PORTLAND, Oregon — Oregon's 2024 primary election is over, and although it will take several more days to finish counting the votes, many races appeared headed for decisive outcomes almost immediately after the first batch of results went live Tuesday night. As of Wednesday afternoon, most of the races that will appear on Oregon's November ballot had already taken shape.
Here's a look at where the top races stand as the dust begins to settle:
Vasquez wins race for Multnomah County district attorney
One of the most-watched races in Portland didn't get decided until Wednesday afternoon, although the direction was clear right out of the gate Tuesday night, when the first round of results gave challenger Nathan Vasquez a large lead over incumbent District Attorney Mike Schmidt.
The situation remained relatively unchanged Wednesday morning, and a large infusion of ballots midafternoon Wednesday actually closed the gap a bit — but not enough to change the overall math. Just after the midafternoon tally update, Schmidt announced that he had conceded.
County elected offices are nonpartisan, which means there's only one primary race instead of separate party contests, and any candidate can win outright if they get at least 50% of the vote — the race only continues to November if no candidate gets a majority, necessitating a runoff between the top two finishers. But Schmidt and Vasquez were the only two candidates in the 2024 race, so a runoff in this case was extremely unlikely.
Vasquez's term won't begin until Jan. 1, 2025. Schmidt took office less than two months after winning the May 2020 primary outright, but that was because his predecessor, Rod Underhill, resigned and requested that Schmidt be appointed to replace him, effectively beginning his term six months early.
Multnomah County commission control may be a November issue
The 2024 election promised to be a major shake-up for Multnomah County, with four of the five commission seats on the ballot and only one incumbent running for reelection. The races are nonpartisan, so each primary contest could either decide a winner outright or set up a November runoff if no candidate gets at least 50%.
As of Wednesday afternoon, only one of the races had been called: District 3 incumbent Julia Brim-Edwards took an overwhelming lead over her sole challenger, TJ Noddings.
At least two more commission races are headed to a runoff, The Oregonian said Thursday evening, with the fourth and final race balancing on a knife's edge between a November runoff and an outright win.
Meghan Moyer and Vadim Mozyrsky have emerged as the clear first- and second-place finishers for District 1, but Moyer was still a few points short of 50% as of Thursday afternoon. Their race will head to a runoff in November.
Shannon Singleton was in first place with about 47% in District 2 as of Thursday afternoon. She'll face Sam Adams in a November runoff, after The Oregonian determined that he'd outstripped Jessie Burke for the second-place spot.
The possibility of a District 4 runoff is still more up in the air; Vince Jones-Dixon was sitting at more than 51% as of Thursday afternoon, just barely holding a majority. A matter of a handful of votes separated him from an outright win and a runoff with Brian Knotts in November. The Oregonian has not yet officially called the race.
The Washington and Clackamas county commissions have fewer seats on the 2024 ballot, so there's less potential for large-scale overhauls, but one notable upset appears to be emerging: As of Wednesday afternoon, former sheriff Craig Roberts is at 51% in the race for Clackamas Position 1, setting him up to potentially oust county chair Tootie Smith without a runoff.
RELATED: Former Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts leads over incumbent Tootie Smith in county chair race
Federal congressional races
All of Oregon's U.S. House primary races have been called, setting up a clear set of six matchups for the November ballot. The fast results were mostly a given; U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Cliff Bentz, Val Hoyle, Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Andrea Salinas all faced no serious challengers within their own parties, and most opposing party primaries had clear frontrunners.
The two exceptions were the Democratic primary for the 3rd District, where Maxine Dexter, Susheela Jayapal and Eddy Morales were all considered serious contenders to succeed the retiring Rep. Earl Blumenauer, and the Democratic primary for 5th District, where Jamie McLeod-Skinner and Janelle Bynum were dueling to take on Chavez-DeRemer in November.
But even those races ended quickly, with Dexter and Bynum taking large leads when the first round of results dropped, prompting The Oregonian and the Associated Press to call the contests in their favor almost immediately. Jayapal and McLeod-Skinner both conceded Tuesday night, and Morales conceded Wednesday morning.
Dexter is all but guaranteed to to win the deep-blue 3rd District in November, and Bonamici, Bentz and Hoyle are also considered to be in relatively safe districts. The most competitive races are expected to be Bynum's challenge to Chavez-DeRemer and Salinas's rematch against Mike Erickson in the 6th District — a race she narrowly won in 2022.
Portland-area ballot measures
It's been an oft-repeated refrain heading into 2024: Portlanders have grown frustrated with the city's stranglingly high cost of living, and they've hit the upper limit of what they're willing to stomach in terms of taxes and fees.
But when given the opportunity to let some of those taxes expire on Tuesday, the city's voters appeared to signal that at least in these specific cases, they think the costs are worth it.
The two biggest local ballot measures — a city gas tax renewal and a Portland Public Schools levy renewal — are both cruising toward passage with more than 70% support. Another big measure to renew an Oregon Zoo levy is sitting at a 55% Yes vote, and news outlets called it as passing Wednesday afternoon.
A handful of public safety measures around the region also appear to be headed for passage or leaning in that direction, including a flood safety bond, a Gresham police and fire levy, a Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue levy and a Tigard police levy. The only notable Portland-area measure that doesn't appear headed for passage is a proposed expansion of the urban growth boundary for the city of North Plains.
Secretary of State, Treasurer and Attorney General
Oregon has three executive offices on the ballot this year, and all three are open races. But despite the blank canvas, the trio of statewide races all had decisive outcomes in Tuesday night's primary, with news outlets quickly calling each race.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there are no questions marks left in the November ballot lineup; Democrat Tobias Read will face Republican Dennis Linthicum for Secretary of State, Democrat Elizabeth Steiner will face Republican Brian Boquist for State Treasurer and Democrat Dan Rayfield will face Republican Will Lathrop for Attorney General.