamici 43% 53%Cliff Bentz 73% 22%Earl Blumenauer 52% 44%Peter DeFazio 53% 43%Kurt Schrader
Notes General
References
External links
(state affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
Official campaign websites Jeff Merkley (D) for Senate Jo Rae Perkins (R) for Senate Ibrahim Taher (G) for Senate