Elections The news last week that a temporary Clackamas County elections worker got caught filling in votes for Republican candidates has put a cloud over the voting results in Oregon’s third-largest co   More

News Portland Public Schools appears to be winning a battle to get the money the district says it needs—$482 million to be exact—to fix up its aging schools.The schools bond measure,  Measure 26-144, is ahead 65 percent to 35 percent in early returns.The vote comes just one year after voters narrowly turned down a larger $548 million bond that saw fierce campaigning on both sides. Critics last...   More

News Secretary of State Kate Brown this afternoon released a statement regarding the continuing investigation into alleged ballot tampering by a Clackamas County elections worker. Brown introduced two new pieces of information: first, contrary to reports issued yesterday, elections officials plan to include results from altered ballots if possible. Second, Brown upped the number of ballot...   More

News Despite strong opposition from political newcomer Dr. Knute Buehler, a Republican, incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Kate Brown won a surprisingly easy victory tonight. Brown leads Buehler, 51 percent to 44 percent.

Brown, the former Senate majority leader, drew on strong support from public employee unions and other allies she’s built over her 20-year political caree...   More

News
Incumbent Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian appears on the verge of eking out a narrow victory over his opponent, state Sen. Bruce Starr (R-Hillsboro).

Avakian leads Starr 53 percent to 47 percent.

Although both men are longtime officeholders, the nonpartisan nature of the race and the somewhat obscure role of the labor commissioner limited interest in the battle. <...   More

News The historic 30-30 split of the Oregon House is no more.

Rep. Tina Kotek (D-North Portland), who is likely to be the new speaker of the House, took the stage at about 9:30 pm amid raucous cheering.

"I'm one of those people who wants to see the numbers before they call the game," Kotek said. "But things look pretty good."

Based on current numbers, it appears Democrats will ...   More

News Every election cycle, certain candidate races or ballot measures prove that even when voters appear uninterested, they are paying close attention.

Voters saw through Measure 84, which sought to abolish the so-called “death tax.” The premise was solid: Isn’t dying bad enough without also getting taxed to do so?

Voters are turning the measure down, 55 percent "no"...   More

News The Clackamas County Board of Commissioners met in an emergency session today, hoping to gain more information about ballot fraud that took place last week in the county elections office.
But County Clerk Sherry Hall, the woman who presumably has many of the answers to questions posed by County Chair Charlotte Lehan  in a    More

News The woman who’s at the center of a ballot-tampering investigation at the Clackamas County elections office tells WW the number of ballots involved in the case is two.

WW has identified the woman as Deanna Swenson, 55, of Oregon City, who until last Wednesday was working as a temporary employee at the county elections office. Swenson is now facing a criminal in...   More

News Clackamas County Chair Charlotte Lehan tonight called for an emergency meeting of that county's board of commissioners on Monday morning, the day before ballots for the Nov. 6 general election are to be counted.
Lehan, who is locked in a tight re-election battle with challenger John Ludlow, took action after the state's top elections official, Secretary of State Kate Brown...   More