Editor’s note: OPB has reporters across Oregon and Southwest Washington covering election results as they come in. Come back to this story at 8 p.m. for the latest updates.

Concerns about homelessness, the cost of living, healthcare and social services are driving a surge in voter turnout in Oregon and Washington in the final hours before ballot boxes close.

As of Monday evening, 47.5% of Oregon voters had already cast their ballots, as had 40.8% of Washington voters.

But even as they show up in droves, voters across the region told OPB they’re frustrated with the choices they face. That’s a sentiment echoed across the country, as rising fuel prices and economic uncertainty fed dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump’s policies and prompted speculation the U.S. could see a “blue wave” of Democratic support in many states – though not necessarily in Oregon.

Still need to vote? Find OPB's Ballot Guide online here

Republican Winni Andrews of LaGrande said she crossed party lines to support some Democrats on her ballot this year. But she opted not to vote at all in the governor’s race because she’s dissatisfied with both candidates. “We need a new governor,” she said. “I don’t know who.”

Thomas Gamm of Bend echoed that sentiment: “I didn’t care for either candidate at all,” he said. But despite that dissatisfaction, he voted for incumbent Democrat Tina Kotek to return for four more years as governor.

“I think Tina Kotek has had more than enough time to change things, and she hasn’t done it,” said Jacele Gunderson in Salem, who is not aligned with either major party. She said her top concerns include the rising cost of living, homelessness, data centers and climate change – and she’s worried about cuts to healthcare and education. Frustrated with what she saw as limited action on these issues by the current governor, “I voted for Christine Drazan.”

Polls have consistently shown the race between Kotek and Drazan is extremely close, raising the possibility that the state could elect a Republican for the first time in four decades. An editor at national nonpartisan election forecaster The Cook Political Report predicted that if any state governor’s race sees a Republican upset, it is most likely to be Oregon.

While Oregon has consistently elected Democrats to the governor’s mansion since the mid-1980s, Southwest Washington’s 3rd U.S. House District has swung between Republicans and Democrats repeatedly over that same period. Polls show the race too close to call between current U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Democrat who’s going for her third term, and her challenger, Republican state Sen. John Braun.

Sandy Crooks, a lifelong Clark County resident, says she voted Republican most of her life, but crossed party lines two years ago to support Gluesenkamp Perez, and she’s willing to vote for Democrats again. “I wasn’t happy with the results that I saw,” however, Crooks said, so this election cycle she cast her vote for Braun.

Southwest Washington resident Jim Zeigler, who is unaffiliated with any party, said he did vote to keep Gluesenkamp Perez in office — citing the candidate’s ongoing support for an Interstate 5 Bridge Replacement project. “I also voted for her in hopes of limiting the power of the president and Republicans in Congress right now - not because I typically have a big problem with Republican policy, there’s pluses and minuses, but over the past two years it’s been disastrous.”

Though a thread of dissatisfaction ran through many of OPB’s interviews with voters this week, some said they’re excited about some of the choices they face.

For Sean Meehan of Portland, who feels the Democratic Party has moved too far from his progressive ideals, his city’s embrace of ranked-choice voting gave him hope that more candidates with his preferred policies could be elected to City Hall.

“I do think we made serious progress with ranked-choice voting,” Meehan said. “I’ve seen a lot of communities mobilizing, doing community work.”

From the other side of the state — and of the political spectrum — Laci Haberstich, from the Umatilla County community of Pilot Rock, said she’s excited about her vote for Christine Drazan.

“I really think she’s going to bring the change that we need to see here in the state of Oregon,” said Haberstich, a registered Republican. “Oregon, we have a lot of resources. We just need to find a way to use those properly”

This story was written by Courtney Sherwood with reporting and video by Jen Baires in Bend, Kristian Foden-Vencil in Portland and Clackamas County, April Ehrlich in Vancouver, Natalie Pate in Salem, Monica Carrillo-Casas in La Grande, Antonio Sierra in Pendleton, and Courtney Sherwood in Portland. It was edited by Gillian Flaccus and Andrew Theen, digitally produced by Sukhjot Sal, with video editing by Joey Lovato and visual editing by Kristyna Wentz-Graff and Sara Roth.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/11/03/northwest-voters-election-day-ballots-oregon-washington/