PORTLAND, Ore. — In early results, Vice President Kamala Harris led former President Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race among Oregon voters. Harris had 59% of the vote to Trump's 38% as of 8 p.m. on election night. NBC called Oregon for Harris shortly after the first results.
Across the Columbia River, Harris led Trump among Washington voters, 49.27% to 48.51%. The Associated Press and NBC News also called that race for Harris.
Vote totals are not final and will continue to be updated both Tuesday night and in the coming days.
Oregon has gone to the Democratic candidate for president every election since 1988, when the state went for Democrat Michael Dukakis over Republican George H.W. Bush. Neither a swing state nor a major source of electoral votes (it was upgraded from seven to eight following the 2020 Census), it’s been some time since Oregon was a stop for presidential candidates on the campaign trail. It’s much more likely to draw some relatively big names in politics stumping for congressional races, some of which have been more purple in recent years.
Washington state, with 12 electoral votes, has likewise gone for Democratic presidential candidates since '88.
This year, the absence of a statement in the Oregon voters’ pamphlet for former President Donald Trump became a nexus for online misinformation, as some accused state officials of purposely leaving him out. But, as the Oregon Secretary of State’s office and the Oregon Republican Party both pointed out, it was the Trump campaign’s choice not to have him appear in the voter guide.
Trump did not appear in the Oregon voter guide for the May primary, either, and for the same reason.
During the Oregon primary, Trump ran unopposed among Republicans, receiving nearly 92% of the vote. In the Democratic primary, it was President Joe Biden — at the time still running for reelection — against author Marianne Williamson. Biden won with 87% of the vote to Williamson’s 7%.
Trump and Biden won their respective primaries at the national level, and up until their first debate appeared poised for a rematch of the 2020 race. But the 81-year-old Biden’s frail performance in his debate against Trump stoked growing alarm in the Democratic Party, and there were increasing calls, including from Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer, for him to step aside.
After a tense several weeks in which Biden tested positive for COVID-19 and sequestered himself away, the president announced that he would drop out of the race, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him on the Democratic ticket. The party quickly coalesced around her in the weeks that followed.
Trump and Harris have met for just one debate since her elevation to the top of the ticket, followed by a debate between vice presidential picks JD Vance and Tim Walz.
