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With nearly all the votes counted from the Nov. 6 general election, it appears that turnout for Oregon Democrats has surpassed Republican turnout for just the second time in more than 50 years.
Democrat turnout exceeded Republican turnout by 0.2 percent. Statewide, 79.8 percent of eligible Democrats and 79.6 percent of eligible Republicans cast their ballots, based on data released by the state on Nov. 7. At that time, overall turnout was 67.8 percent. A small number of additional votes have been counted since then. But the state will not provide final data until the elections division releases certified election results in December.
While Democrats have consistently outnumbered Republicans in Oregon, Republican turnout has exceeded Democratic turnout in all but one general election since the state began keeping figures in 1964.
Turnout among Oregon Democrats only exceeded Republican turnout in the 2008 general election, when Oregonians decisively voted for President Barack Obama. In that election, Democrat turnout was 0.8 percent higher than Republican turnout.
The trend of Republicans turning out to vote at greater rates than Democrats holds true nationally, particularly for midterm elections. But party control of the White House also influences turnout, as reported by FiveThirtyEight: Turnout for each party increases when the opposing party holds the Oval Office.
Here are Oregon's turnout percentages by election cycle:
